CENTRAL NEW YORK – Symbolic as it may be, holding the top spot in the New York State Sportswriter Association’s football rankings is still a big deal, and a rarity for any Section III school to accomplish.
Cazenovia now has that honor, sitting atop last week’s NYSSWA Class C poll after defeating Solvay on Sept. 30. Now the task was to defend that high honor, and defend it the Lakers did, both in a literal and figurative sense.
Traveling to Bishop Ludden Friday night, Cazenovia endured rain and mud and, when other things didn’t work, again leaned on its tremendous defense to deliver a shutout as it beat the Gaelic Knights 20-0.
Even though Ludden owned a 2-3 record, it was playing at home on a grass surface made more uneven by the wet conditions, something the Lakers didn’t have to worry about playing on artificial surfaces (two college, one high school) the previous three weeks.
The two sides would slog through a scoreless first quarter, but in the second Cazenovia began to take control.
A Lakers drive reached the Gaelic Knights’ four-yard line, from which Brayden Weismore scored the game’s first points. Even bigger was Bobby Livingston’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Schug that, with Wyatt Scott’s two-point run, made it 14-0 going to the half.
Though Ludden would put together an occasional drive and finished with 196 total yards, it only converted on two of 11 third downs and were stopped five straight times on fourth down as the Lakers preserved its shutout, adding Jack Donlin’s 11-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
Ethan Rice led the defense with two tackles and three assists. Schug and Jack Macro had three tackles apiece as Taven Reilley tacked on an interception and returned it 22 yards.
On the other side, Livingston completed nine of 16 passes for 125 yards, also running 18 times for a team-best 76 yards. Schug was the main passing target, catching seven passes for 117 yards.
Over in Class B, Chittenango had a chance, on its home turf, to move up the Class B West division standings – and did so, beating Institute of Technology Central 43-22 to move to 4-2 on the season.
The Bears’ offense flourished in the wet conditions, especially running back Kyle Werhlin, who set career marks with his 201 rushing yards on 28 carries and five touchdowns.
Werhlin scored twice in the first half, on runs of four and six yards, which matched two scoring plays by the Eagles. But it wasn’t until Chase Brummer hit on a 34-yard field goal that Chittenango took the lead for good.
Up 17-14 at the break, the Bears continued to pound away, Werhlin getting a third TD on a 25-yard run and, after ITC got within 23-22 on Tyquanne Harris’ 60-yard scoring dash, putting together another long drive that Werhlin finished with a one-yard plunge.
Only in the final period did Chittenango put the Eagles away, two more drives finding the end zone as Edward Geer scored on a two-yard run and Werhlin, from 25 yards out, capped his big night.
It wasn’t a one-man show. Jack Lamphere completed nine of 15 passes for 150 yards, with Zailor Caras catching four of those passes for 85 yards. Tim Dunn led the defense with six tackles as Hunter Taylor added five tackles and Kole Rode four tackles.
Next Friday, Chittenango will travel north to face Indian River with first place in B West at stake, while Cazenovia aims for six wins in a row at Marcellus.
