CANASTOTA – Another regular season has seen the Cazenovia football team go through it without a blemish.
And while there’s plenty of precedence for this feat, two things make it more special for the Lakers. First, it had to do it without a single home game as Buckley-Volo Field’s artificial turf was installed.
Second, it came as the Lakers spent much of October parked atop the state Class C rankings, where it would stay again in light of Friday’s 28-7 victory at Canastota.
Even with all this, though, the importance of this game went far beyond what Cazenovia had at stake.
Canastota’s head coach, Tom Congden, had experienced his wife developing, and then recovering from, breast cancer. As a tribute to her, the Raiders’ players surprised Congden earlier in the week by revealing that they would wear special pink jerseys for the Cazenovia game to promote breast cancer awareness.
Those new uniforms, combined with the presence of the state no. 1-ranked Lakers, led to a big-time atmosphere in Canastota, but once again the Lakers were ready for it.
It took the lead in the first quarter when, from near midfield, Bobby Livingston threw deep and found Brayden Weismore, who went the rest of the way for a 45-yard touchdown.
Canastota did get on the board in the second period, tying it 7-7, but the Lakers’ defense made the game’s biggest play on the Raiders’ next possession.
A pass rush forced a bad throw that Christian Schug intercepted and returned 45 yards for the go-ahead score, Taven Reilley adding the two-point conversion.
Then, right before halftime, Cazenovia drove to Canastota’s 24 and had Livingston find Taven Reilley in the end zone, making it 21-7 going into the break.
Neither side scored in the third quarter, but the Lakers put it away in the final period with another march to the Raiders’ eight, from where Livingston found Alex Kuper for his third TD pass of the night.
Limited to a season-low 35 rushing yards, the Lakers leaned more on Livingston and he delivered, completing 11 of 17 passes for 153 yards.
Defensively, Bryce Enders, with five tackles and six assists, and Jack Macro, with five tackles and five tackles, led the way, Jack Donlin adding two sacks to go with his four assists. Zander Jackson-Simser had a fumble recovery as Wyatt Scott assisted on five tackles.
Not far away, Chittenango was having its own strong finish to the regular season, piling up points as it rallied from a double-digit deficit to defeat Westhill 58-36.
A big moment came in the first quarter when, after surrendering a 93-yard TD pass, the Bears saw Kyle Werhlin return the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for six points to jump-start the home side.
Jack Lamphere went 53 yards for a TD a few minutes later, and trailing 30-16 in the second period, the Bears got scores from Edward Geer and Hunter Taylor to draw even, 30-30, going to the break.
Then Werhlin and the offensive line took over. Carrying the ball 27 times for 201 yards, Werhlin would score on three short runs that, combined with Lamphere’s nine-yard TD scramble, put Westhill away.
At home this Friday night, Chittenango faces Carthage in the opening round of the sectional Class B playoffs. Meanwhile, in Class C Cazenovia will face Holland Patent at 7:30 on the black turf at Morrisville State College.
