Many odd things took place last weekend surrounding the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa football teams, whose post-season fates were already locked in place before their final games of the regular season.
It all started last Friday night, when a howling rainstorm blew in thunder and lightning to the area. ESM saw this and first delayed the kickoff of its game against visiting Carthage, and then postponed it until Saturday afternoon.
A few miles away, though, J-D waited out the weather and then kicked off its home game against reigning state Class A champion Indian River, one that meant absolutely nothing, yet still featured a quirk that would bring the two sides together again.
Since the Red Rams finished second in the Class A American division behind ESM, and because the Warriors were locked into third place in the National division, J-D and IR already knew that they would play again in this exact same location this Friday in the opening round of the sectional playoffs.
Thus, the game amounted to little more than a four-quarter scrimmage and dress rehearsal, played in wet, windy conditions, with the Warriors defeating the Red Rams 18-7, but with both sides perhaps holding a lot back with the bigger battle lying ahead.
J-D, who saw its three-game win streak snapped, got shut out most of the way, though both defenses were in control during the first half, IR netting the lone points when Lawrence Borce scored on a three-yard run in the first quarter.
The Warriors doubled that lead to 12-0 in the third period when Dustin Sharrit scored from 12 yards out. J-D cut the margin to 12-7 on Josh Kowalczyk’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Echols early in the fourth quarter, but IR put the game away with a drive of its own that led to Adrian Nicholson’s nine-yard scoring run.
ESM and Carthage finally took the field late on a chilly Saturday afternoon, knowing that, they, too, could see each other again with victories in their respective opening-round sectional games – the Spartans against Watertown, the Comets against Fulton.
And ESM emerged as the confident group, prevailing 51-20 after a first half where it squandered an early 12-0 lead built on short TD runs by Jake Rodman and Jeremy Perry, Cartahge going in front, 14-12,
The game turned right before halftime, when Gabe Holloman picked off a Carthage pass inside the Comets’ 10, leading to Perry’s second TD on an eight-yard run. Not only did it put the Spartans up 18-14 at the break, it also sparked the team on both ends, leading to 20 unanswered points in the third quarter.
Greg Buck started the surge with an 18-yard TD run, part of an effort that included a season-best 124 yards. Then Rodman connected with Ty Barkins on a 39-yard scoring pass before Perry, who notched another 200 yards on 26 carries, broke loose on a 60-yard rumble to the end zone.
Barkins capped off his night by intercepting another Carthage pass in his own end zone and bringing it all the way back, 100 yards, for six points in the fourth quarter following Perry’s fourth TD on a four-yard run.
