After 10-plus scoreless quarters, the Cicero-North Syracuse football team relented and gave up some points to Liverpool Friday night – a field goal, 26 yards, struck by Ryan Metzler.
This was all that kept the Northstars from recording a third consecutive shutout in the annual “Star Wars Cup” game, for while the Warriors were a bit more stingy than in 2016 and 2017, C-NS still cruised to a 28-3 victory.
The usual big crowd gathered at LHS Stadium, either rooting for the hosts from Liverpool to turn it around after a 7-0 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius, or hoping that C-NS would continue its recent dominance of this series.
It was the Northstars’ defense and special teams that seized early control, winning the battle for field position and getting the only points of the first quarter by forcing a punt deep in Warriors territory that Shy’rel Broadwater returned 30 yards for a touchdown.
Broadwater wasn’t done, catching a seven-yard scoring pass from Conner Hayes in the second period, where C-NS, and future foes, got a glimpse of the impact Jeremiah Willis could have on both sides of the field.
Already a standout in the defensive backfield, Willis used his speed to run away from Warriors defenders on a 57-yard TD run that, with Jaiqwan McGriff’s two-point play, helped build a 21-0 halftime edge.
Capping another strong C-NS drive in the third quarter, Willis, from the Warriors’ eight, ran left, met a wall of defenders and then reversed field, sprinting all the way to the right corner of the end zone.
Metzler’s field goal was Liverpool’s first points this season, but that was all as it fell to 0-2, looking to turn around next Friday at Henninger as C-NS hosts Rome Free Academy at Bragman Stadium.
