A 21-point second-half deficit to an opponent with seven state championships on its ledger would prove far too difficult for most football teams to handle, even those who have accomplished plenty in their own right.
Yet there was Cicero-North Syracuse in Saturday night’s state Class AA semifinal at Union-Endicott’s Ty Cobb Stadium, having cut that deficit down to seven, moving past midfield and threatening to complete an improbable comeback against Rochester Aquinas.
That valiant effort fell short, though, and the Northstars lost 28-21 to the Little Irish, having suffered a defeat for the second year in a row in this same state semifinal round, but still praised for the effort they put forth.
“I am so proud of the heart and character they showed,” said C-NS head coach Dave Kline. “These kids didn’t roll over and die. They fought.”
Yet the fact that the Northstars had to fight so hard to climb back was, in itself, damaging. Costly mistakes at key moments, from a first-quarter fumble to a string of ill-timed penalties, put Aquinas in control.
And it all took place after C-NS roared out of the gate, scoring just two minutes after the opening kickoff. In three plays, the Northstars moved to the Irish 39, where Conner Hayes threw deep and Shy’rel Broadwater got behind the secondary to catch it and find the end zone.
Those were C-NS’s last points until the third quarter. Hayes was under constant pressure by a quick, aggressive Aquinas pass rush, with receivers unable to get open and the vaunted ground game mostly contained, too.
It was a Jaiqwan McGriff fumble that set up the Irish’s first touchdown, scored when quarterback Tyler Szalakowski rolled out and caught a four-yard scoring pass from Kobe McNair.
Other mistakes piled up, too, from an offsides penalty on fourth down on the first play of the second quarter that gave Aquinas a first down, which it eventually converted to points as, this time, it was McNair catching the five-yard TD pass from Szalkowski.
The Irish duo of Ruben Torres and Caron Robinson both ran well against the C-NS defense, Torres’ gains setting up Robinson’s eight-yard scoring run late in the half that extended the Aquinas margin to 21-7.
To open the second half, the Irish drove 95 yards, mostly on the ground with Torres and Johnson, before Szalkowski again found McNair in the end zone from four yards out.
So it was 28-7, and nearly out of reach, when Jeremiah Willis returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards past midfield. Willis also did most of the work on the short dive that followed, though McGriff went the last 10 yards for the TD.
Now the C-NS defense began to stand up. Jack McDonald’s fourth-quarter sack of Szalkowski forced a fumble that McGriff recovered, setting the Northstars up for a chance to cut further into that 28-14 deficit.
A scoring pass from Hayes to Nate Geloff was negated by another costly penalty, but Aquinas made its own mistake by roughing Hayes to get its own flag. Given a second chance, C-NS converted when McGriff went 10 yards for this second TD of the night with 6:54 left.
Aquinas drove inside the Northstars’ 20, trying to put the game away. It got one more break when C-NS again was whistled for an offside penalty on fourth down, but a bad snap tripped up the Irish as the Northstars were able to make the fourth-down stop.
With 1:57 left, the Northstars gained the ball on its own 15. Down to one time-out, Hayes moved his team just past midfield, only to get sacked on third down and, after the last timeout was used, see his long fourth-down pass broken up near the goal line, allowing Aquinas to run out the clock.
It proved a painful end for C-NS, and especially for seniors like Hayes, Willis, McGriff, Geloff, McDonald, Broadwater, Josh Lawrence and Brady Mills, most of whom were part of a three-season run where the Northstars went 31-3 and grabbed the first two sectional championships in program history.
Yet the ultimate prize remained out of reach as Aquinas will take on New Rochelle next Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Carrier Dome for the state AA championship.
