CAZENOVIA — Playing twice in a span of six days, the Cazenovia football team had to win them both in order to secure a home game in the Section III Class C playoffs.
But it only got one of them.
The Lakers did prevail 37-16 over Southern Hills last Monday at Chittenango High School, but when it returned home Saturday to face Bishop Ludden, it got shut down most of the way and lost 20-7 to the Gaelic Knights.
The Southern Hills game was originally set for Oct. 16 but got postponed due to wet weather and poor field conditions at Cazenovia, so it was moved to Chittenango’s turf.
Flourishing in the new setting, the Lakers all but decided matters when it streaked out to a 28-0 halftime lead, earning 21 of those points with a trio of first-quarter touchdowns.
A.J. Rothfeld scored two of them, on a four-yard run and 30-yard pass from J.P. Hoak, while Peter McCole scored on a 10-yard run. Hoak then scrambled 39-yards for another TD in the second period.
Hoak completed 11 of 19 passes for 167 yards, including a 15-yard scoring pass to Taven Reilley in the third quarter, adding 114 rushing yards on eight carries.
Rothfeld, aside from his four catches for 95-yards, also recorded a third-quarter safety on defense where he finished with nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Chris Vecchiarelli assisted on seven tackles.
Even with this win, the Lakers still needed to beat Bishop Ludden to finish second in the Class C-1 division standings behind undefeated Skaneateles.
From the outset, though, Cazenovia found difficulty against a tough Gaelic Knights defense, which netted the game’s first points in the second quarter when Kenyon King intercepted a Hoak pass and returned it 54 yards for a score.
Ludden then made it 14-0 just before halftime when Nazier Kinsey threw a 12-yard TD pass to Eric Phillips. Kinsey returned to score on a four-yard run in the third quarter.
Despite gaining 267 total yards to Ludden’s 177, the Lakers did not get on the board until Hoak scored on a one-yard plunge early in the fourth quarter. And any hope of a comeback was dashed when the Gaelic Knights stopped Cazenovia twice in the last five minutes on sustained drives.
Defensively, Rothfeld led Cazenovia with 15 tackles. Jed Olkowski earned 11 tackles, with Dom Hegedus stepping up to earn 10 tackles.
The loss means that the Lakers will start the Class C playoffs on the road this Friday when it takes on 5-1 Holland Patent. A win there could mean a semifinal rematch with Skaneateles, whom it lost to on Oct. 9.
