Though the Jordan-Elbridge football team is making a return visit to the Section III Class C playoffs, it isn’t doing so as a league champion.
The Eagles were denied that crown Friday night at Canastota as the red-hot Raiders blanked them, 24-0, taking the Class C West regular-season title with its sixth consecutive victory as J-E fell to 5-2.
When the Section III Class C playoff pairings were released, the Eagles had the no. 5 seed, meaning it will have to travel north and face no. 4 seed General Brown (6-1) in Friday night’s opening round. The winner of that game plays Utica-Notre Dame or Sherburne-Earlville in the semifinals.
This marked the Eagles’ second consecutive second-place finish in C West, having trailed Syracuse Institute of Technology Central in 2014 before a sectional playoff victory and eventual semifinal defeat to Herkimer.
Yet it was a difficult assignment, regardless of the circumstances. Canastota had lost to Herkimer in its Sept. 4 opener, but had gone undefeated since, having beaten its next five foes by a combined 232-62 margin.
They waited out a half-hour lightning delay, but even when the electricity subsided, things were still wet and slippery, and the two sides spent much of the first quarter trying to find their footing, J-E able to recover an early Canastota fumble, but do little with it.
Late in the period, though, a big play set the Raiders in motion. Taking an option pitch at his own 37-yard line, Canastota’s Mike Zupan sprinted up the sideline 46 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Ryan Zophy’s two-point run made it 8-0.
With rain picking up in the second quarter, the Eagles forced another turnover deep in its own end to thwart one Raiders scoring chance, but could do nothing about Jeff Marsh throwing deep to Cam Bellino on a 63-yard touchdown pass, followed by a second Zophy two-pointer.
Trailing 16-0, J-E saw its best chance to climb back into the game spoiled when it fumbled on the Raiders’ 15 right before halftime, and Canastota’s Gary Everspaugh fell on it. Then the Raiders struck again when Zupan intercepted Dominic Walborn’s pass and returned it 44 yards for six points in the third quarter.
So effective was Canastota that the Eagles did not get any first down during that third period, and then fumbled and turned it over on downs during its two possessions in the final period.
At least J-E could take solace in knowing that its victory over Bishop Ludden on Sept. 18 helped put the Eagles in the sectional playoffs. The Gaelic Knights weren’t going to the post-season, but at least salvaged a winning regular-season record of 4-3 with Friday’s 21-20 victory over Phoenix.
It was a tough, bruising battle in the rain against a Firebirds team that had just ended a string of 14 consecutive defeats a week earlier with a win over Frankfort-Schuyler. The Gaelic Knights hurt itself in the first quarter when Keandre Sanders fumbled inside Phoenix’s 10. But Sanders redeemed himself with 2:19 left in the second period by catching Sh’ikem Lee’s 30-yard TD pass that, with a two-point conversion, erased the Firebirds’ early 8-0 lead.
Tied 8-8 at the break, Phoenix went back in front early in the third quarter, but Sanders answered by flying 64 yards for a TD less than four minutes later. They went to the final period 14-14 and after a Ludden field-goal attempt was blocked, Phoenix drove to a go-ahead score and, again, missed the conversion.
For a third time, Ludden rallied, Lee finding Se’Vaughan Williams on a 28-yard scoring strike with 5:58 left. More importantly, Travis Cote made the extra point, and Ludden had its first and only lead of the evening.
Phoenix had one more chance, moving the ball to the Gaelic Knights’ 20-yard line, and faced fourth-down-and-one with 32 seconds left. But when it mattered most, Ludden’s defense made the big stop, clinching the victory.
Over in Camillus, West Genesee saw its regular season end with an 0-7 mark following a 67-0 defeat to Liverpool. The Warriors had 26 points in the first quarter alone, led 40-0 by halftime and cruised as Dietrick Roberson netted three touchdowns and Tavon Bates scored twice.
