With neighborhood bragging rights safely tucked away, the undefeated, state no. 1-ranked Cazenovia football team can now go after the Section III Class B title taken from them by Homer a year ago – without the Trojans standing in the way.
In Friday night’s Class B semifinal at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, the Lakers jumped all over the Chittenango Bears and dominated in all phases of the game, rolling to a 47-6 victory.
This sends Cazenovia back to the Carrier Dome for next Saturday’s sectional title game against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill. The Red Devils used a late fourth-quarter touchdown to knock off Homer 17-10 in the other semifinal at F-M.
The Lakers had not faced Chittenango since the 2012 sectional final in the Dome. Cazenovia won that meeting, too, by a 35-21 margin, and weren’t about to make it as interesting this time around against the Bears, who came into the semifinal with a 6-2 record.
It started, of course, with defense. The Lakers held Chittenango to 140 yards of total offense, allowed just one first down in the first half and shut out the Bears until a meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown with the starters long removed from the game.
Cody Thorp led the defense with seven tackles, while Kevin Frega recorded six tackles. Paul McLaughlin, Nick Szlamczynski and Brendan Whalen had four tackles apiece.
Frega also netted the game’s first touchdown on a one-yard run, as Cazenovia took its opening possession 55 yards in just four plays. Cole Willard’s extra point made it 7-0.
Chittenango kept things quiet until early in the second quarter, when T.J. Connellan found Jake Shaffner for a two-yard scoring pass, but the real damage would come later in the period.
Trailing 14-0, the Bears forced a Lakers punt, and appeared to catch a break when a bad snap forced Willard to chase down the ball. Not only did Willard get off the punt, Chittenango would muff it, and the Lakers recovered.
Three plays later, Connellan found the end zone from three yards out, and a second Bears fumble led to yet another score, this time Shaffner on a one-yard plunge, extending the margin to 27-0, where it stood at the break.
Receiving the second-half kickoff, Cazenovia would turn it over, only to have Chittenango give it right back with Cole Wilson’s interception in Bears territory. Anthony Vechiarelli went the final six yards for the TD that, with Willard’s PAT, made it 34-0.
Dustin Hammond added a one-yard scoring plunge and Clay Fox found the end zone from 18 yards out in the fourth quarter, while the Lakers celebrated its fourth straight sectional finals appearance.
All told, the Lakers gained 295 of its 371 total yards on the ground, with Connellan gaining 80 yards on 15 carries and Shaffner adding 69 yards on 10 carries. Frega earned 57 yards on just five carries.
Instead of a highly-anticipated 2014 finals rematch with Homer, the Lakers get a more immediate rematch with VVS.
These two sides met on Oct. 10, with the Lakers pushed for a while, but then pulling away in the second half to beat the Red Devils 42-12. VVS hopes things are a lot closer the second time around.
