Perfect through three weeks, the Baldwinsville football team took aim at its neighbors from Liverpool on a warm early fall Friday evening at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium – and hit the mark.
Between a steady running attack anchored by Aquari Warner and a defense that again shut down the opposition for long stretches, the state Class AA no. 16-ranked Bees did all that was needed to whip the Warriors 35-7 and make it four wins in a row.
Having taken a 41-0 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse the week before, Liverpool was not interested in another shutout, and made sure of that when Zach Neufang hit Nate Keyes on a 34-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter.
But that was all B’ville’s defense would allow. For the rest of the night, the Bees shut down anything the Warriors tried, which allowed the other side of the ball to keep things on the ground and pound away.
Warner would carry the ball 31 times for 180 yards, getting his team on the board with a 34-yard scoring run in the opening period. Then, in the second quarter, Warner added two more TD’s on runs of eight and nine yards, capping long drives that put the Bees ahead for good.
Even though the 21-7 halftime lead was comfortable, B’ville kept going, with two more scoring drives ended by short TD runs – a fourth for Warner and a one-yard plunge by Ben Dwyer. Helping Warner on the attack, E.J. Edmonds gained 78 yards on 14 carries,
The win essentially makes the Class AA-2 division a two-team race between B’ville and C-NS, also 4-0. The Bees and Northstars are set to clash at Bragman Stadium Oct. 6.
Before that, though, B’ville goes to Auburn next Friday to face the same Maroons side that the Northstars just handled 54-7 in the first game played at Holland Stadium’s new Field Turf. C-NS, meanwhile, will host 1-3 Nottingham.
