VESTAL – Many different times in the journey to a championship, a team will find the penultimate stage more daunting and nerve-wracking than the final itself.
For if Christian Brothers Academy football repeats as state Class AA champions Saturday at the JMA Dome against its Albany CBA counterparts, it will always look to the test it passed in the state semifinals as a particular landmark.
Trailing for the first time in the fourth quarter all season against Rochester Aquinas at Vestal High School, the Brothers put together the plays it needed on both sides of the ball to grab the lead late and beat the Irish 21-14.
The clash of two great and historic programs – Aquinas has eight state titles, more than twice CBA’s total of three – thrilled from start to finish.
Darien Williams returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, but the rest of the first half entirely belonged to the two defenses.
Two different CBA drives in the second quarter ended in frustration, one with Brayden Smith fumbling, the other with a fourth-down stop at the Aquinas 28. When the Irish tried to catch up just before the break, Quentin Lewis intercepted Trent Buttles and returned it 82 yards.
Aquinas atoned for this when Derrion Battle dashed 60 yards to the end zone early in the third quarter to tie it. Then a second Irish drive led to Buttles scoring from the one, and CBA trailed 14-7.
Another big play turned the game around again. From midfield, Lewis found a seam and ran 50 yards for a TD, only to have Tom Cooney miss the extra point.
Early in the fourth quarter CBA, still trailing 14-13, drove to the Aquinas one only to have Austin Ariola stopped on fourth-and-goal. Yet now it was the Brothers’ turn to crank up its defense with back-to-back stops that forced punts.
As time began to run low, Smith, from his own 29, led the Brothers to midfield, from where a deep pass to Kieghlin Hicks put the ball inside the Aquinas 20.
Again CBA worked it to the one. Then, with 1:26 left on third-and-goal, Smith took a long snap, ran ahead a few steps and then threw a jump pass to a wide-open Steve Grosso, the tight end’s first touchdown all season.
Also getting the two-point conversion on a Williams pass to Hicks, the Brothers made one more defensive step and, with its win streak now at 26, could look forward to the state final against an Albany CBA side that beat Corning 56-7 in the other state semifinal.
