CENTRAL NEW YORK – Only one opponent beat the Skaneateles football team in the regular season – the same Bishop Ludden/SAS side it would now see playing in the other Section III Class C semifinal against Cazzenovia.
Thanks to wins in their respective opening-round playoff games – the Lakers fighting off Canastota 35-32, the Gaelic Knights topping Little Falls 56-6 – they both advanced to sectional semifinals, with Skaneateles to face General Brown and Ludden/SAS to meet Cazenovia.
At Hyatt Stadium Friday night, Skaneateles got all that it wanted from a Canastota side who went 5-3 in the regular season.
A pair of first-quarter touchdowns had the Lakers in front 14-6, but it was shut out in the second period, allowing the Raiders to score again but miss a possible tying two-point conversion, leaving it 14-12 at the break.
Despite getting back on the board in the third quarter Skaneateles also surrendered two more scoring drives, finding itself trailing 26-21 with one period left.
However, the Lakers saved some of its best work for those final 12 minutes, twice making it to the end zone and getting the stop it needed to put Canastota away.
Hugh Carroll had more than 300 total yards by himself, completing 13 of 21 passes for 198 yards and rushing for 127 yards on 14 carries, scoring twice.
Torin Bennett also had a pair of TD’s while gaining 140 yards on 16 carries. Reid Danforth caught four passes for 116 yards and a TD.
Bennett and Brady Ellis led the defense with seven tackles apiece. Colin Henry added six tackles, with interceptions credited to Danforth and Carroll and Teague Foley going five-for-five on extra points.
A day later, it was Ludden/SAS welcoming Little Falls and continuing the surge that produced four wins in five games following an 0-3 start.
Any questions about this game were quickly answered during a 22-point first quarter where the Gaelic Knights scored on special teams, offense and defense.
Canaree Green returned a punt 51 yards for a TD. Jahbari Clarke ran 31 yards for another and, pouncing on a Little Falls fumble deep in its own territory, Joevon Mitchell returned it 20 yards for six more points.
Clarke took over in the second period. Three times he found the end zone, including a 77-yard pass from X’Zavion Streiff following scoring runs of 28 and 20 yards.
Streiff also connected with Tom Cervantes on a 53-yard TD pass before Mitchell scored on an eight-yard run. For the game, Streiff accumulated 220 passing yards on just six completions as Clarke ran nine times for 103 yards and Dewan Hunt led the defense with 8 ½ tackles.
Marcellus was once 6-0 but dropped its last three games, including last Friday’s opening-round sectional game at General Brown, a strong effort that still resulted in a 59-29 defeat.
The Mustangs got the only points of the first quarter on Chris Doshna’s three-yard run. Then it answered a pair of GB scoring drives with more from its ground game, Mitch Donegan running 19 yards for one TD and Doshna breaking loose on a 63-yard dash to the end zone.
When Doshna netted his third TD early in the third quarter Marcellus had a 29-22 lead, but as second half wore on the Lions’ strong physical advantage at the line of scrimmage took hold, leading to 37 unanswered points.
Most of GB’s 399 yards on the ground came from Tristan Jarvie, who gained 234 yards on 13 carries and netted five touchdowns. Jarvie added an interception on a defense where Cooper Donaldson (15 tackles), Dominic Morgia (14 tackles) and Brock McManaman (13 tackles) all stood out.
