In the course of claiming a state Class C championship in 2017 and then starting 8-0 this fall, the Skaneateles football team got most of its notoriety from the passing records set by Pat Hackler while throwing to the likes of Nate Wellington and Nick Wamp.
But as the Lakers reminded everyone in Friday night’s 47-13 victory over Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in the Section III Class B semifinal at Fayetteville-Manlius, it can also beat an opponent with a potent, lethal ground game.
To be sure, Hackler still lit it up through the air, completing 20 of 26 passes for 330 yards, but it was his running ability, along with that of senior tailback Areh Boni, that did the most damage to the Red Devils at crucial moments when the outcome was still in doubt.
Both Hackler and Boni passed the century mark as Hackler gained 120 yards on 11 carries and Boni, aside from his usual duties anchoring the defense, gained 140 yards on 12 carries and scored three times.
The Red Devils were a formidable opponent, having handed Cazenovia its lone loss on Sept. 21 before impressive wins over Oneida to close the regular season and Westhill in the opening round of the playoffs.
And it took a while for Skaneateles to get away from VVS. Boni scored on a 13-yard run midway through the first quarter, and Hackler made it 13-0 by going five yards to the end zone early in the second period.
In between, the Lakers’ defense made a crucial fourth-down stop at its own 10. That grew in importance after Hackler’s lone mistake, an interception by Jacob Horodnick, set up the Red Devils for a TD scored on Tyler Rotach’s five-yard run.
At this point, it was 13-7, but that only lasted a couple of plays.
With the ball on its own 46, the Lakers gave it to Boni, who picked up blocks and took off 54 yards to the end zone, extending the margin to 19-7, where it stood at halftime. By that point, Boni already had 120 yards on the ground.
Yet it was another run that began the Skaneateles getaway. On the second play of the third quarter, Hackler, on his own 32, drifted right, faked an option pitch and then cut back up the middle, his speed far too much for the Red Devils’ defenders as he took off 68 yards for the touchdown.
Two more times in the period, the Lakers would find the end zone, pass plays setting up short TD runs of three yards by both Boni and Hackler, who would later add a nine-yard scoring pass to Wamp.
All of this wore VVS down and sent Skaneateles into next Saturday’s sectional final at 3 p.m. at the Carrier Dome against Cazenovia, who shut out Oneida 40-0 in the other semifinal.
This is the seventh consecutive year that Cazenovia has reached a sectional final, having won four of those times from 2012 to 2016 before dropping last year’s title game to Homer.
