SYRACUSE — High as the Cazenovia football team’s aspirations are, one goal – going back to the Carrier Dome and getting things right in the Section III Class B championship game – was a particular focus.
And the state Class B no. 1-ranked Lakers got to that plateau Saturday afternoon, easily turning back Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 42-6 in the sectional Class B final for the team’s fourth sectional title in six years.
“These kids have played well, and we have really grown as a team,” said Cazenovia head coach Jay Steinhorst.
“It’s very satisfying,” said senior captain Kevin Frega. “We just had to do our best, and have everyone on our team contribute. We had 11 guys playing as one.”
The Lakers and Red Devils had met Oct. 10, with Cazenovia pulling away in the second half to prevail 42-12. VVS hadn’t lost since, with its late-season surge culminating with a 17-10 win over defending sectional champion Homer in the Oct. 30 sectional semifinal at Fayetteville-Manlius.
Yet this was also the Red Devils’ first sectional final appearance since 2000. By contrast, Cazenovia had made it 10 times in that 15-year span, the last four in a row, and were burning for atonement after the rash of turnovers that proved so costly when it lost to Homer 38-24 in last year’s title game.
Cazenovia struck on its opening possession, setting the game’s tone by using a lateral and double pass from Jake Shaffner to T.J. Connellan that covered 42 yards to set up Connellan’s three-yard scoring run on an option pitch midway through the first quarter.
Just as important was what happened on VVS’s second possession. From its own 41, the Red Devils moved all the way to the Cazenovia 12, but then Frega hit Sean Galla and forced a fumble that Ben Nichols recovered, wasting a drive that consumed nearly six minutes of clock.
continued — Connellan said that this stop gave his team all kinds of energy, with which it took full advantage.
Cole Willard, whose deeds on the Dome turf in lacrosse are already part of Cazenovia athletic lore, pinned VVS on its own one-yard line with a 58-yard punt early in the second period.
That changed field position in the Lakers’ favor, and it eventually led to more points. Connellan, taking direct snaps, broke loose on a 31-yard sprint down the left side, setting up his own seven-yard scoring run that, with Willard’s extra point, made it 14-0.
And it didn’t take long to make it 21-0. A poor VVS punt deep in its own territory set up a short field that the Lakers turned into seven more points on Brenden Whalen’s two-yard run and Willlard’s third straight successful PAT.(He would eventually go six-for-six on conversions.)
Even when the Lakers made a mistake, it could recover. Sean Galla intercepted Shaffner’s pass in the last minute of the half and brought it back 53 yards. But Anthony Vecchiarelli made a touchdown-saving tackle at Cazenovia’s nine, and the defense held on downs, keeping it 21-0 going to the break.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, the Lakers made it 28-0, but when Connellan scored on a 15-yard run to cap off a 79-yard, five-play drive, he injured his knee while tumbling into the end zone and did not return to the game.
Paul McLaughlin intercepted Alex Oliver on VVS’s next play from scrimmage, and that also led to a touchdown, Shaffner finishing it off with a swing pass to Cody Thorp, who did most of the work sprinting 17 yards to paydirt.
To cap off his 21-point third quarter, Vecchiarelli dashed 25 yards for a TD in the last minute of the period. Oliver’s 23-yard scoring pass to Nick Palmer with 4:21 left kept Cazenovia from its fourth shutout of the season.
Now attention could turn away from the sectional title in the books toward the state title that, for so long, has remained elusive. And it doesn’t have to worry about nemesis Maine-Endwell, moved up to Class A as it maintains a state-record 61-game sin streak.
Instead, Cazenovia meets Section IV champion Waverly next Saturday at 3 p.m. at Binghamton Alumni Stadium. The winner advances to the state semifinal Nov. 21 at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Staidum.
