BALDWINSVILLE – Urgency in football can either paralyze a team, or bring out its best effort.
Baldwinsville felt that urgency going into Friday night’s game against Utica Proctor, having endured consecutive defeats to Cicero-North Syracuse and Christian Brothers Academy to fall back in the Class AA standings.
With that in mind, along with the fact that this was the last regular-season home game for the senior class, B’ville played well right from the outset, especially on defense, and worked its way to a 23-6 victory to move back into third place behind CBA and C-NS.
All the points the Bees would need came in the first quarter with a march to Proctor’s one-yard line, from where fullback Nick Foster scored and Griffin Killian added the extra point.
Then, adding to its 7-0 lead in the second period, B’ville twice would convert, another drive leading to Greg Marinelli’s two-yard touchdown plunge and Killian recording a 30-yard field goal just before halftime.
That 17-0 cushion felt a lot safer the way the Bees’ defense was playing. Anything Proctor tried in the game’s decisive early stages stalled out.Killian, having another fine all-around performance, recorded eight tackles to lead the unit.
Foster, who recovered a fumble forced by Mike Madonna, and Toby McIntyre each had six tackles, with Aaron Clark and Lucas Houghton getting five tackles apiece. Marinelli got an interception as he, along with Andre Rathbun and Lucas Fawcett, each got four tackles.
Proctor’s only points came on Jerquell Henderson’s one-yard TD run in the third quarter, but the Bees did not allow anything more and clinched it late when Brandon Levin dashed 21 yards to the end zone with 7:27 to play.
For the night, Levin ran for 101 yards on 20 carries. Marinelli not only gained 93 yards on just nine carries, he completed five of six passes for 99 yards, with Killian catching three of those passes for 60 yards.
B’ville’s two remaining regular-season games are on the road, starting next Friday when it takes on Class A West Genesee in its only non-league game. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
