ONONDAGA COUNTY – Much of the last decade has seen the Liverpool football team look up at the standings to see Cicero-North Syracuse perched on top.
This could all change at Bragman Stadium next weekend when the Warriors take on the Northstars fresh off piling up 111 points in its first two games including Friday night’s 55-6 romp over Baldwinsville on the Bees’ own home turf.
The challenge for C-NS is trying to contain this potent Liverpool attack, especially in the wake of falling 27-0 to Christian Brothers Academy at Alibrandi Stadium in the first encounter between these two powers since last November’s Section III Class AA final.
What Liverpool began to demonstrate Sept. 6 when it put up 56 points against Rome Free Academy began to manifest itself early in the B’ville game on a single, spectacular play.
Pinned back at its own one-yard line, the Warriors took a deep shot – and John Sindoni found Antonio Rivera, who dashed the remaining distance to complete a 99-yard touchdown that set the night’s tone.
B’ville cut it to 7-6 before the first quarter was done, but from there it was all Warriors, who scored seven times over the course of the next three periods four different ways – running, passing, defense and special teams – with Antonio and Alejandro Rivera at the heart of it all.
Not content with his early 99-yard strike, Antonio Rivera stepped in front of a Luke Primrose pass in the second quarter and returned the interception 39 yards for a TD before returning to catch a short scoring pass from Sindoni just before halftime.
Then, in the third quarter, Rivera took a punt at his own 22-yard line, picked up some blocks and went all the way to the end zone again, a 78-yard dash to go with his defensive score and four catches for 164 yards.
Alejandro Rivera balanced it out with his big gains on the ground, needing just 12 carries to amass 208 yards. He scored once on a 22-yard run early in the second quarter, broke free for a 75-yard TD dash early in the third period and went 16 yards for a third score to make it 48-6.
This constant big-play ability is what Liverpool hopes to replicate at C-NS with the “Star Wars Cup” on the line, while the Northstars hope to find any sort of offense after running into a CBA defense that might even top the 2023 side that won a state championship.
Right from the outset, the Brothers made a statement, Marquan Saddler sacking quarterback Braydon Dems on the Northstars’ first play from scrimmage and, for most of the rest of the night, taking away the ground attack led by Anthony Johnson, who had gained 175 yards and scored three TD’s against Victor a week earlier.
For its part, C-NS did a solid job of defensive containment in the early going except for one big play on CBA’s second drive – a 77-yard scoring pass where Brayden Smith found Kieghlin Hicks in mid-stride down the sideline and Edenfield went the rest of the way.
The game’s biggest sequence took place late in the second quarter, C-NS making its only drive all night inside the Brothers’ 20 but then stopped before Jakob Purdy missed a 34-yard field goal.
From its own 20 the Brothers promptly marched down the field and, with just 25 seconds left in the half, Smith hit Darien Williams on a 23-yard scoring pass, extending the margin to 13-0 going to the break.
Both teams got hurt by penalties and other mistakes, but CBA still put the game away in the fourth quarter with two short drives that Smith capped off with TD passes of one and 18 yards to Daunte Bacheyie. All told, Smith completed 19 of 25 passes for 233 yards.
