VESTAL – Back in the high-pressure setting of the state tournament for the first time since 2016, the Christian Brothers Academy football team is in the mood of constantly reminding everyone about its restored capabilities.
Having knocked off the top three seeds on the way to the Section III championship, the Brothers maintained its post-season momentum against Union-Endicott in Friday night’s Class A final at Vestal’s Dick Hoover Stadium.
And it was CBA’s defense taking a featured role by forcing the Tigers into five first-half turnovers, which led to 28 unanswered points and an eventual 42-0 victory.
Having jumped all over Indian River with 26 unanswered first-half points in the sectional final a week earlier, the Brothers topped it, building another big margin on the Tigers by picking off U-E quarterback Max Sementelli five times in those first two quarters.
Entering the night at 8-2, the Tigers were at no. 20 in the state Class A rankings, two spots behind the Brothers at no. 18. But the separation between the two proved far greater than those rankings would show.
U-E’s first turnover led to CBA getting in front late in the opening period, the Brothers driving to the three-yard line before Dan Anderson, so vital to the team’s entire post-season run in all phases of the game, found the end zone.
Minutes later, the Brothers were on the move again, getting to the Tigers’ five where, on the first play of the second quarter, Anderson earned his second touchdown, a missed extra point keeping it at 13-0.
Within a five-minute span, the margin doubled. Tristan Kofronta’s interception (he had two in the first half) led to another TD when Jordan Rae found Sayir Torrence in the end zone, followed by a successful two-point conversion.
Amari Pitts got in front of another Tigers pass for the Brothers’ third interception of the half, returning it to the U-E 13 and leading to Anderson’s third TD on a three-yard run.
Any U-E comeback hopes got dashed when CBA got in front of two other Sementelli passes, one of them just before halftime as the 28-0 margin held.
Jamier Handford tacked on his own three-yard TD run midway through the third quarter, and Rae scored on a one-yard sneak early in the final period.
So now the Brothers are two wins away from a state title and won’t have to travel far for either of those games. Next Friday at 8 p.m. it’s CBA against Section VI champion Jamestown in the state semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
Jamestown, who beat Canandaigua 35-14 in the West Regional game, has won four state championships, its most recent in 2014 when it was still in Class AA. CBA’s lone state title was won in Class AA in 2004.
The winner between CBA and Jamestown gets to the Carrier Dome for the Dec. 3 state final against Rye or Somers.
