Through the entire breadth of the regular season, the Christian Brothers Academy football team had waltzed through six opponents, each time settling matters long before the fourth quarter.
All of that changed, though, when the state Class AA no. 8-ranked Brothers welcomed its neighbors from Nottingham to Alibrandi Stadium Friday night for the opening round of the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Instead of another flashy display of big plays and plenty of points, CBA found itself shut down by the Bulldogs, and having to depend on its defense to make most of the key plays in a 7-6 victory not settled until the final seconds.
True, Nottingham came into the game as a fourth-place finisher in the Class AA-2 division and sporting a 3-4 record. But it had plenty of talent and skill, along with a grit and determination that would make every CBA partisan nervous by night’s end.
The elements helped, too. A combination of rain and wind made both sides struggle to move the ball through a scoreless first quarter, and that persisted deep into the second period, too, until Nottingham moved deep into Brothers territory.
At just the right moment, though, CBA hit on a big play – from the defense, Stevie Scott forcing a fumble at its own 19-yard line that SirVocea Dennis picked up and returned 81 yards to the other end zone. Mike Matheson added the extra point, little knowing how important that would be by night’s end.
So the Brothers led 7-0 at halftime, but its normally potent offense would not add to that total. The Bulldogs’ defense used its overall speed to contain Scott, who ran for 157 yards, but that required 23 carries, and Scott never could manage the big, demoralizing touchdown run to help his side charge.
Thanks to that defense, Nottingham just needed one score to catch up, and with 7:45 left it found the end zone when Jones found Kyle Smith for an 11-yard TD pass. Now the Bulldogs faced a choice – kick the tying PAT or go for two points and the lead. Choosing the first option, Nottingham missed the kick.
But it wasn’t over. Trying to run out the clock, CBA got more nervous when Scott fumble and the Bulldogs recovered. Nottingham got a chance, moving it to CBA’s 39-yard line, but in the waning seconds a long Jones pass got picked off by Paul Aversa.
Finally able to exhale, CBA could look ahead to this Friday’s sectional semifinal at 8 p.m. at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, where it faces Baldwinsville, whom it beat 38-6 in the Sept. 2 season opener. The Bees lost to Liverpool in both the 2014 and 2015 sectional semifinals on this same C-NS turf.
B’ville got this far at the expense of Fayetteville-Manlius, the Bees eliminating the Hornets 42-6 in its opening-round game at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Every factor, from personnel to weather, favored B’ville going into the game. While the Bees were at relative full strength, F-M was without its top player, Eric Coley, still out with a broken finger.
Then the elements arrived. While the new Field Turf at Pelcher-Arcaro prevented a quagmire that three-plus inches of rain in the previous 24 hours could have created, the precipitation and wind remained, forcing both teams to mostly depend on their runs games – just what the Bees wanted.
And it took just two possessions for B’ville to break in front for good. Midway through the first quarter, a series of short runs set up Jack Buis to break through the line and go 31 yards to the end zone.
F-M, utilizing sophomores Zack Paige and Mitch Seabury in the backfield with Coley on the sidelines, drove inside B’ville’s 20-yard line, but the Bees’ defense made a crucial stop with a fourth-down fumble that Walsh recovered.
A 74-yard, five-plus minute scoring drive followed, Nate Jaquint capping it off by going nine yards for his second TD early in the second period. A short F-M punt led to more points from the Bees when E.J. Edmonds scored from two yards out with 1:08 left in the half.
Down 21-0, F-M briefly revived when Henry Josephson, scrambling out of the pocket, threw a 56-yard scoring pass to Ryan Cicci 33 seconds before intermission, but it only proved a temporary blip.
Buis, who finished with 209 yards on 29 carries, began the getaway less than two minutes into the third quarter by breaking loose for a 64-yard scoring run. Then Aquari Warner took his turn with TD runs of 14 yards late in the period and nine yards with 7:31 to play. B’ville threw only two passes all night.
