SYRACUSE — In the most emphatic way imaginable, the Liverpool football team put to rest 17 years of waiting to win another Section III Class AA championship.

With a superb defense and an offense that sprung to life in the last two periods, the Warriors wiped out Christian Brothers Academy 35-9 in Saturday night’s AA title game at the Carrier Dome.

The moment of delivering Liverpool’s first sectional title since 1998 was, for star tailback Jaydakis Scott, difficult to describe.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Scott. “I’m at a loss for words.”

Dave Mancuso, Liverpool’s head coach, had emphasized throughout the week with his players what it would mean to earn a championship.

“Any time you can hang a banner on the wall, it’s forever,” said Mancuso. “This is something special for our school and our community.”

And the main reason it was so special, said senior captain Joe Scro, was that Liverpool atoned 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.

To change those results, said Mancuso, the Warriors adjusted its already stout defense, putting an emphasis on stopping the run so that it could force the Brothers to pass.

From start to finish, it 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. It only scored once, on Andrew Kolceski’s 21-yard field goal in the second quarter.

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 daunting deficit, Liverpool found itself tied, 3-3, late in the second quarter, its only points coming from Patrick Delgobbo’s 27-yard field goal in the opening period.

continued — But 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.

This was CBA’s fourth turnover of the night, all fumbles. Scro said his unit’s extensive film work and mental focus led to a standout performance.

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.

For the night, Scott ran for 228 yards on 28 carries, far better than the 85 yards he managed the first time he faced CBA before an injury sidelined him for three weeks.

Liverpool doesn’t want to stop here. Next Saturday at 6 p.m., it goes to Binghamton Alumni Stadium to face Section IV champion Elmira in the Class AA regional final. The winner goes to Cicero-North Syracuse Nov. 21 for the state semifinals against Rochester Aquinas (Section V) or Orchard Park (Section VI).

Mancuso said that, when it comes to pursuing the first state championship in program history, “if our defense can play this good, we’ve got a shot.”

Scro agreed. “As long as we can stay healthy, we can make a decent run at it,” he said.