ONONDAGA COUNTY – Though they went about it in extremely different manners, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool football teams each served up impressive and thorough season-opening victories, both doing so on special occasions.
For the Northstars, it was Jim Ryan’s debut as head coach and it came on the familiar stage of the JMA Dome where C-NS had won five consecutive Section III Class AA titles before Christian Brothers Academy dethroned them in the 2023 final.
With this Friday’s rematch against CBA looming and the Brothers blanking East Rochester 32-0 in its season opener, the Northstars needed a counterpoint against another high-profile Section V opponent- and got it by earning its own shutout, blanking Victor by a 21-0 margin.
Expecting to have a strong defense from the outset, C-NS met those expectations in a big way, constantly thwarting all of the Blue Devils’ attempts to get going. Marcus Reed had a pair of sacks as part of his team-high total of nine tackles, Connor Bednarski adding six tackles and Carson Kimmel five kills. Xander Provost, Jacob Miscione and Adrian Tangretti also recorded sacks.
What helped was that the Northstars were able to put together a pair of first-half scoring drives, leaning heavily on its ground attack behind a big and dominant offensive line.
Twice, Anthony Johnson would find the end zone, on runs of four and 42 yards. Then, with his team up 14-0 in the third quarter, Johnson snagged a third touchdown on a 25-yard run, well on his way to a total of 175 yards on 19 carries. Braydon Dems got the start at quarterback, completing eight of 11 passes for 48 yars,ackson Purdy went three-for-three on extra points.
Good as the Northstars’ point total was, it was something that Liverpool matched by the second quarter against Rome Free Academy as it made the first event on the new turf at LHS Stadium a memorable one, bashing the Black Knights 56-28.
The two sides traded first-quarter touchdowns with Isaiah Morris getting on the board for Liverpool on a two-yard plunge, but in the second period the Warriors took charge, earning 28 points to ultimately take a 35-14 lead to the break.
All four of the TD’s came from John Sindoni passes, two of them to Antonio Rivera covering six and 50 yards in between scoring strikes of 35 and 16 yards to Christian Washington.
More would follow in the second half, Sindoni adding a fifth TD pass (24 yards to Dax Archer) and Alejandro Rivera breaking out for a 53-yard scoring before finding the end zone again in the late going.
Sindoni completed 21 of 30 passes for 321 yards, a new career mark. Alejandro Rivera gained 149 yards on 10 carries as Antonio Rivera had eight catches for 136 yards.
Now it’s rivalry time for the Warriors, who travel Friday to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium to face Baldwinsville before its eagerly-awaited “Star Wars Cup” clash with C-NS Sept. 20 at Bragman Stadium, while the Northstars will deal with CBA first at Alibrandi Stadium.
