More than ever, the Solvay football team has a reason to think that a decade mostly spent in despair is about to end, replaced by the sort of gridiron glory the Bearcats once claimed on a regular basis.
Taking a long road trip north to South Jefferson on Friday night, Solvay broke out with its high-flying attack in the second quarter and continued to pull away until it had defeated the Spartans 40-14.
The Bearcats share first place in Class B West with Marcellus, who again had no trouble on its home field, cruising to a 39-13 victory over the Cortland Purple Tigers.
As that went on, Bishop Ludden, beaten by South Jefferson in its Sept. 6 opener, turned it around against its next-door neighbors from Westhill with timely big plays that led to a 26-6 victory over the Warriors.
Solvay’s hot start, combined with a favorable early schedule, could mean that the Bearcats secure a long-elusive Section III playoff berth by October.
A scoreless first quarter at South Jefferson caused some brief concern, but that faded away when Brock Bagozzi, from the Spartans’ 41, went deep and found a wide-open Blaine Franklin for the go-ahead touchdown two minutes into the second period.
Less than three minutes later, it was 12-0, the Bearcats driving to the Spartans’ one before Bagozzi scored on a sneak. And with 38 seconds left in the half, Bagozzi drilled a 10-yard TD pass to Franklin.
South Jefferson did grab a quick TD of its own seconds later and cut Solvay’s lead to 18-8 at the break, but instead of rattling the Bearcats, it only made them more determined to put the game away.
Tyriq Block scored from 25 yards out on Solvay’s first possession of the second half. Late in the third quarter, another Bearcats drive started and Elijah Wright capped it off with a three-yard TD plunge.
Block capped it off with a 35-yard dash to the end zone with 8:04 to play as he gained 90 yards on nine carries, with Jaimen Bliss running 16 times for 105 yards.
Bagozzi completed 13 of 24 passes for 144 yards, most of his passes going to Franklin or Brendon Carolina, who had nine completions for 78 yards.
It turned out just as lopsided with Marcellus against Cortland, though in this case it was the Mustangs relying on an unstoppable ground game to wear the Purple Tigers down.
Nick Kermes led the way, gaining 201 yards on 20 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Sean Tierney added 115 yards on 14 carries and Wilvon McKee scored twice while gaining 85 yards on nine carries.
Meanwhile, Westhill, fresh off its Sept. 6 season-opening win over Homer, expected to roll again when it faced Bishop Ludden, but instead found itself unable to score early, stopped inside the Gaelic Knights’ 10-yard line during the opening period.
The Gaelic Knights took control with two plays. Early in the second quarter, pinned at his own three-yard line, Ludden quarterback Nazier Kinsey found a seam in Westhill’s defense and outran everyone on a 97-yard dash to the other end zone.
Still reeling from this, Westhill saw Kinsey strike again when, from his own 25, he threw deep and found Antwon McMullen, the 75-yard touchdown extending the Gaelic Knights’ edge to 13-0 by halftime.
Even when Garvin Kinney’s 13-yard scoring pass to Jose Gonzalez got the Warriors on the board in the third quarter, Ludden absorbed it and put together two clutch drives, Kinsey finishing each of them with TD runs of 13 and three yards.
In defeat, Westhill’s Riley McNitt ran for 108 yards on 23 carries, but never broke the big run his team needed. Kinney completed 11 of 22 passes for just 67 yards, running for 67 yards on eight carries.
Now Westhill would go to Cortland this Friday, just as Ludden would try and challenge Solvay on the Gaelic Knights’ home field and Marcellus would make a crucial trip to Homer.
