MADISON COUNTY – It would take more than one victory for the Cazenovia football team to serve full notice to all other Class C challengers about its restored championship intentions.
So eight days after a 31-7 romp at Solvay, the Lakers were on the familiar grass of Buckley-Volo Field, tackling a Lowville side which won the last Section III Class C title handed out in 2019 but had lost its opener to Holland Patent.
And it was the Red Raiders getting the jump – but the rest of the game belonged to Cazenovia, who steadily wore down Lowville’s defenses and found the end zone five times on the way to a 38-12 victory.
If there was any concern about complacency in the wake of the Solvay win, a Red Raiders touchdown on a long run early in the first quarter stamped it out.
The Lakers’ 6-0 deficit did not last long. It promptly drove to Lowville’s 15-yard line, from where quarterback J. P.Hoak dashed to the goal line and Tanner Ackerman’s extra point put Cazenovia in front.
Before the period, the margin had grown to 14-6 thanks to another Lakers drive that A.J. Rothfeld finished off with a one-yard plunge.
Peter McCole starred in the game’s middle stages, scoring himself on a 10-yard run and then, in the third quarter, rolling out to pass from his own 45, throwing deep and finding Andrew Kent for the longest TD of the afternoon.
Rothfeld tacked on a second short-yardage TD and completed a 30-yard pass to go with McCole’s long TD throw. This made up for Hoak’s modest total of eight of 18 completions for 87 yards, though he added 49 yards on the ground. McCole ran for 79 yards on nine carries.
Cazenovia’s defense was not as stingy as it was with Solvay, giving up 339 total yards. Still, it made the stops it needed as Rothfeld piled up six tackles, four of them for losses, and 10 assists, with Jed Olkowski getting nine assists and Caden Schug adding five tackles,
So the Lakers would take a 2-0 record into Saturday’s game at 0-2 Clinton, while Chittenango would face undefeated New Hartford with some momentum following last Friday’s 45-26 victory over Westhill.
Aiden Cavotta would have a big night, starting with a first-quarter 36-yard TD pass to Hunter Taylor, and he and the Bears wouldn’t get fazed even after the Warriors streaked out in front 20-8.
Just before halftime, Cavaotta again found Taylor deep, this one covering 50 yards, and a five-yard TD scramble plus a two-point conversion meant that Chittenango led 22-20 at the break.
Again, Westhill took the lead in the third quarter on Geoff Daniul’s eight-yard run, but again the Bears answered, Cavotta going on a 27-yard scoring dash.
That gave Chittenango the lead for good, and it put things away with fourth-quarter TD runs of 14 yards by Martez Webb and 26 yards by Quentin Mohamed.
Aside from completing 15 of 27 passes for 186 yards, Cavotta also ran for 111 yards on 17 carries. Mohamed added 79 yards on 12 carries, with Ethan Robles earning four receptions for 47 yards.
