Dave Kline had the proper theme for his Cicero-North Syracuse football team as he addressed the players following the Northstars’ 20-7 win over Baldiwnsville Friday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
“Tonight we grew up,” Kline told them. “But we’ve got to keep moving forward.”
Right now, though, the Northstars must like where it stands, holding a 6-0 record and no. 15 state ranking, and having just locked up the top seed from the Class AA-2 division for the Section III playoffs. There’s also a powerful, diverse offense on hand, plus a defense that has only surrendered 34 points all season.
Each of those traits was on display against Baldwinsville, who entered the night with its own four-game win steak and home-field advantage, though none of that could keep the Northstars from shining again.
Even a slightly uneven start didn’t faze C-NS much. The Northstars were unable to cash in on Peyton Watts’ interception deep in Bees territory on the game’s opening possession and, three plays later, saw B’ville quarterback Ben Dwyer take off on a 67-yard scramble.
When Jack Buis scored one play later, giving the Bees a 7-0 lead, it marked the first time since the Sept. 1 season opener against Henninger at the Carrier Dome that C-NS had trailed in any game. That deficit wouldn’t last long, either.
Mixing up runs and passes, C-NS marched 69 yards and used up more than six minutes of clock before Erik Pride scored on an eight-yard dash and Brad Davies added the extra point, tying it, 7-7, just before the first quarter ended.
Much of the second period involved two drives. B’ville reached the Northstars’ 23 but was stopped on fourth down, another instance where the vaunted C-NS defense wouldn’t let the other team get on the board.
“Our defense did a little bending, but it didn’t break,” said Kline.
C-NS took over with 6:35 left in the half and put together another long march, going 77 yards, with quarterback Conner Hayes constantly making the key plays with well-timed passes and scrambles.
Facing fourth-and-two at the B’ville three, Pride dove and got the first down, setting up Hayes for a one-yard touchdown plunge with 6.2 seconds to play. Davies’ PAT gave the Northstars a 14-7 edge at the half.
What made that drive so important was that C-NS also received the second-half kickoff, which it converted into points when, on fourth-and-one at the Bees’ 46, Pride ran left, broke tackles and took off to the end zone.
It was the highlight of an evening where Pride gained 208 yards on the ground on 33 carries. Hayes helped out by rushing for 71 yards on eight carries, while also completing six of 10 passes for 110 yards.
B’ville didn’t fade away. Early in the fourth quarter, it drove inside the Northstars’ 20, only to have a first-down run by Dwyer negated by an illegal block penalty. Two plays later, Tyler Days intercepted Dwyer in the end zone.
Befitting the Northstars’ “fast, physical and aggressive approach”, as Kline put it, it sacked Dwyer twice in the final minute to lock up a victory and at least a share of the AA-2 title.
To get the outright league championship, C-NS will still need to beat visiting Utica Proctor next Friday at 7 p.m. at Bragman Stadium, after which the quest for a first-ever sectional title in program history will begin on that same home turf in the opening round of the sectional playoffs.
