CENTRAL NEW YORK – Already this season, the Cazenovia football team had proven it could make big defensive plays when they were needed at individual moments.
Something more comprehensive was required, though, when the state Class C no. 2-ranked Lakers went to Fayetteville-Manlius Saturday for a showdown with fellow unbeaten Solvay.
And once more, that Cazenovia defensive unit decided matters, forcing four first-half turnovers and keeping the potent Bearcats off the board until the fourth quarter on the way to a 33-14 victory.
At the outset, it was all about stopping Solvay running back Jaysin Bliss, who the previous week had tallied 371 yards on the ground in a 41-32 win over Marcellus.
Any time he got the ball, though, Bliss found himself swarmed by a fast, aggressive Cazenovia front seven that, led by Jack Macro, never gave Bliss any running room.
What cost Solvay more, though, was its own mistakes, especially two fumbled snaps in its own territory that the Lakers recovered and turned into touchdowns.
Exazander Sizmer’s recovery in the first quarter led to Bobby Livingston’s 13-yard scoring pass to Taven Reilley. And when the Bearcats fumbled another snap inside its own 20 and Evan Rice fell on it, it led to six points on Jack Donlin’s two-yard run.
Even more damaging was a trio of plays in the game’s middle stages that frustrated Solvay’s efforts.
Christian Schug had intercepted Jakob Frost on fourth down at his own five-yard line. On the very next play, Brayden Weismore took an option pitch on the right, found a seam down the sideline and took off 95 yards for the season’s longest TD play.
Not to be left out, Livingston scrambled 36 yards for another TD late in the third quarter that made it 27-0, by which point Frost was out of the game, Macro having forced a fumble and recovered it just before halftime.
Even when Solvay did get on the board twice in the fourth quarter, it came along with a Lakers’ defensive touchdown, Judah Ossont returning an interception 28 yards for six points.
All told, Cazenovia limited the Bearcats to 216 total yards. Macro finished with five assists to go with his three tackles as Bryce Enders assisted on seven tackles. Weismore got most of his 144 rushing yards on that long TD run as Livingston added 74 yards on 16 carries.
A night earlier, Chittenango, moving to 3-2 on the season, took down Mexico 40-8 to cap its own Homecoming festivities with a festival of big plays in the early going.
All the Bears did in the first quarter was score three touchdowns to seize a 22-0 advantage, getting all the momentum it needed when Evan Lindsey blocked a Tigers punt and the defense fell on it in the end zone.
Then the defense struck again when Larson Leffew returned a Mexico fumble 55 yards for six points. The two-point conversion made it 16-0, and the Bears’ offense joined in late in the period when Jack Lamphere threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Zailor Caras.
Pinned at its own 12 in the second quarter, all Chittenango did was see Lamphere find Hunter Taylor, who took it 88 yards to the other end zone. Up 28-0 at the half, the Bears added a pair of short TD runs by Lamphere and Robert Pierce in the third quarter.
Defensively, Sean Eiffe had a team-best six tackles, with Pierce adding five tackles. Ed Geer, Tim Dunn and Braydon Smith had four tackles apiece and Seamus Gardner added an interception.
Home again next Friday, Chittenango faces Institute of Technology Central, while Cazenovia puts its 4-0 mark on the line at Bishop Ludden. Both games kick off at 6:30.
