Names might change, and styles might evolve, but the Cazenovia football team remains consistent – and far too much for most of its opponents to handle.
The Lakers jumped all over Mexico in Saturday afternoon’s season opener at Buckley-Volo Field, not letting up until it had topped the Tigers 53-7.
Mexico went 4-4 a season ago and didn’t seem a pushover, at least until the game’s third play, when with a chance to pick up a first down it fumbled a snap and James Pavelchak recovered.
That turned into points when Drew Johnson, taking over at quarterback for Matt Regan, scored on a three-yard run, and far more would follow.
Having stopped Mexico on fourth down at midfield midway through the first quarter, Cazenovia put together another short scoring drive finished off by Tony Heaney’s 10-yard touchdown run.
Before the period was done, the Lakers made it 19-0 as junior Ryan Romagnoli began to take over, dashing 20 yards down the sidelines to set up his own two-yard scoring plunge.
Barely a minute into the second quarter, the show really started. Johnson, scrambling from the Mexico 48, went to the sideline, only to fake going out of bounds, cut back across the middle and go untouched to the end zone.
Now up 26-0, the Lakers switched it up and put the 5-foot-8, 142-pound Romagnoli at quarterback, swinging Johnson out wide. After two completions, Romagnoli flung it over the middle and Johnson did the rest, a 59-yard TD completion.
By halftime, Cazenovia was already using its defensive reserves, but they were good enough to keep the Tigers off the board until the fourth quarter. Ben Knutsen led with seven tackles, while Dan Hammond assisted on five other tackles.
Romagnoli, who added a 20-yard TD run in the third quarter, finished with 91 yards on 10 carries. Johnson added 78 yards on seven carries, while Pavelchak caught a 64-yard scoring pass from Ty Freyer.
Cazenovia is on the road next Friday at Central Valley Academy, who dropped its opener 24-6 to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill. After that, the Lakers play three straight at home to round out September.
Two days before the Lakers played, Chittenango debuted, having moved to Cazenovia’s Class B East division this season, and it also went quite well as the Bears shut out the Camden Blue Devils 27-0.
After a decade in the B West division, Chittenango’s move to a league with more of its closest neighbors and rivals was exciting enough. What the Bears did only had to make its fans happier.
It all started on defense, where three different times Francis Cerio intercepted Camden passes. Keith Spurgeon stood out, too, with seven tackles, three of them solo.
With the game still 0-0 in the second quarter, the Bears put together its first scoring drive that Cerio finished off with a three-yard plunge, the only points of the half.
Chittenango then got away with 13 points in the third period. Two drives went to the Blue Devils’ goal line, from where Cerio scored again on a one-yard plunge and quarterback Brian Lamaitis ran three yards for another.
Lamaitis added a two-yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter, having carried seven times overall for 65 yards, trailing only Cerio, whose 99 yards came on 23 carries. Spurgeon added a 40-yard pass completion as Nate Smith had a 35-yard run.
This Friday, the Bears are on the road, taking on a New Hartford team that dropped a close season opener to Oneida in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome.
