There’s a chance the Christian Brothers Academy and Fayetteville-Manlius football teams run into each other again, though it will require wins in next weekend’s opening round of the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Such a possibility arose because the Hornets, with a chance to host a first-round home game and go to the other half of the AA bracket, lost at home Friday night, falling to the Corcoran Cougars 40-23.
Thus, F-M finished 3-2 in the Class AA-1 division, third behind CBA (5-0) and Corcoran (4-1), and must travel to Baldwinsville next Friday and win there to get a likely sectional semifinal against the Brothers, who will host Nottingham at Alibrandi Stadium.
Having lost 41-0 to the Brothers on Sept. 30, the Hornets were eager to get away from CBA’s sights, but Corcoran would not let them, using a series of big plays in the second quarter to take control of the regular-season finale where the Hornets missed its top player, Eric Coley, who was out with an injury.
When that second period started, F-M had a 7-6 lead, having gone in front with Mitch Seabury’s 30-yard touchdown run plus Mike Porter’s extra point after the Cougars scored first on Jaquail Everson’s two-yard run, but missed the conversion.
Tyrice Williams ignited the Corcoran surge by passing from his own 20 to Khalil Robinson, and Robinson going 80 yards for the touchdown. Down 12-7, the Hornets quickly answered with a scoring drive capped by Luke Hamel’s two-yard TD run and Henry Josephson’s two-point pass to Brody Phalen.
Corcoran, now trailing 15-12, struck again when, from midfield, Devonte Flagg broke loose for a 51-yard dash to the end zone. Minutes later, Robinson scored for a second time on a 39-yard run.
Suddenly, the Cougars had a 26-15 halftime lead, and it would get away in the last two periods with a defense that contained F-M while Williams threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Jahad Henry and Flagg, who led his side with 189 yards on 26 carries, scored on a five-yard run.
Earlier this same evening, CBA, closing out its regular season at 0-6 West Genesee, got off to an uneven start, but eventually overwhelmed the Wildcats and roared to a 61-13 victory.
Even with SirVocea Dennis finding Jacob Moser on a 36-yard TD pass in the first quarter, WG tied it, 7-7, when a fumble found its way to the end zone and John Northrop fell on it.
The getaway began with a pair of second-quarter scoring drives, one ended by Dennis with a three-yard TD run, the other culminating in Stevie Scott going 50 yards to the end zone.
Yet even a 21-7 halftime lead did not satisfy the Brothers that much, for its piled up 26 points in the third quarter to put the game away.
During that flurry, Dennis threw a 45-yard scoring pass to Hasan Bridges-Beyah and ran 43 yards for another TD. Scott, who ran for 147 yards on just nine carries, scored a second time on a 57-yard run, and defensive captain Dan Damico returned an interception 32 yards for six points.
With the starters on the bench, CBA added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, on runs of two yards by Jaden Mitchell and eight yards by Nate Torrence.
