Out of long and deep shadows, the Solvay football team emerged this fall in the most brilliant of manners, so it was only fitting that this turnaround ended with a Section III Class B championship.
Leaning on its defense to make crucial plays and getting just enough points, the Bearcats defeated Oneida 14-7 Saturday night in the Dome at Syracuse University to win its first sectional title since 2002.
“The past is the past,” said quarterback Brock Bagozzi. “This (championship) is very special. It was a great team effort, and we played the game we wanted.”
“Sometimes you have to find a way to win,” said head coach Dan Salisbury. “We had a tremendous effort from everyone, and I’m proud of that.”
Given the wild, high-scoring nature of so many of its landmark games this fall (including exciting wins over Marcellus, Homer, Cazenovia and New Hartford), it was surprising that the sectional final featured tremendous defense, on both sides.
Solvay’s 14 points were the fewest it has scored this season, but it never trailed as, every time it was needed, the Bearcats were able to shut Oneida down.
“We have a great defense,” said Bagozzi. “They saved me lots of times.”
Led by the likes of Tyriq Block, Xzavier Morris, Jaimen Bliss and Isaiah Wright, the Bearcats smothered the Indians throughout the first half, twice stopping Oneida on drives into Solvay territory and not allowing a play longer than Jordan Clark’s 30-yard pass to Will Merrell.
More importantly, the defense gave the Bearcats good field position throughout the first half. And though the Indians were plenty tough, Solvay did put together a 58-yard drive, mixing in runs and passes until Wright scored on a four-yard run early in the second quarter.
Still, a 7-0 halftime lead was far from safe. Oneida had rallied from a deficit twice as large to defeat Marcellus in the sectional semifinals, so no one on Solvay’s sideline could afford to relax.
And there was more reason to feel tense after Clark twice found Merrell on long rollout passes to set up Drew Smith’s 11-yard touchdown run that, with Smith’s extra point, tied it 7-7 in the third quarter.
Yet if the Bearcats ever let that pressure show, it didn’t take long to answer as, with Wright and Franklin pounding it on the ground, Solvay went 67 yards, but when it faced third-and-goal on the Oneida eight early in the final period, it resorted to something quite familiar to old-time Syracuse football fans.
Bagozzi, again under pressure by a tough Solvay pass rush that had bothered him all night and took away his deep passing game, rolled right, but then threw left – where Justin Scott was standing alone in the end zone, easily grabbing the go-ahead score.
Twice in the fourth quarter, Oneida crossed midfield. Both times, Solvay stopped them on fourth down, one with a clutch tackle from three defenders, the other on a pass broken up by Franklin.
Still, it wasn’t sealed until, on third-and-eight near midfield in the waning minutes and the Indians out of timeouts, Bagozzi again turned to Scott for a 16-yard pass for a clutch first down.
That allowed the Bearcats to run out the clock- and celebrate its long-awaited return to glory with a large contingent of Solvay fans that had traveled the 6.5 miles to the Dome they had all talked about since the summer.
Two more wins are needed if the 10-0 Bearcats are to return to the Dome to play for a state title. And that includes next Saturday’s regional final against Section IV champion (and state no. 1-ranked) Chenango Forks at Vestal High School, near Binghamton.
No matter what happens there, said Salisbury, “we’ll enjoy this one.”
They had a right to. Solvay had waited long enough.
