Even with that 2017 state Class C championship securely in its possession, the Skaneateles football team had a reason to feel that it wasn’t a perfect season.
That’s because Homer beat the Lakers 28-21 last October, the lone blemish that Skaneateles would take as the Trojans went on to claim the Section III Class B title.
Now both were in Class B, and reunited on Friday night at Hyatt Stadium. But while the personnel changed (especially for Homer), the hunger for the Lakers to get even had not dissipated one bit.
Overcoming a wild early stretch, Skaneateles accumulated more than 600 yards of total offense, shredding the Trojans through the air and on the ground as it prevailed 56-20 to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Aside from the immediate payback for the Lakers was the satisfaction it got from beating Homer for the first time since 2001, with its full arsenal operating at peak effectiveness.
When Pat Hackler wasn’t connecting on 18 of 27 passes for 371 yards and six touchdowns, Areh Boni, running behind a fast-gelling offensive line, gained 214 yards on 14 carries, an average of better than 15 yards per attempt.
At first, all of that was needed, since Homer twice answered Skaneateles scoring drives with marches of its own and were tied, 14-14, until the Lakers rattled off 42 unanswered points.
Boni’s 33-yard run set up Hackler’s first TD pass, five yards to Nate Wellington. Minutes later, after Homer went in front 8-7, Hackler, from his own 30, went deep over the middle and Wellington, though well-covered, hauled it in, completing the 70-yard scoring play.
But the Lakers didn’t go in front for good until Hackler hit Nick Wamp from 40 yards out, answering Dylan Yacavone’s 16-yard TD that had tied it, 14-14, on the first play of the second quarter.
Even when Hackler threw an interception, he bounced back with five completions for 75 yards on a drive that ended with a 36-yard scoring connection to Will McGlynn down the right sideline.
Any hopes that Homer had vanished when, with 15 seconds left in the half, Hackler, from his own 24, sent one deep down the right sideline and Wellington got to it in stride. Seventy-six yards later, Skaneateles had a 35-14 lead at the break, and was far from finished.
Boni’s second TD, a 27-yard run, highlighted a late surge where Hackler threw five yards to McGlynn for one TD and watched Jack Comer score from five yards out Wamp hit all eight of his extra points while also catching 10 passes for 188 yards.
In addition to his big gains on the ground, Boni anchored a Lakers defense that blanked Homer for more than two quarters, earning 16 tackles as John Danforth got 10 tackles. Jimmy Liberatore had eight tackles and a fumble recovery, with Luke Viggiano getting an interceptio to go with his eight tackles.
Satisfying as this was, Skaneateles won’t get sole possession of first place in the B West division unless it beats Westhill next Friday at 7 p.m. The Warriors have, so far this season, engineered close wins over Institute of Technology Central (18-14) and Solvay (24-21).
