For all the work the Baldwinsville football team had to do, and all the adversity it had to face, it still found itself one victory away from a trip to the state tournament.
But the Bees never got that win as Utica Proctor defeated them 55-14 Saturday night at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Sheveron Field, the Raiders program earning its first-ever berth in the sectional finals.
Much more was at stake besides the usual trip to the Dome at Syracuse University for the sectional title game.
Due to a new state playoff format that eliminated byes in the quarterfinal round, the runner-up from Section III would get an at-large bid along with the sectional champions.
As such, whoever won between B’ville and Proctor would guarantee to have its season continue with a Nov. 16 regional final, regardless of the result of the sectional title game in the Dome.
That was motivation enough for the Bees. So was the fact that Proctor handled them 34-17 when the two first met early in October at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
And for a brief moment, B’ville thought it could keep up, answering the Raiders’ first scoring drive and two-point conversion by having Braden McCard throw deep and find Pat May for a 78-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter.
Instead of getting rattled by this, Proctor quickly countered with a big play of its own, Brandon Peterson throwing 47 yards to Saleh Eltayeb to extend its margin to 14-7, and that only proved the beginning.
With a big, powerful front line, the Raiders’ ground game did nearly anything it wanted. Twice in the second quarter, Proctor found the end zone, Tasean Cooper going 25 yards for one TD and Zhani James dashing 28 yards for another.
Already in front 29-7 at halftime, the Raiders did not let up, breaking four big scoring plays in the second half, starting with Peterson’s 75-yard TD strike to Eltayeb.
Cooper added scoring runs of 52 and 59 yards, part of a night where he gained 222 yards on the ground, while Michael Reali scored from 43 yards out. B’ville’s lone second-half tally came on a one-yard TD plunge by Dylan Banks.
It was Banks leading the Bees on the ground with 72 yards on eight carries as McCard, other than his early TD pass, completed just two other passes in his nine attempts.
Dan Ewald led the defense with nine tackles as May added eight tackles. Kolby Hahn and Jesse Flynn had seven tackles apiece, Cameron Jessen and Robert Hamm each recording five tackles.
Proctor advanced to a sectional final this Saturday night at the Dome against defending champion Cicero-North Syracuse, who at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium rallied from a 28-7 halftime deficit to stun Cicero-North Syracuse 35-28 in the other semifinal.
