LIVERPOOL – If the 42-10 margin of the Christian Brothers Academy football team’s victory over Liverpool in Friday night’s showdown of the area’s two remaining undefeated Class AA sides suggests just another Brothers blowout, look closer.
This was a 7-7 game early in the third quarter, with CBA’s 17-game win streak made vulnerable by a tough Warriors defense that didn’t allow the Brothers to get away in the early going and then clamped down for the rest of the first half.
Then a disputed play on special teams helped turn a thriller into a runaway.
Having gone three-and-out on its opening possession of the second half, Liverpool had to punt. John Sindoni sent a kick to the Brothers’ 20-yard line, where Quentin Lewis waited.
What happened next depends on the perspective. Lewis lifted his hand up, as if to signal a fair catch, and the Warriors’ players on the field eased up as Lewis caught the ball. But no whistle blew, and Lewis took off, ultimately outrunning everyone 80 yards to the other end zone.
Liverpool’s sideline was furious, arguing the call long after Tom Cooney’s extra point made it 14-7, but while the Warriors stewed the fired-up Brothers waited less than a minute to double that advantage.
On third down, Sindoni, near his own end zone, attempted a throw to the sideline, but Tre Williams stepped in front of it and returned the interception 20 yards for another touchdown.
Having notched 14 points through means other than its offense, the Brothers then scored on its next possession, too, exclusively running the ball out of a no-huddle set until Lewis scored from three yards out.
All that Liverpool managed against a fast, aggressive CBA defense was a single drive leading to a 31-yard Amari Gunn field goal. CBA tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, each of them from Lewis on runs of 10 and 47 yards, adding to a 10-yard scoring run from Austin Ariola on the game’s opening possession.
Other than a 35-yard TD pass from Sindoni to Jayden Devereaux early in the second quarter, the Warriors found itself constantly thwarted, unable to run outside and seeing waves of Brothers defenders break through into the backfield leading to many sacks and tackles for losses.
While CBA’s win streak continued, Fayetteville-Manlius saw a 13-game skid which dated back to the end of the 2022 season end in front of its home crowd when it defeated Baldwinsville 29-26.
Twice this fall, the Hornets had come close, dropping an overtime decision to Auburn and having Utica Proctor beat them in the final seconds of regulation. Here, though, F-M would get the ending right and hand new head coach Jim Fiacco his first win at the helm.
Both sides would get in the end zone multiple times in the first half, but B’ville’s trio of touchdowns produced a 20-16 edge that it took to the break.
Then, just like with CBA, a kick return in the third quarter would provide a turning point, only in this case it was Colin Clark bringing the second-half kickoff back for six points and a 22-20 F-M lead.
Though the Bees answered with Brady Garcia’s four-yard TD run late in the third period, F-M’s defense would keep B’ville quiet the rest of the way, then help seal the victory.
Another Hornets drive led to the end zone and quarterback Jack Hearn sneaked in for the go-ahead score. When the Bees drove inside F-M territory in the final minutes, Aleksander Madisoo stepped in front of a Cameron Morreale pass and intercepted it.
Jamesville-DeWitt would break out on Friday night, too, doing so against Mexico as it blew out the Tigers 42-15.
Carson Kim’s 58-yard scoring pass to Ryan Walker on a trick play in the game’s opening minutes set the tone for the Red Rams, who would blaze out to a 28-7 halftime lead.
Anthony Guidone would cover most of the territory on his way to going 16-for-25 for 248 yards, while Dae’Jier Brooks finished off those drives. Three times in the first half, Brooks would find the end zone on runs on nine, 11 and 10 yards, in that order.
Guidone added a 26-yard TD pass to Walker in the third quarter, Walker gaining 137 yards on just five catches as Kim had four catches for 65 yards.
All the while, J-D’s defense stood out, too. Kim and Hussein Osman both got interceptions as Braeden Hennessey and Carter Phaneuf each had nine tackles, Kevin Vigneault adding eight tackles and Bryce Dadey contributing six tackles, three of them for losses.
Bishop Grimes won, too, in eight-man football on Saturday, taking out Thousand Islands 48-22 as it scored all seven of its touchdowns in the first three quarters.
Kamari McMullen got it going with TD runs of five and 10 yards. Then Dario Nicotra caught a pair of 20-yard scoring passes – one from Avery Pankow, another from Andrew Wait – and Wait also found Ryken Heffron in the end zone from 15 yards out.
Up 36-0 at halftime, the Cobras struck for another big play when Wait found Nicotra on a 79-yard TD pass, with Gary Carter adding a 25-yard scoring run.
East Syracuse Minoa got its first win of the season when it routed Nottingham 42-6 on Sept. 27, but could not follow it up back home against PSLA-Fowler, falling 18-6 to the Falcons.
