Something changed in the area Class AA ranks when the Liverpool football team blanked Cicero-North Syracuse 10-0 on Sept. 13, though it took another week to discover the extent of this transformation.
In its home opener Friday at LHS Stadium, the Warriors overcame a slow start against Henninger and, with another big second-half performance on both sides of the ball, defeated the Black Knights 40-14.
Meanwhile, C-NS made its way east to face another group of Black Knights, from Rome Free Academy, a team that won just three games in the last three seasons, and squandered a second-half lead in a 34-27 defeat.
Sitting at no. 17 in the first state Class AA rankings of the fall, Liverpool headed into AA-1 division play, where Henninger was not initially cowed, scoring on the vaunted Warriors defense to grab an early 7-0 lead.
Even when Brendan Mancuso’s long pass to Rodney Quinn set up a Mancuso TD sneak, Liverpool went into halftime tied, 7-7, but just like it did two weeks earlier against Fayetteville-Manlius, Liverpool took over once the third quarter got underway.
It began with a scoring drive that Bryce Mills capped off with the go-ahead score from three yards out, and continued when Mills, now on defense, recorded an interception to set up a Darreon Nixon 25-yard TD dash.
The fourth quarter offered more Liverpool excellence, Malachi Upshur running 13 yards for one score and Gianpaul Cooper dashing 22 yards for another before Brayden McClain capped it off on special teams.
McClain, who had made plenty of big plays in each of the Warriors’ first two wins, did so again by taking a Henninger punt at his own 32 and, breaking several tackles and changing direction, going the full 68 yards to the goal line.
As this was going on, C-NS was getting tested by a Rome Free Academy side ready to cast aside years of struggle and try to reclaim some of its long-lost gridiron glory.
A high-scoring first half saw the Northstars twice reach the end zone, only to have RFA answer with three touchdowns and move out in front, 20-14, before the break.
C-NS controlled the third quarter, scoring twice to go in front 27-20, but it could not hold on. RFA tied it and, with five minutes left, grabbed the lead for good when a short screen pass by Evan Delutis to Vey Baez turned into the game’s biggest play, Baez catching several blocks and going 64 yards for the go-ahead TD.
The Northstars are back at Bragman Stadium next Friday to face Fayetteville-Manlius as Liverpool faces 0-3 Christian Brothers Academy at Alibrandi Stadium.
