Through three weeks, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool football teams remain without a blemish.
The Northstars made it 3-0 Friday night at Union-Endicott, building a big early margin on the way to a 42-27 victory over the Tigers while, at LHS Stadium, the Warriors rolled past Henninger 34-6.
When the first state Class AA football rankings of the fall were released, C-NS was at no. 10, two spots behind Christian Brothers Academy and fourth among those contesting for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association title later this fall.
But while CBA had to stage a fourth-quarter comeback to prevail 49-40 over the same Corning side the Northstars handled 48-8 a week earlier, C-NS put away Union-Endicott, a state Class A finalist in 2022, by scoring all 42 of its points in the first half.
A pair of early touchdowns had the Northstars in front 14-0 before a scoring blitz late in the second quarter started by Miy’Jon McDowell Reid’s short scoring run.
Then the passing game struck twice, Jaxon Razmovski finding Tristan Johnson for a TD strike and, after U-E got on the board, throwing deep to tight end James Magda to set up Leonzo Zimmerman converting from 10 yards out.
And when Connor Bednarski recorded an interception on U-E’s next play from scrimmage, the Northstars had enough time to score again, Razmovski’s second TD pass to Johnson in the waning seconds leaving it 42-7 at the break.
Though C-NS didn’t score in the second half, it played strong defense until the Tigers were able to net a pair of late touchdowns against the Northstars’ reserves.
As that went on, Liverpool was just happy to have a nice evening of weather, a contrast to what happened a week earlier, when its game at Elmira was abandoned in the second quarter to persistent rain and lightning.
It was “Orange Out” night, with the student section dressed in orange as the school honored its Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2023 and the football team produced a fine all-around performance against the Black Knights.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Warriors scored twice in the second to build at 14-0 halftime margin, then nearly doubled that margin to 27-0 in the third period to put the game away.
Owen Brown led the way, gaining 135 yards on 24 carries and finding the end zone three times. Tymir Scott added 49 yards and a TD as John Sindoni was 12-for-27 for 121 yards and a TD pass to Jordan Grandinetti.
Liverpool’s defense, which gave up 44 points to Ballston Spa in its Sept. 1 opener, kept Henninger off the board until the fourth quarter and only allowed 210 total yards. Tyler Vivacqua made four of five extra points.
Now the Warriors have back-to-back games on the road, starting next Saturday at Utica Proctor, where the game will kick off at 10:15 a.m., the morning after C-NS ventures to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium to face 0-3 Baldwinsville.
