Nine consecutive victories, most of them impressive and one-sided, has earned the Cicero-North Syracuse football team a chance at the Section III Class AA championship it has never attained before.
The Northstars’ 28-6 victory over Corcoran in Friday’s AA semifinal at Bragman Stadium sets up a clash of unbeaten teams for the sectional title at the Carrier Dome next weekend between C-NS and Christian Brothers Academy.
They came into the semifinals close in the state rankings, with C-NS at no. 11 and CBA at no. 8. They were also facing rematches of games won played early in the season, with the Northstars attempting to duplicate its 27-0 shutout at Corcoran that it earned on Sept. 9.
At the very least, the Cougars made sure there wasn’t a shutout the second time around, From his own 41-yard line midway through the first quarter, Corcoran quarterback Tyrice Williams threw deep and found Khalil Robinson, who completed a 59-yard touchdown play.
But just like with Henninger in the sectional quarterfinals, the C-NS defense rebounded from that brief lapse and, for the rest of the game, stifled whatever Corcoran to establish, even getting on the board with a safety when the Cougars fumbled in the end zone in the second quarter.
By that point, the Northstars were in front for good, having marched down the field to its initial TD scored on Erik Pride’s two-yard run. On that drive, plus others in the first half, C-NS used Conner Hayes’ accurate throws to keep Corcoran off balance.
It was a 34-yard pass from Hayes to Lucas Merluzzi that set up the Northstars’ second TD, again scored by Pride from 14 yards out. Then, just before halftime, two big throws by Hayes moved the Northstars to the Cougars’ 11, where Hayes ran in for the score. All told, Hayes attempted 14 passes in the first half, completing 10 of them for 159 yards while also gaining 53 yards on the ground.
C-NS was up, 21-6, at the break, and it stayed that way through a scoreless third quarter, the defense making a big play again when Nate Gerloff intercepted Williams at the Northstars’ 40.
Having tried to pound Corcoran with its ground attack, the Northstars drew them in – and then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Hayes threw over them and found Tyler Days, who streaked 58 yards to the end zone for the clinching TD.
For the night, Hayes would go 14-for-23 for 249 yards, with Merluzzi catching six passes for 110 yards and Days getting three receptions for 94 yards. Pride worked hard for his 77 yards on the ground, coming in 18 carries, while Jeremiah Willis had 11 carries for 46 yards.
And now 9-0 C-NS goes to the Dome where, next Saturday night at 6 p.m., it meets CBA, who beat Baldwinsville 35-7 in the other sectional semifinal and is 8-0, having only played six regular-season games because stormy weather canceled a Sept. 10 game at St. Francis (Buffalo).
Like the Northstars, the Brothers have a quick, swarming defense that, led by the likes of Dan Damico and DeAndre Dowdell, rarely surrenders points, plus a diverse offense with Stevie Scott the main threat in the running game and quarterback SirVocea Dennis equally capable of throwing the ball or running out of the pocket.
