This is getting too familiar for the Baldwinsville football team.
For three consecutive years, the Bees have put together strong regular seasons and made its way to Section III Class AA semifinal games played at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, only to get stopped every time one step short of the Carrier Dome and the sectional finals.
The only difference in 2016 was that it wasn’t Liverpool breaking B’ville’s hearts, but rather Christian Brothers Academy, who started quick and finished quick while defeating the Bees 35-7 Friday night in the AA semifinals and denying long-time head coach Carl Sanfilippo his 200th win with the team.
That margin nearly matched the 37-6 margin by which CBA, no. 7 in the latest state Class AA rankings, flattened B’ville nearly two months ago in the Sept. 2 season opener at Alibrandi Stadium.
Back then, big plays buried the Bees’ chances, and while that was true to a degree in the rematch, a larger factor was the Bees’ inability to convert its own opportunities when the outcome was still in doubt.
CBA scored on its opening possession thanks to a 64-yard drive that star tailback Stevie Scott finished off with a one-yard touchdown run. When it tried to answer, the Bees instead fumbled, and DeAndre Dowdell returned it to the one, from where Scott converted again late in the first quarter.
Turnovers also were prevalent in the second period, only it was the Brothers surrendering the ball twice on fumbles – one by Scott at the Bees’ 19, the other by quarterback SirVocea Dennis at the Brothers’ 34.
Each time, though, B’ville could not convert those takeaways into points, After Scott’s fumble, the Bees moved it to the CBA 15 only to get stopped on fourth down. When Dennis fumbled, the Bees couldn’t even get a first down against a resilient Brothers defense.
The frustrations for the Bees mounted early in the third quarter when CBA again fumbled it at its own 20. Moving down to the two-yard line, the Bees were one run from cutting the Brothers’ margin in half, and got stopped short of the goal line.
Fired up by what its defense was doing, CBA answered with a 98-yard march that Dennis finished off by going 12 yards for the TD. Only now did the Bees break through with a scoring drive of its own early in the fourth quarter, capped by Ben Dwyer throwing six yards to Gabe Horan to make it 21-7 with 9:12 left.
When it needed a defensive stop, though, the Bees could not pull it off, as Dennis netted his second TD on a 16-yard run with 6:44 to play and, following a Bees fumble, Scott went 21 yards to score for the third time three minutes later.
So two unbeaten sides would square off in this Saturday’s sectional final at the Dome after CBA beat B’ville and Cicero-North Syracuse pulled away from Corcoran 28-6. B’ville, meanwhile, finished at 6-3, with all of its losses coming to the Brothers and Northstars.
