For all of the talk about the East Syracuse Minoa football team erasing two years of disappointment and grabbing that elusive Section III Class A championship, it almost didn’t get out of the opening round.
The state Class A no. 14-ranked Spartans trailed Watertown for most of Friday night’s Class A quarterfinal, and required 28 fourth-quarter points to fight past the Cyclones 35-28 and advance to next weekend’s semifinal against Indian River.
So ended a week where ESM’s teams all went through post-season drama. The field hockey team lost in a shoot-out, the boys soccer team survived penalty kicks and the girls soccer team needed four overtimes to advance.
None of this tension was supposed to apply to the football Spartans, who took a 7-0 record into the sectional playoffs and was facing a 2-5 Watertown team that had finished fourth in the Class A National division.
But whether it was the windy, wet conditions or simply not taking the Cyclones seriously, ESM sputtered through the entire first half and got shut out by Watertown, who scored twice on Ryan Gallo’s 87-yard pass to Mikeal Teamer and Dylan Harra’s 47-yard interception return.
By the time they reached the locker room, the Spartans trailed, 14-0, now having to rely on its long-built reputation of strong finishes to save its season.
The rally didn’t happen right away, though. After ESM got on the board with Jeff Loder’s five-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, Watertown answered with a drive of its own capped by Ryan Gallo’s one-yard scoring plunge, but missed the conversion, leaving it at 20-7 as the game ticked toward the final period.
It took just one play in the fourth quarter for the Spartans to close the gap to 20-14 on Ny’Zhier Jefferson’s 21-yard TD run. Following a defensive stop, ESM quickly drove to the Cyclones’ 12, and Jefferson took it into the end zone from there, the extra point by Alec Kererstedjian giving the hosts its first lead of 21-20 with 6:08 left.
Another defensive stop was followed by another Spartans TD drive. When Greg Buck scored from three yards out with 3:13 to play, it stretched ESM’s lead to 28-20, but Watertown was not done.
Hurrying down the field, the Cyclones moved to the Spartans’ 13, where Gallo threw his second scoring pass to Teamer barely a minute after Buck scored. Terrence Lemon, who had kicked three PAT’s, ran in for two points, and suddenly it was tied, 28-28.
With overtime looming, the Cyclones had to punt deep in its own territory. Buck took the ball on one hop at his own 39, picked up blocks and didn’t stop until he was in the end zone 61 yards later with 46 seconds left, having scored the winning touchdown.
It was only fitting that Buck struck the decisive blow, having already gained 236 yards on 36 carries for the Spartans’ run-oriented attack.
ESM had made it through its home playoff opener – but Jamesville-DeWitt did not, unable to avenge a season-opening defeat to Carthage as it fell 28-14 to the Comets.
Back on Sept. 2, the Red Rams went to Carthage and dropped a back-and-forth, 34-27 decision. The only reason the rematch happened was because the Comets lost its regular-season finale to Indian River, which pushed Carthage down to third place in the A National division and paired up with J-D.
A big turning point came during the first quarter. The Rams had driven inside Carthage’s 30, only to fumble the ball and have Elijah Whitfield return it 75 yards for a touchdown. Before the period had ended, Jarod Jackson’s one-yard scoring run had made it 14-0, and J-D was in a catch-up mode for the rest of the evening.
Mike Anderson tried to spark the Rams by taking off on an 86-yard dash to the end zone in the second quarter. Carthage countered with a scoring drive ending in Jacob Lillie’s two-yard run, and J-D trailed, 21-6, at halftime.
When it needed to produce something in the third quarter, the Rams instead got shut out, and Caleb Null scored from three yards out to expand Carthage’s lead to 28-6. Anderson scored again in the fourth quarter on a five-yard run and a two-point pass from Adam Honis, but the Rams would get no closer.
Thus, Carthage advanced to face Whitesboro in the sectional Class A semifinals, with ESM battling Indian River.
Both games start at 8 p.m. next Friday night, with the Spartans meeting IR at Chittenango High School and the Comets facing Whitesboro at Rome Free Academy Stadium. The winners go to the Carrier Dome Nov. 5 at 3 p.m. to decide the sectional title.
