Whether it was certain on one side, or stressful on the other side, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool football teams find themselves as part of the Section III Class AA semifinals, one win away from a possible duel in the Carrier Dome.
The undefeated, state no. 3-ranked Northstars rolled past Henninger 48-6 Friday night in the opening round of the sectional playoffs at Bragman Stadium, netting 35 unanswered points in the first half to give head coach Dave Kline his 100th career victory against the Black Knights side he twice coached to sectional titles.
By contrast, the Warriors were trailing Utica Proctor late in the fourth quarter at LHS Stadium, but put together a clutch scoring drive to rally and beat the Raiders 20-14.
In order to win its sixth game in a row, Liverpool actually required two different comebacks, one at the end of each half after Proctor had taken the lead.
Tasean Cooper’s two-yard touchdown run and Saleh Eltayeb’s two-point conversion late in the second quarter had erased a 6-0 Warriors lead gained in the opening period when Alex Ruston used passes to Joe Valerino and Jacob Vacco to set up his own one-yard scoring sneak.
Kept quiet since that point, and having thrown an interception, Ruston made up for it with a march that was sustained by a fourth-down pass interference call and ended when he found Kaleb Ohlemacher in the end zone from eight yards out 28 seconds before intermission.
It stayed 12-7 in Liverpool’s favor through a scoreless third quarter. Bryce Mills, with nine tackles (seven of them solo), was pacing the Warriors’ defense as Antwan Kelly and Jack Sturtz had six tackles apiece.
Yet Proctor stayed close with its own resistance, and a poor Warriors punt deep in its own end turned into go-ahead points for the Raiders when, on fourth-and-three with 7:11 left, Cooper took a handoff at the 13 and, breaking tackles, found the end zone.
Things looked even worse for Liverpool when it fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, but Proctor could not move the ball, which gave the Warriors a reprieve that it did not waste.
Mostly, the Warriors stuck to the ground on its most important drive of the season that covered 75 yards in 11 plays, with Vacco and Cade Clouthier running behind a solid offensive line.
And it was Clouthier who broke free and, with 1:42 to play, dashed 20 yards to the goal line, with Ohlemacher adding a two-point conversion. One more defensive stop helped Liverpool preserve that margin.
Now the Warriors (6-2) can look ahead to a sectional semifinal next Friday at Bragman Stadium against West Genesee (7-1), who handled CBA 38-8 in its first-round game. WG was, of course, where Dave Mancuso served as head coach before coming to Liverpool.
Before that, it’s C-NS against Fayetteville-Manlius, who gave the Northstars its closest game this season, a 35-21 decision on Sept. 22. The rematch was set up when the Hornets won 22-14 at Corcoran as C-NS was running all over Henninger.
While roaring out to a 35-0 halftime lead on the Black Knights, the Northstars had a chance to showcase its special teams, especially its punt return unit.
Nate Geloff’s long return set up Jaiquawn McGriff’s second two-yard TD run late in the first quarter, and after McGriff scored a third time on a two-yard plunge early int he second period, Geloff struck again, taking a Henninger punt at his own 21 and picking up blocks from his Northstars teammates while dashing 79 yards to the end zone.
Jeremiah Willis added a one-yard TD run with 3:48 left in the half, and C-NS scored again in the third quarter, once more driving to the Black Knights one before Da-Ron Brown found the end zone. Alex Knobles added a short TD run right before the period ended.
It figures to get tougher for the Northstars against F-M. The Hornets did not have its top two running backs, Mitchell Seabury and Zach Page, in the lineup for that first meeting. They’re back now, and F-M is bent on keeping its dream of a first sectional title since 2001 alive while denying C-NS a return trip to the Dome.
