Four games are in the books, and it’s four victories for the Liverpool football team as it heads toward what could be its toughest challenge in the quest for another Class AA-1 division regular-season title.
The state Class AA no. 15-ranked Warriors went to Alibrandi Stadium on Friday and had little trouble against Christian Brothers Academy, making big plays on both sides of the ball to beat the Brothers 38-15.
As this went on, Cicero-North Syracuse, rebounding from a shocking defeat at Rome Free Academy the week before, rode a big performance from Mike Washington to a 29-8 victory over Fayetteville-Manlius at Bragman Stadium.
Having not trailed this season, Liverpool finally did so in the first quarter against CBA, seeing a 3-0 lead built by Dominick Scro’s 39-yard field goal answered when the Brothers drove to the Warriors’ one and quarterback Travis Ward converted.
Before the period ended, though, Liverpool had put together its own scoring drive that Bryce Mills finished off with a one-yard touchdown plunge, and unlike some of its previous games, the Warriors didn’t wait until the second half to seize total control.
Twice in the second quarter, Liverpool put together scoring marches, each of them ending on short TD runs by Dakari Mack of one and four yards. Meanwhile, the defense settled down, stifling CBA and helping insure a 24-7 halftime margin.
Mack’s third TD, on a run of 12 yards, expanded the Warriors’ lead further, and it was fitting that the defense closed out Liverpool’s scoring as Kyle Caves returned a fourth-quarter interception 39 yards for six points.
What made Liverpool’s ground attack so effective was the way it spread the ball around. Sophomore Dakari Mack led with 20 carries for 92 yards, with Brendan Mancuso getting 72 yards on the ground and Jacob Vacco adding 70 yards on 11 carries.
First place in the AA-1 division is at stake next Friday when Liverpool travels to Corcoran. The Cougars are 3-1 and coming off a 47-30 victory over Corning.
C-NS and Fayetteville-Manlius both had lost their Class AA-2 division openers – the Northstars to RFA, the Hornets to Utica Proctor. Neither could afford a a second consecutive league loss and stay in the title race.
With particular urgency, C-NS played strong defense from the outset, forcing F-M into bad field position, and the special teams earned the first points when a bad Hornets punt snap led to a safety. On the first play of the second quarter, J.J. Razmovski threw a 21-yard TD pass to Adron Padford.
Then Washington took over, scoring on a 24-yard run less than three minutes after Padford found the end zone. This helped the Northstars withstand the Hornets’ lone TD on a pass from Alex Dauksza to Jordan Leuze and lead 15-8 at the break.
Two minutes into the third quarter, any nerves C-NS may have felt dissipated when Washington broke loose and out-ran Hornets defenders 42 yards to the end zone. Minutes later, again the Northstars had the ball and again Washington made a big play, sprinting 58 yards for his third TD of the night.
Taking over from there, the Northstars’ defense never let F-M answer. Now at 2-2 overall (1-1 league), C-NS hosts West Genesee next Friday, their first encounter since last November’s Section III Class AA final.
