LIVERPOOL – For the third time in six years, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool football teams found themselves against each other in the Section III Class AA semifinals.
And here, just like those previous times, the Northstars got the best of it.
Led by a dominant ground attack and a defense which made big stops throughout the evening, C-NS put away the Warriors 33-13 Friday night at LHS Stadium.
Mastering windy conditions perfectly suited to its preferred style of play, C-NS got four touchdowns from Anthony Johnson and another from Miy’Jon McDowell to get away from a Liverpool side it lost to 6-0 earlier this fall.
While the defenses on both sides played quite well in that September meeting at Bragman Stadium, who wasn’t on the field, then and now, would play a big factor in the rematch.
Back then, C-NS didn’t have its top offensive lineman, Kardiear Shepherd. But he was back now, while Liverpool had to deal with the absence of top receiver and linebacker Antonio Rivera and saw linebacker Isaiah Morris exit, too.
Even with this, the two sides played through a scoreless first quarter. Twice, the Warriors drove into C-NS territory, only to get stopped as Adrian Tangretti, Xander Provost and Marcus Reed all made key stops.
hen it was Johnson, often running behind Shepherd, who began to assert himself early in the second period, taking off on a 37-yard run to set up his own three-yard touchdown that gave the Northstars a lead it would not relinquish.
On two different occasions Liverpool thought it swung momentum around, only to see it dissipate.
C-NS covered nearly eight minutes on a drive that concluded the first half, only to have the Warriors stop it when Jayden Devereaux intercepted Johnson in the end zone as time ran out.
Yet when the Northstars received the second-half kickoff it went right back to the ground – and to McDowell, who followed his blocks on a series of runs, one of them 27 yards, to set up his two-yard scoring dash as Johnson returned for the two-point conversion.
Trailing 14-0, Liverpool briefly rebounded with a drive that included a 29-yard run by Owen Brown, whose kick return had helped the Warriors escape its sectional quarterfinal against Baldwinsville a week earlier.
This, along with a series of John Sindoni completions, set up Brown’s six-yard TD run, and the extra point made it 14-7, but that score only lasted 11 seconds.
Johnson again picked up perfect blocking and dashed 58 yards to the end zone on the next play from scrimmage. Not only that, but he intercepted Sindoni early in the fourth quarter to thwart a possible Warriors drive.
Still, Johnson didn’t let up until he broke free on TD runs of 43 and 32 yards, padding the margin and running his total for the night to 282 yards on 25 carries. McDowell also broke the century mark with 104 yards on 16 carries.
Reed’s eight tackles led a defensive unit where Connor Bednarski contributed five tackles and Johnson picked up four tackles. Provost, Owen Ellis, LaCuzio Wright and Brandon Sherman had three tackles apiece.
So C-NS is right back to where it was a year ago, trying to stop an undefeated Christian Brothers Academy in the sectional final at the JMA Dome, which kicks off next Friday night at 8 p.m.
CBA, who has won 23 in a row, rolled past Utica Proctor 51-13 in the other semifinal and beat the Northstars 28-0 earlier this season as it tries to defend both the sectional title it took from C-NS and the 2023 state title as well.
