SYRACUSE — Though the Cazenovia football program has known plenty of moments of greatness in years and decades past, what it got on Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome tops them all.
At last, the Lakers are state champions.
By defeating Schuylerville 22-19 in the Class B title game, Cazenovia culminated a long quest to attain the big prize that had withstood all kinds of close calls and disappointments every previous time it had ventured into the state tournament.
“Just playing in a state final is something beyond belief,” said Jake Shaffner, named the game’s MVP for his contributions on both sides of the ball. “For it to end in a victory is amazing.”
Jay Steinhorst, the Lakers’ first-year head coach, echoed those sentiments.
“I feel like I’m living in a dream,” said Steinhorst. “It’s remarkable.”
Schuylerville, the Section II champions, were, like Cazenovia, pursuing a first-ever state title. Like the Lakers, the Black Horses possessed a strong defense, which allowed less than seven points per game on the way to a 12-0 mark.
The contrast was that, while Cazenovia did pass the ball, Schuylerville relied almost exclusively on its ground game, possessing a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in quarterback Will Griffen and fullback Skylar Bateman, plus two other backs (Zach Pierce) and Joe Vanderhoof) that combined for more than 1,400 yards of their own.
Schuylerville wasted little time displaying its intentions, holding the ball for more than five minutes on its opening possession.
And though the Lakers stopped it at its own 19-yard line, a fumble two plays later set up the Black Horses for the game’s first touchdown, scored four plays later on Skylar Bateman’s one-yard plunge.
Cazenovia ran just five plays in the first quarter for six yards. On the Black Horses’ second posssession, it scored again, Griffen found Tanner Dunkel on a fourth-down swing pass and Dunkel went 32 yards to the end zone.
continued — So as the second quarter began, the Lakers trailed, 12-0, and needed a spark. It got one from Anthony Vecchiarelli, whose 27-yard run, plus a penalty, set up Jake Shaffner to find Ben Nichols on a 21-yard TD pass.
That seemed to spark the Lakers’ defense, who forced a three-and-out, and from midfield Cazenovia drove to the go-ahead score, a 27-yard pass to Cody Thorp leading to Shaffner’s one-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal and a two-point pass to Paul McLaughlin.
On Schuylerville’s next possession, a holding penalty forced the Black Horses into a second-down-and-32, but Schuylerville converted it, and with 29 seconds left in the half Will Griffen found Brady Griffin over the middle on a 33-yard TD pass.
So the Lakers trailed, 19-15, at the break, but that didn’t last long. On its first possession of the third quarter, Cazenovia marched 63 yards in eight play, mixing in runs and passes as Shaffner, from the Black Horses’ 11, tossed a swing pass to McLaughlin, who dashed to the end zone.
And those turned out to be the winning points. Steinhorst said his team’s defense changed from man to zone coverage, and led by Dustin Hammond, Brenden Whalen and Kevin Frega, that unit would stymie the Black Horses.
Three different times, Schuylerville drove into Lakers territory in the second half. Each of those times, Cazenovia made clutch stops.
It was the last of those stops that will live long in Lakers lore. It began when Will Griffen intercepted Shaffner midway through the fourth quarter, after which Schuylerville drove to Cazenovia’s 28-yard line.
But Shaffner atoned for his mistake in the biggest way possible, sacking Griffen for a 25-yard loss on third down with less than two minutes left.
The ensuing fourth-down play fell short, and the Lakers took over on downs, running out the clock and claiming a state championship.
continued — “You’ve got to keep working,” said Shaffner. “Football is a game of mistakes, and you have to make the next big play.”
That last big play secured an unprecedented piece of history for Cazenovia, whose large fan contingent roared as the clock ran out and T.J. Connellan, who missed the previous two state playoff games with a knee injury, got on the field at the end to savor the moment.
And as the trophies and honors were collected, Steinhorst reflected on the long road taken by the Lakers to glory, one paved by so many figures, players and coaches alike, especially Tom Neidl, the team’s head coach for 25 years.
“This one was for Tom,” said Steinhorst.
