CICERO – Quiet despair had transformed itself into electrified hope on the sidelines of the Cazenovia football team in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Section III Class C semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
Once down double digits, the undefeated, state no. 2-ranked Lakers had now tied General Brown, and there was time enough to make one more defensive stop and, perhaps, pull out one of the most dramatic and emotional victories in program history.
Instead, Cazenovia watched as the Lions mounted a clutch drive of its own, found the end zone and then snuffed out the Lakers’ last chance to prevail 30-22 and advance to next Sunday’s sectional final at the JMA Wireless Dome against Holland Patent.
Those who attended this game, whichever team they rooted for, were treated to an emotional contest on a warm, wind-swept afternoon where GB had full command most of the way, only to see Cazenovia battle back.
What made the Lakers’ rally so remarkable was the way it had struggled in so many aspects of the game throughout the early stages, from dropped passes to penalties to a defense pushed around by the Lions’ physical ground attack.
GB led 14-0 before Cazenovia got on the board in the second quarter, J.P. Hoak able to complete a series of passes, including a 30-yarder to Jack Byrnes, before Hoak went the final three yards for the touchdown.
Quickly answering, the Lions’ Gabe Malcolm, who already had a 40-yard TD run, went 52 yards deep into Cazenovia territory, setting up his own three-yard scoring run that made it 22-6, where it stood at halftime.
Things began to turn when the Lakers stopped GB on fourth down inside its own 20 early in the third period, one of several instances where the Lions had a chance to all put the game away.
Another stop in GB territory led to a quick drive as Hoak went 23 yards to Jack Donlin for the TD and also hit Donlin on a two-point pass, cutting the Lakers’ deficit in half to 22-14 with plenty of time left.
Even an injury delay as the Lakers attended to defensive back Alex Kuper early in the final period didn’t faze the Lakes, who got yet another fourth-down stop at its own 26.
A 74-yard scoring march followed, the key play a 10-yard rollout pass to Christian Schug on fourth-and-10. Then, from the Lions’ 26, Hoak threw to the end zone and found Byrnes with 5:32 to play.
Moments later, Brayden Weismore found his way past the goal line for two points. Cazenovia had tied it 22-22 and believed that, unlike 2021 on this same field and in this same round against Skaneateles, it would find a way through to the title game.
It didn’t take long, though, for GB to dash those dreams. Going back to the ground, it used most of the remaining clock and drove inside Cazenovia’s 30 and then changed it up, Aiden McManaman finding Kyler Kovalik-Derrigo on a 25-yard pass.
One play later, with just 42.4 seconds left, Kaleb Natali converted on a five-yard run, with a two-point conversion to follow. Going into a stiff wind, the Lakers’ last chance was snuffed out when Malcolm intercepted Hoak at the Lions’ 33.
Hoak threw 36 passes, completing 17 of them for 233 yards as Byrnes caught seven passes for 119 yards, but the Lakers were held to a season-low 81 yards on the ground, not even one-fifth what the Lions did with 425 rushing yards. Brad Gagnon and Jed Olkowski led Cazenovia’s defense with eight tackles apiece.
