CICERO – What was true nearly 11 months ago remains the case – in area Class AA football, Baldwinsville, and everyone else, must still find a way to topple Cicero-North Syracuse.
The Bees tried to do so Friday night at Bragman Stadium and did have a lead late in the second quarter, but watched as the Northstars gained control and pulled away late, handing B’ville a 41-19 defeat.
This was the first time these teams were together since last fall’s Section III final at the JMA Wireless Dome, where the Bees were close most of the way before C-NS prevailed and claimed its fourth consecutive sectional title.
Fresh off two opening wins where it had outscored Rome Free Academy and Liverpool by a combined 95-34, B’ville would instead lean on its defense early to keep the Northstars from getting away.
Four times in the first half, C-NS found itself in Bees territory, but scored only once. B’ville’s defense made a fourth-down stop, Greg Marinelli intercepted a pass inside his own 10 and, late in the second quarter, Julian Floyd recovered a Northstars fumble.
Meanwhile, the Bees went without a first down in the first quarter, but Marinelli threw two deep passes to Griffin Killian to get the offense going.
A 37-yard grab by Killian set up Marinelli’s eight-yard scoring run. Then, right after Floyd’s fumble recovery, Marinelli, from his own 31, scrambled, went long again – and Killian got it, completing a 69-yard touchdown play.
So with 46 seconds to play in the half, B’ville led 12-7, but it didn’t last long.
C-NS quarterback Jaxon Razmovski connected with Tristan Johnson on a 58-yard passs deep into B’ville territory. A 13-yard pass to Zuriel Dickerson put it on the one and Razmovski scored from there, pushing C-NS in front 13-12 going into the break.
Then the Bees fumbled on the first play of the third quarter. Again with a short field, the Northstars turned to Jayceon McGrew, whose 29-yard run on a sweep set up Razmovski’s three-yard TD pass to Johnson.
McGrew made an even bigger play when, after a 47-yard completion rom Marinelli to Kaleb Paul set up another B’ville scoring chance, he forced a Nico Wellman fumble at the Northstars’ six that Roemellow Robinson recovered.
A 94-yard drive followed where Razmovski missed a couple of plays, but returned and netted his third TD run from four yards out early in the final period, stretching C-NS’s lead to 27-12.
Again B’ville fought back, Marinelli’s 49-yard scramble leading to a four-yard scoring run with 7:57 left, but the Northstars put it away with a 77-yard march.
Razmovski found Johnson in the end zone from 17 yards out with 4:45 left, and Farouk Ibrahim added a last-minute TD, making the margin far more lopsided than the game really was.
All told, Marinelli completed six of eight passes for 172 yards and ran 12 times for 92 yards. Toby McIntyre led the defense with nine tackles, with Paul and Trevor Valenti each earning eight tackles as Nick Foster got seven tackles and Andre Rathbun six tackles.
Now B’ville must face another massive test when unbeaten, reigning state Class A champion Christian Brothers Academy comes to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium next Friday. Kickoff is at 6:30.
