CENTRAL NEW YORK – Though the Cazenovia football team remains a threat in the Section III Class C playoffs because of its good work in October, it nearly was in a better position.
That was because, had the Lakers defeated Bishop Ludden/SAS last Saturday at Buckley-Volo Field, it would have tied Skaneateles for first place in the Class C West division standings with equal 4-1 league marks.
However, the Gaelic Knights wouldn’t let it happen, excelling on offense early and letting its defense take over in the late stages to defeat Cazenovia by a score of 27-14.
Setting the game’s tone, the Gaelic Knights used more than seven minutes on its opening drive and found the end zone on X’Zavion Streiff’s scoring pass to Micah Baker, only to have the Lakers go up 7-6 with a quick answer on Bobby Livingston’s 34-yard TD pass to Wyatt Scott.
Early in the second Ludden/SAS regained the lead, 14-7, with a Streiff 14-yard TD pass to Tom Cervantes and two-point conversion. Again Cazenovia took the lead back, driving to the Gaelic Knights’ three before Livingston scrambled in and threw a two-point pass to Danny Bliss.
Ludden/SAS would strike twice in a row thanks to Jahbari Clarke, who scored on a run to put his team back in front 19-14 and then, picking up a fumble at midfield in the waning seconds of the half, returned it to set up another short Clarke TD run.
Adding a conversion, the Gaelic Knights maintained that momentum into the entire second half, clamping down on defense and taking away anything the Lakers tried in its attempt to catch up.
As a whole, Cazenovia was held to 210 total yards, just 73 of them on the ground as Livingston completed just eight of 15 passes for 139 yards. Kyle Caraher caught five passes for 84 yards.
Defensively, Bryce Enders assisted on 16 tackles to go with five solo tackles. Carter Bowden assisted on 10 tackles as Scott got five solo tackles and six assists.
Clarke led Ludden on both sides of the field, carrying the ball 29 times for 193 yards and earning a team-best 8 ½ tackles on defense to go with his key fumble recovery.
In this Friday’s opening round of the sectional playoffs Cazenovia faces Lowville, whom it lost to 46-24 in September. The winner gets Ludden/SAS or Little Falls in the semifinals.
Chittenango had an opportunity to finish the regular season at the .500 mark and, traveling to Fulton, unloaded in a big way to defeat the Red Dragons 54-12.
Scoring runs from Seamus Gardner and Chayse Ostrander, the latter of them a 22-yard dash, pushed the Bears in front 16-6 by the end of the first quarter, but that was just the warm-up act.
Chittenango struck for 30 points in the second period, even getting a defensive TD when Mason Corlis ran back an interception 80 yards after Gardner and Landen Pease both had scored on short runs.
Gardner’s 40-yard TD pass to Aiden Grenier just before halftime made it 46-12, allowing the Bears to cool off in the second half ,though Robert Pierce still found the end zone on an eight-yard pass from Corlis. Ostrander gained 108 yards on 12 carries, with Gardner completing five of 10 passes for 96 yards.
Having finished fourth in Class B West, Chittenango will meet the unbeaten B East regular-season champions from New Hartford Saturday at 6 p.m. to determine who plays Institute of Technology Central or Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in the semifinals.
