LIVERPOOL – Many different times over the years the Baldiwnsville football team has found itself confronting its closest neighbors from Liverpool with high stakes.
They did so again Friday night at LHS Stadium in the opening round of the Section III Class AAA playoffs and it nearly turned into one of the biggest upsets in the Bees program’s long and storied history.
Against a Warriors side it lost to by a 49-point margin in September, B’ville had the lead and the ball with less than 90 seconds to play, yet still saw it all go against them in a 27-26 defeat.
Through most of the evening B’ville proved beyond any question just how much better it was in every phase of the game since that 55-6 debacle at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium in the second game of the season.
And even when its offense slumped through the second quarter and a good portion of the third, the Bees stayed patient and did its part on defense to keep the game tight.
Then, trailing 19-12, the Bees got a touchdown run from Brady Garcia early in the final period and, even more importantly, went for two points and converted to go out in front 20-19.
When the Warriors were stopped B’ville got the ball back, again drove down the field and burned up lots of the remaining clock. What happened next would long stay with fans of both teams.
Sensing that the Bees could run out the clock, Liverpool all but allowed B’ville to find the end zone, and Garcia did so for six points with 1:20 left.
With the margin 26-19, B’ville had a chance, if it again succeeded on the two-point try, to put the game out of reach, but the Warriors’ defense stopped it.
Moments later, Liverpool’s Owen Brown picked up the ensuing kickoff, got some blocks and dashed down the left sideline all the way to the end zone, cutting the margin to 26-25.
Facing a choice to tie it with an extra point or go for two and the lead, the Warriors chose the latter and John Sindoni threw it, finding Christian Washington in the back of the end zone uncovered.
The Bees were unable to answer it.
That it even was so exciting was a tribute to B’ville’s all-out effort. By the end of the first quarter the Bees had more points (13) than in the entire first meeting, both of them on Garcia TD runs.
Still, B’ville found it difficult to throw the ball even as it played superb run defense, limiting Liverpool to 82 yards on the ground. Sindoni, who lost wide receiver Antonio Rivera to a third-quarter injury, completed nine of 12 passes for 199 yards, but the Bees intercepted him twice.
