At few points during its run to a 5-0 start and a no. 2 state Class B ranking had the Skaneateles football team faced any real stress.
That nearly changed on Friday night at Al Merola Field, when the 2-3 Solvay Bearcats proved quite feisty and were within range deep into the third quarter.
Only then did the Lakers’ overall quality begin to overwhelm the opposition, and the final 49-14 margin resembled what had taken place during the first five weeks of the season.
The most important aspect of this win was that it clinched the top seed for Skaneateles in the Section III playoffs, since it already beat 5-1 Westhill and Marcellus head-to-head back in September.
Solvay had started the season 0-3, but was coming off back-to-back wins and showed, at the outset, that it was not fazed by the Lakers, even after Cregg Scherrer intercepted a deep Brock Bagozzi pass in the early stages.
In fact, the Bearcats were the first team all season to keep Skaneateles off the board in the first quarter. And even when the Lakers took a 7-0 lead on Pat Hackler’s six-yard touchdown pass to Nate Wellington, Solvay answered.
Bagozzi moved his team to the Skaneateles 28, where he went deep and, when Wellington slipped, Russ Tarbell caught it, going to the end zone as the extra point tied it 7-7.
Hackler countered with a big play, 61 yards to Wellington, setting up Areh Boni’s three-yard TD run. That’s where it stayed at halftime, Solvay only trailing 14-7.
Again, Solvay answered when, after Boni scored again from three yards out, it converted a fourth down on pass interference and, from the Lakers’ two, saw Jaimen Bliss find the end zone.
Past the midway point of the third quarter, Skaneateles only had a 21-14 lead, but one play turned things permanently in the Lakers’ favor.
Positioned at Solvay’s 35, Hackler threw a swing pass to Nick Wamp, who broke two tackles and, speeding down the sideline, scored to make it 28-14 just 71 seconds after Bliss’s TD.
Another long Hackler pass to Wellington, covering 56 yards, set up Boni for a seven-yard TD scamper in the last minute of the period.
Before exiting, Hackler hit Wamp again on a 70-yard scoring pass, and with the reserves on the field, Zach Sears drew lots of cheers by catching James Musso’s 25-yard pass for six points in the late stages.
Skaneateles will visit 1-5 Cortland next Friday in its regular-season finale. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
