Big plays and spectacular point totals, but that’s not why the Bishop Ludden football team is the Class D West division regular-season champions.
The Gaelic Knights earned this crown with defense and toughness, all of which was needed to defeat Onondaga 12-6 in Friday night’s league championship showdown.
Both teams entered the night at 6-0, with Ludden no. 9 in the state Class D rankings and OCS, the defending sectional champions, two spots behind them at no. 11. Both teams had long clinched playoff berths, but only the winner here was guaranteed a home game in next week’s opening round.
Knowing this game’s importance, the Gaelic Knights had alumni from the 2007 state Class C title team address the players before they took the field. Ludden stars past and present would have a reason to feel proud by night’s end.
Typically a fast-starting team, the Gaelic Knights made all kinds of mistakes in the first half, from ill-timed penalties to turnovers. Se’vaughn Williams fumbled in the opening period just minutes after intercepting a Zach Delaney pass.
Other than a 35-yard completion from Sh’ikem Lee to Joe Connor, Ludden was well-contained by the Tigers’ defense. Then the Gaelic Knights opened a door when Connor muffed a punt inside his own 10 late in the second quarter and Wes Corr recovered for OCS.
Moments later, Delaney scored on a one-yard touchdown sneak with 1:59 left in the half. The conversion was missed, but the Tigers still took a 6-0 lead to the break.
Determined to atone for his earlier mistake, Connor, on Ludden’s first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, took a handoff at his own 25, found the right sideline and was gone 75 yards to the end zone.
Another missed conversion kept it a 6-6 tie, where it stayed deep into the final period. Both defenses forced turnovers, but Ludden made it biggest stop inside its own 10, pushing OCS back with a fourth-down bad snap and a sack from Ze’vion Derby, who finished the night with eight tackles.
With six minutes left, Ludden started a drive at its own 38. Runs from Lee and Tamir Rowser, combined with a 15-yard late-hit penalty on OCS, moved the ball to the Tigers’ five.
On fourth-and-one with 2:48 to play, Connor outraced the OCS defenders to the end zone for the go-ahead TD. Then Ludden’s defense made one more stop inside its own 30 in the waning seconds to earn a league title and clinch an undefeated regular season.
Jordan-Elbridge had already clinched a sectional Class C playoff berth, but wanted to close the regular season with a strong effort at Weedsport – which it did, the Eagles defeating the Warriors 32-19 to improve its record to 5-2.
Weedsport has struggled throughout 2017, and J-E continued that pattern, breaking away with 20 points in the second quarter after Aidan Carpenter’s 10-yard TD run provided the lone points of the opening period.
Dominic Walborn’s pair of scoring passes – 20 yards to Jeremiah Sparks, 54 yards to Nate Melfi – bridged Weedsport’s Max Horsford running 20 yards for a TD. When Walborn scored on a five-yard scramble just before halftime, the Eagles’ lead had stretched to 26-7.
Walborn scored again in the third quarter, capping a drive with a one-yard plunge. With a big lead, J-E relaxed a bit, and Weedsport would close the gap a bit with Riley Bowden throwing late TD passes to Jake O’Connor and Riley Spingler.
J-E managed to grab the no. 4 seed for the sectional Class C playoffs and will be home at John Howes Stadium to face no. 5 seed Sherburne-Earlville in Friday’s opening round, with the winner to get General Brown or Southern Hills in the semifinals.
Ludden would have the top seed for the Class D sectional playoffs, hosting Waterville Friday as the winner would get a semifinal against Sauquoit Valley or Mount Markham.
Back on Saturday afternoon, West Genesee improved to 3-4 on the season, defeating Henninger 39-22 in a game played at Nottingham High School because the Sunnycrest Field turf is getting replaced.
Big plays on both sides of the ball helped the Wildcats grab a 14-0 first-quarter lead. Liam Barry found his favorite receiver, Ben Rustay, for a 28-yard scoring pass, and minutes later Tyler Cook intercepted a Black Knights pass and returned it 70 yards for another TD.
And WG kept going, with Matt Kot’s two-yard scoring run and Barry’s 36-yard TD pass to Brad May that, despite Henninger getting on the board, made it 26-8 at halftime. Noah Sabotino added a second-half score as the Wildcats thwarted the Black Knights’ attempts to get closer.
