Only a few points kept the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool football teams from renewing their neighborhood rivalry in the Carrier Dome with the Section III Class AA championship at stake.
The undefeated Northstars had no trouble getting to the sectional final for the third year in a row, using a dominant first half to put away Fayetteville-Manlius in Friday’s AA semifinal at Bragman Stadium on the way to a 46-7 victory.
In the second semifinal that followed, Liverpool, facing West Genesee, forced three turnovers and led twice, yet could not hold on and took a 17-14 defeat to the Wildcats.
The task state no. 3-ranked C-NS faced against F-M seemed a formidable one, since the Hornets, without its top two running backs (Mitchell Seabury and Zach Page) in the lineup, gave the Northstars a good battle on Sept. 22 in a 35-21 decision, and both Seabury and Page were back.
Yet that very fact may have hurt the Hornets, since C-NS remembered how poorly it played in that game. Quarterback Conner Hayes said his team watched lots of film of that game and used it to make small adjustments against F-M’s defense.
Running back Jaiquawn McGriff said the changes that had to be made were as much about pace as it was execution. “We had to play fast and match their intensity,” he said.
The result, said McGriff, was a first half as good as any he’s experienced in a Northstars uniform, and he set the tone, gaining all the yards in a game-opening 81-yard march which included a screen pass and plenty of runs, the last two of them for a touchdown.
Hayes had to wait until a near-miss a few minutes later to strike what proved to be a decisive blow.
With the score still 7-0, Hayes threw a poor pass right into the hands of F-M linebacker Jack Nucerino – but he dropped it. Given a big reprieve, Hayes, on the very next play, took a shotgun snap, cut back left and was gone, 64 yards to the end zone.
Yet that was just the teaser for a 27-point second quarter that secured the Northstars’ latest trip to the Dome.
From his own 33 early in the period, Hayes threw a screen pass to McGriff, who took off up the right sideline, then cut back on a 67-yard TD sprint. This was part of an effort where McGriff caught five passes for 79 yards and ran for 87 yards on 11 carries.
Another big play came when Hayes, from the Hornets’ 33, threw over the middle to Nate Geloff at the 15, who it took it the rest of the way to make it 27-0. For the game, Hayes completed 14 of 18 passes for 306 yards.
In the last two minutes of the half, C-NS forced a pair of F-M turnovers and converted them into 13 points. McGriff’s interception and a fumble recovery on consecutive Hornets possessions led to Da-Ron Brown scoring on runs of one and four yards, part of a night where Brown had 81 yards on just six carries.
Hayes added a two-yard TD pass to Drew Bristow early in the fourth quarter as C-NS could relax now and focus on what happened in the second semifinal, Liverpool attempting to deny West Genesee its first sectional finals berth since 2011
On its opening possession, the Warriors’ pounded away against the normally stout WG defense for a 69-yard drive, all on the ground, Jacob Vacco going the final yard for the touchdown.
Throughout the early stages, Liverpool’s defense frustrated the Wildcats, stopping them twice deep in its own territory without giving up points. Malachi Upshur intercepted a Tyler Cook pass near the goal line to end one drive, and a sack and penalty thwarted another march that reached inside the Liverpool 10 early in the second quarter.
However, when Chandler McAvan pounced upon a Liverpool fumble and returned it to the one-yard line right after that second missed opportunity, Cook sneaked in on the next play, Riley Small’s extra point tying it 7-7.
That’s where it stayed until halftime, and Liverpool had a great chance when Taj Pringle stripped WG on the second-half kickoff, but it could not score. Then the Warriors halted another long Wildcats drive stall inside the 10, leading to Small’s 28-yard field goal.
Late in the period, Joe Valerino intercepted Cook and returned it to midfield, setting up a short field for Liverpool. Twice, the Warriors converted fourth downs, including fourth-and-goal when Cade Clouthier scored from two yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to put his team on top 14-10.
But WG answered by marching 78 yards, mostly on runs by Brad May, Exavier Brumfield, Esisas Brumfield and Eddie Hebert. It was Hebert’s 20-yard run near the goal line that set up his own go-ahead score on a one-yard plunge with 7:36 left.
Liverpool still had time, and again used its ground attack to drive inside WG’s 30. Here, though, the Wildcats’ defense stood up, pushing the Warriors back and making a fourth-down stop, Christian Rossi breaking up an Alex Ruston pass.
WG used a pair of first downs to run out the clock and clinch its trip to the Dome, where next Sunday at 6 p.m. it challenges a C-NS side that beat them 27-10 in Camillus on Sept. 28.
Hayes said that his team isn’t content with just repeating as sectional champions, but wants a lot more .
“We want a (state championship) ring on our fingers,” he said.
