CENTRAL NEW YORK – Though the football showdown between Skaneateles and Marcellus carried with it plenty of stakes both in the standings and for neighborhood bragging rights, it turned out that the Class C West regular-season title wasn’t decided until a day later.
That was when Bishop Ludden/SAS went to Cazenovia and knocked off the Lakers 27-14, allowing it to finish tied with the Lakers at 4-1 atop the C West standings but claiming the head-to-head tiebreaker to earn the top seed for the Section III playoffs.
But it only took a small amount of shine off what Skaneateles did against the Mustangs at Hyatt Stadium the night before, a complete all-around effort which resulted in a 31-7 victory.
Any concerns about Sknaeateles stemming from its lone regular-season defeat to Ludden/SAS on Oct. 5 have dissipated in the three consecutive victories since, where the Lakers have put up a total of 107 points.
Just as important was the way the Lakers produced against Marcellus, jumping all over the Mustangs for 21 unanswered points in the first quarter as Hugh Carroll led a trio of scoring drives.
Teague Foley added a second-period field goal (he also was four-for-four on extra points) and Marcellus, trailing 24-0 at the break, surrendered another touchdown before finally getting on the board in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Defensively, Reid Danforth’s pair of interceptions set up points as Brady Ellis recorded 12 tackles and Colton McDonald added 10 tackles. Jackson Bone chimed in with five tackles.
As a team the Lakers ran for 273 yards, split between Carroll (seven carries, 91 yards), Torin Bennett (eight carries, 94 yards) and Colin Henry, who amassed 74 yards on just three carries. Carroll also completed seven of nine passes for 88 yards, including a scoring pass to Ellis.
Having seen this, Ludden/SAS knew that, to get its piece of the league title, it would have to travel to Buckley-Volo Field and conquer a Cazenovia side who had won three in a row including an Oct. 18 victory at Marcellus.
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 his second TD run just before the break..
Adding a conversion, the Gaelic Knights maintained that momentum into the entire second half, clamping down on defense led by Clarke’s 8 1/2 tackles to go with his 193 rushing yards on 29 carries. Streiff completed 11 of 18 passes for 101 yards.
Back on Friday night Solvay proved successful against Southern Hills, needing every bit of a strong passing attack to pull out a 32-28 win over the Storm.
Two early touchdowns and two-point plays put the Bearcats in front 16-0. Southern Hills answered it, but Solvay again scored twice and this time made key conversion stops when the Storm returned to the end zone.
Through it all, quarterback Cameron Cappetta threw a trio of TD passes, two finding Jakob Frost. Giovanni Cilani also had a receiving TD and Xavier Hardy ran for one.
Davin Kaszubinski (13 tackles), Adrian Alvarez (12 ½ tackles) and Jason Davis (10 ½ tackles) paced the Bearcats’ defense. Jaedyn Godbolt added nine tackles, with Dylan Mumford and Jeremiah Benjamin getting 7 ½ tackles apiece.
Despite this win, Solvay missed the sectional Class C playoffs, where Ludden/SAS hosts Little Falls Friday as Skaneateles takes on Canastota, while Marcellus ventures to General Brown knowing that it would need to upset the undefeated Lions to have a possible second chance at the Lakers in the semifinal round.