Ever since earning its lone state championship 12 years ago, the Christian Brothers Academy football team has remained at a high level, adding more Section III and regional titles.
However, it has not gone back to the state title game – and that will remain the case for another year in the wake of a 42-13 defeat to Victor in Saturday night’s state Class AA semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
Never in front, CBA did come close to erasing an early 15-point deficit in the first half, but the Blue Devils’ power and discipline proved too much for the Brothers to overcome as it scored 27 unanswered points in the last two periods.
Victor came to the state semifinal sitting atop the state rankings and, like CBA, undefeated. The 11-0 Blue Devils had survived a tough Section V slate and then battled past Section VI champion Lancaster in the AA regional final.
Perhaps more importantly, Victor’s players had plenty of experience winning state titles by playing on Blue Devils boys lacrosse teams that took the top prize in 2015 and 2016, and had carried it over to the gridiron, something the Brothers’ players could not claim.
Both teams had to deal with high winds at the outset and a steady rain that persisted throughout the evening. Victor, featuring a power-oriented ground attack, wasn’t going to get affected too much, but with CBA, who wanted to throw more, it did pose a problem.
Getting the ball first, Victor spent nearly five minutes driving 65 yards to the end zone. Mostly, it was done through the running game, with Mitch Spindler running the ball five times, including the two-point conversion after Zack Estabrooks scored from one yard out.
So CBA trailed 8-0 before it even got the ball, and after getting stopped on its opening possession, CBA saw Mike Matheson’s punt get blocked at his own 13. One play later, Spindler dashed in for the TD on a sweep, making it 15-0, the largest deficit the Brothers had faced all season, and the game was not even six minutes old.
Now it was up to junior quarterback Sirvocea Dennis to kick-start CBA, which he did with a 24-yard run and 38-yard pass to Paul Aversa that set up Stevie Scott’s 10-yard scoring run where he broke at least two tackles on his way to the goal line.
Early in the second quarter, facing fourth-and-seven at the Victor 35, Dennis found Noah Jordan-Williams in single coverage on the left side and threw to him, the TD pass pulling CBA within two, 15-13, when the PAT was blocked.
CBA’s defense, pushed around early, stepped up to thwart two Blue Devils scoring chances, including one where it got inside the Brothers’ 20, so it remained 15-13 at the break, but the Brothers had to feel it had the momentum to take over once things resumed.
Instead, Victor quickly stuffed CBA and, on its opening possession of the third quarter, ran behind its powerful offensive line, the key blow Spindler’s 27-yard run as Estabrooks scored from five yards out.
All through the period, poor field position hurt the Brothers, as did a fumble by Dennis that set up another Blue Devils scoring chance. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Estabrooks (seeing most of the carries after Spindler left with an injury) cashed in again on an eight-yard TD run.
Things only got worse when CBA fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Victor’s Matt Gardner recovered at the Brothers’ 35. It was all Estabrooks from there, including a six-yard TD run where he was hit at the five but still churned his way past the goal line with 9:07 left, all but putting the game away.
Joe Theede added a 25-yard TD run in the waning minutes after Dennis had left the game with an injury, he and his CBA teammates ending its season one week earlier than it wanted.
