ONONDAGA COUNTY – What happened in a seven-day mid-season stretch would largely determine if the Christian Brothers Academy football team would place itself atop the area Class AA pyramid heading into the post-season late in October.
And while Friday’s showdown with Cicero-North Syracuse will garner a majority of the hype, the Brothers first had to withstand the challenge of 3-0 Liverpool in last Saturday’s Homecoming game at Alibrandi Stadium.
As it turned out, though, once it made one stunning play near the end of the first half, CBA took full command and did not let up until it had won by a 62-0 margin and could turn its attention to C-NS.
Thanks to a pair of scoring drives and a safety, the Brothers found itself up 14-0 late in the second quarter – comfortably in front, but still vulnerable to a Liverpool resurgence, especially since it was pinned at its own 15-yard-line.
Then Jamier Handford took a handoff, ran right, then thew long with his left arm to midfield. Amid traffic, Syair Torrence caught it, broke several tackles and took off the rest of the way for an 85-yard touchdown.
A single play galvanized the Brothers and demoralized the Warriors at the same time. CBA went on to net 28 points in the third quarter on four Porter Matt TD passes, two of them to Jason Brunson, one each to Torrence and Daunte Bacheyie.
For the game, Matt was 16-for-33 for 266 yards and five touchdowns. Torrence caught six passes for 156 yards and two scores as Handford, aside from his big play through the air, had 10 carries for 66 yards.
Now it’s CBA against C-NS for the first time since the Northstars won last November’s sectional Class AA final at the JMA Dome. On the way to a 5-0 start, C-NS has scored 199 points, and allowed most of its points when its starters went out late in games.
Elsewhere in local football, East Syracuse Minoa has overcome an 0-2 start with three victories in a row, continuing last Friday when it turned back Watertown 41-21.
Fayetteville-Manlius concluded a brutal slate of September games when it went to Bragman Stadium last Thursday and, facing C-NS, took a 40-7 defeat to the Northstars.
Though it did not resemble the 39-point first-quarter blitz CBA unleashed on them a week earlier, the Hornets again found it difficult to contain an overpowering Northstars side that scored on offense with Jaxon Razmovski’s trio of TD passes but also on a fourth-quarter punt return of 68 yards by Mason Mingle.
Jamesville-DeWitt also had a difficult time getting on the board, running up against a solid Sherburne-Earlville defense that seized the spotlight and shut down the Red Rams 26-0.
Aside from a first-quarter Marauders TD, neither side did much in the first half. But a 6-0 deficit grew when, in the third quarter, S-E struck twice, once with a long drive that led to Darren Miles’ one-yard sneak and then with Ethan Shaw breaking loose on a 65-yard end-zone dash. Miles added a scoring pass in the fourth quarter.
Bishop Grimes was at home Saturday, facing defending sectional eight-man champion Morrisville-Eaton, and surrendered a lot of points in a 77-34 defeat.
M-E jumped out 28-0 in the first quarter and answered even when the Cobras put together a pair of second-quarter drives. Not going away, Grimes got a trio of TD runs from Jason Royal in the third quarter to close within 56-34.
But the Warriors got away again late, Carter Highers scoring his fourth TD of the afternoon on a 50-yard run as Austin Zaleski and Shawn Murray also found the end zone.
