SYRACUSE — Judging by most standards, the Christian Brothers Academy football team did quite well in 2015, snaring a Class AA-1 division regular season title and making it back to the Carrier Dome to play for a Section III championship.
Yet the Brothers operate under a much higher standard, which made what happened in the Dome last Saturday night all the more disappointing.
A rash of missed early opportunities, combined with four ill-timed fumbles, doomed CBA in a 35-9 defeat to Liverpool, who put to rest 17 long years of waiting for a sectional championship while keeping the Brothers from reclaiming the crown it last held in 2014.
Not only were the Warriors basking in the glow of its first title since 1998, it did so while atoning for two painful defeats – last year’s 44-7 loss to Henninger in this same sectional final at the Dome, and also a 28-17 defeat to CBA earlier this season.
Liverpool head coach Dave Mancuso said that, to change those results, the Warriors adjusted its already stout defense, putting an emphasis on stopping CBA’s ground game so that it could force the Brothers to pass.
Also, it helped that Liverpool’s best defensive player, linebacker Joe Scro, was back in the lineup. His absence on the field in the second half had much to do with the Brothers topping the Warriors back on Oct. 2, and his presence would make quite a difference.
From start to finish, Liverpool’s game plan worked, as CBA could not establish any kind of air attack against the Warriors’ imposing secondary, and even when it did run, it could not convert when it had a chance to gain early control.
Three times in the first half, the Brothers moved the ball inside Liverpool’s 10-yard line, but it only scored once, on Andrew Kolceski’s 21-yard field goal in the second quarter.
continued — Two other tries resulted in a fumble recovery by Zack Khatib and Alex Donegal stuffing Stevie Scott on fourth-and-inches. So instead of a big lead, CBA found itself tied, 3-3, late in the second quarter.
And as the half wound down, the Warriors’ offense broke through, moving 71 yards, mostly on a pair of long Jaydakis Scott runs, to the CBA one. Then, with two seconds left, and out of time-outs, Jordan Caviness rolled out and found Mike Cutrone alone in the end zone.
Staked to that 9-3 halftime lead, the Warriors’ defense struck again when Stevie Scott fumbled at his own 28 and Jarod Thiel recovered. The ensuing short drive culminated with Jaydakis Scott scoring from four yards out.
As the third quarter ended, CBA had its best chance since the early stages, with the ball on Liverpool’s 30. But on a blitz, defensive end Naz Johnson forced Brothers quarterback Jack Brotzki to fumble, and then pounced on the ball at the 44.
Two plays later, Jaydakis Scott initiated the getaway by following great blocks from his line 42 yards to his second TD of the night. Not stopping there, Scott added a 46-yard scoring run with 9:38 left and, less than three minutes later, scored a fourth time from seven yards out.
CBA finished with an 8-2 record, the season bridged by defeats at the Dome to two different sectional champions – Rochester Aquinas in early September, and Liverpool two months later.
