For all of the struggles and missteps it had endured in the last two months, the Baldwinsville football team still had a chance to reach the post-season.
All it took was for the Bees to defeat visiting Fayetteville-Manlius Friday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, which it had done 12 months ago in the opening round of the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Both teams were different now, though, and that was evident in the third quarter of this game as a tight, low-scoring battle broke in the Hornets’ favor, leading the Bees to a 28-7 defeat.
This amounted to an elimination game because F-M was 2-2 in Class AA-2 division play and the Bees were 1-3. Whoever won would get into the playoffs, since a Bees win would create a three-way tie where it, along with Utica Proctor, would advance and the Hornets would get left out.
A solid B’ville defensive effort in the first half made this scenario quite possible, as it blanked F-M after a first-quarter drive that Tim Shaw finished with a two-yard touchdown run.
The Bees forced three turnovers, each of them fumbles that John Hernandez, Devan Osier and Alex Hiltbrand recovered. Mike Letizia had 12 tackles, 11 of them solo, while Christian Treichler got 10 tackles. Hernandez finished with eight tackles as Dan Stehle and Braden McCard had seven tackles apiece.
B’ville pulled even in the second quarter, driving to the Hornets’ one-yard line before McCard dived in for the score. Garrett Selover’s extra point made it 7-7, where it still stood at halftime.
Yet all of this work got undone when the second half got underway as F-M, sensing the urgency of moment, scored on three straight possessions.
Mitchell Seabury, who led the Hornets with 145 yards on 27 carries, pulled his team in front with a seven-yard TD run, and scored again from two yards out a few minutes later. Ethan Page added to that margin by dashing 27 yards to the end zone late in the period.
Meanwhile, the Bees were, for the most part, contained by F-M’s defense. Letizia only had 36 yards on the ground, and that led B’ville as McCard attempted 11 passes, completing just three of them for 28 yards.
