A combination of positive results and the reputation earned by a state championship placed the Skaneateles football team at no. 3 in the first state Class B rankings of the season, trailing only Chenango Forks and Glens Falls.
Nothing the Lakers did in Friday night’s game against Westhill at Hyatt Stadium hurt that status as it displayed terrific offensive balance and scored twice on defense during a 47-6 victory over the Warrriors.
Going in, only Skaneateles and Westhill had 2-0 records in the Class B West division, so whoever won would take first place in the league race.
Quickly, the Lakers realized that Westhill was concentrating on pass coverage, specifically trying to make sure that the receiver tandem of Nick Wamp and Nate Wellington did not get open looks for big plays the way they had in lopsided wins over Marcellus and Homer.
So Skaneateles put a greater emphasis on its ground game, and both of Pat Hackler’s first-quarter touchdowns were on scrambles.
Westhill did get on the board in the second quarter, but Areh Boni took over from there, twice scoring to extend the Lakers’ margin to 28-6. All told, Boni amassed 175 yards on 15 carries.
Hackler threw his lone TD pass in the third quarter, eventually completing 12 of 19 passes for 175 yards. But he made his biggest play of the night on the defensive side.
With Skaneateles comfortably in front 35-6, Hackler stepped in front of a Westhill pass and returned it 78 yards for six points. Minutes later, the Lakers’ defense scored again when Luke Viggiano brought back another interception 70 yards for the TD.
In three wins, the Lakers have outscored its opponents a combined 147-35, and the third of four consecutive home games comes next Friday at 7 p.m. when Skaneateles meets Bishop Ludden.
Like the Lakers, the Gaelic Knights were promoted after a successful 2017 season, only it went up two classes, from D to B, and have started 2-1, beating Cortland and Institute of Technology Central, but losing to Marcellus.
