That old cliche – “turnabout is fair play” – can apply to football, especially if turnovers are involved.
Cazenovia, a victim of its own generosity two years ago against Homer in the Section III Class B final at the Carrier Dome, benefited from that very same generosity from the Trojans Sunday when the two sides met again.
Specifically, Homer turned it over five times, three of them leading to Cazenovia touchdowns, and the Lakers, fueled by those points and the defense that made it all happen, beat the Trojans 31-7.
“I was happy with the way we cashed in on those turnovers,” said Cazenovia head coach Jay Steinhorst. “We executed very well.”
For all that it had accomplished in the last 24 months, including a first-ever state championship, Cazenovia still hadn’t forgotten about dropping the 2014 sectional final in its last meeting with Homer, nor did it forget about the seven turnovers that were largely responsible for that defeat.
While plotting its payback, the Lakers also had to cope with the loss of quarterback Matt Regan, who broke his ankle in the team’s sectional semifinal win over Chittenango. Anthony Vecchiarelli had ably filled in for Regan against the Bears, and he started under center again here against the Trojans.
Ignoring the stakes, Vecchiarelli said that “today was no different than any other game – get out and perform.”
Cazenovia got going on its second possession of the game. Vecchiarelli’s bootlegs of 28 and 19 yards, with a 13-yard pass to Matt McLaughlin in between, set up the new quarterback’s two-yard sneak just past the goal line.
It got better for the Lakers when Homer’s Matt Guerrera could not handle the ensuing kickoff and Joey Gates recovered at the Trojans’ 24. On the very next play, Cazenovia executed a flea-flicker, Vecchiarelli finding McLaughlin in the end zone to double the lead to 12-0.
Those two touchdowns, just 14 seconds apart, gave Cazenovia early control, but it wasn’t done as Homer’s John Horner lost the ball at the Lakers’ 38 and Vecchiarelli fell on it.
Cody Thorp took it from there, breaking free for a 36-yard run and then getting open over the middle for Vecchiarelli to find him for a 23-yard scoring pass in the last minute of the first quarter. Though the conversion was missed, the Lakers’ 18-0 edge at the end of the period set a tone that would not change the rest of the way.
Cazenovia’s defense continued to assert itself in the second quarter, recording four sacks to thwart three different Homer drives as linemen Dan Kent, Ben Nichols and Sam Mabie led a ferocious pass rush. None of them was bigger than Mabie’s takedown of Homer quarterback Jacob Rivers at the Cazenovia five as part of a goal-line stand that ended the half.
“We were all playing our part, and playing great,” said Kmetz.
Amid the sack party, the Lakers made it 24-0 with 8:54 left in the half on Vecchiarelli’s 31-yard TD pass to McLaughlin that he set up with a 25-yard scramble. That’s where it stood at halftime, but Cazenovia wasn’t done.
Will Kmetz pounced on a third Homer fumble early in the third quarter at the Trojans’ 41, and Will Khalil intercepted Rivers near the goal line to snuff out another scoring threat.
While neither turnover led to points, they did snuff out Homer’s best chances for a comeback, and after Rivers fumbled again deep in Cazenovia territory, the Lakers quickly went 85 yards in just five plays, scoring on Austin Enders’ three-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Not until Rivers found Krillin Drake on a 24-yard scoring pass with 7:34 left did the Trojans get on the board, but by that point the Lakers had firmly secured another sectional title and knew the tough assignment that lay ahead in six days’ time.
Cazenovia faces Section IV champion Chenango Forks Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Class B regional final at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium. The winner gets to come back to C-NS on Nov. 19 to play in the state semifinals against Batavia (Section V) or Dunkirk (Section VI).
It’s a clash of two reigning state champions. Forks won each of the last three state Class C titles from 2013 to 2015 and moved up to Class B this fall, where the Blue Devils have gone 10-0 and sat atop the state rankings since mid-September, outscoring its opponents by a combined margin of 388-78.
Steinhorst said that Forks has athletes at every position, but hasn’t yet faced a serious late-game challenge, something that the Lakers want to change.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” said Steinhorst. “But we’re just crazy enough to think we can beat them.”
