From numerous penalties to defensive breakdowns to a poor pass that sent Conner Hayes to the sidelines, the Cicero-North Syracuse football team made enough mistakes to get itself into trouble in Saturday’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius.
The fact that the state Class AA no. 7-ranked Northstars did enough on both sides of the ball to beat the Hornets 35-21 did not keep players and coaches from the knowledge that it played at a level far from ideal.
Nate Geloff, who produced offensive and defensive touchdowns for C-NS, said that his players may have expected to win big just as it had done with its previous three opponents this season – and for that matter, everyone the Northstars have faced in Section III since the start of 2017.
That it didn’t happen gave everyone on the C-NS side plenty to work on with another big road test this Friday at West Genesee looming, the Wildcats also 2-0 in the Class AA-2 division after it beat Utica Proctor 17-8.
The Northstars and Hornets were supposed to play on Friday, only to have weather concerns move it back. That didn’t faze F-M, though, as it scored on its opening drive, running the ball until Owen Neuman found Jack Nucerino on a 30-yard catch and run for the game’s first TD.
Trailing for the first time all year, the Northstars had Jeremiah Willis promptly returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards deep into Hornets territory, and C-NS ran it in from there, Jaiquawn McGriff going the final three yards for the score.
Hayes found Geloff for a 39-yard strike near the goal line to set up McGriff’s second TD late in the first quarter, but his next throw got picked off by F-M’s Jordan Leuze.
F-M quickly gave it back as Zach Page fumbled at his own 12, recovered by Jack Collins. Now Dominic Isabell replaced Hayes under center, and on fourth down found Geloff in the end zone from seven yards out.
Down 21-7, the Hornets ran off eight-plus minutes on a long march aided by two personal-foul flags on C-NS, scoring with 33 seconds left in the half on Neuman’s five-yard strike to Jack Hannah.
Finally finding itself in a competitive game heading into the third quarter, C-NS built up its margin again by taking the second-half kickoff and working to F-M’s 34, where Hayes rolled out, threw deep and found Shy’rel Broadwater in the end zone.
Even more important, though, was the goal-line stand it made late in the period, several defenders stuffing Neuman on fourth down at the one. That was one of two pivotal defensive plays, the other seeing Geloff jumping in front of a Neuman sideline pass and going 33 yards for the TD with 8:01 left.
That made it 35-14, and though the Hornets battled to the end and Neuman added a 52-yard scoring pass to Hannah midway through the fourth quarter, it could not overcome the depletion of its backfield, with Mitch Seabury out and Page and Trevor Fallon lost to game-ending injuries.
McGriff ran for 167 yards on 16 carries. Hayes, despite his early interception, completed nine of 15 passes for 153 yards, Geloff catching six of those passes for 83 yards as Hayes added 49 rushing yards on seven carries.
