ONONDAGA COUNTY – For their second season of varsity competition the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool flag football teams both found themselves in tight and hard-fought contests with a wide variety of results.
Going first on March 28, the Northstars edged Section II’s Bethlehem 7-6, getting its lone score on its first drive of the game.
Amanda Timmons ran 18 yards for a touchdown, and Olivia Cook hit Hailey Dupra for the conversion, the point which ultimately made the difference in the outcome. Bethlehem closed the margin to one, but C-NS’s defense shut out the Eagles otherwise.
As a follow-up last Tuesday night, the Northstars faced Syracuse East, but suffered its first defeat of the season by a 19-13 margin.
This happened as Liverpool had a high-profile opener against defending sectional champion Baldwinsville, immediately adding some spice to the rivalry by rallying from a big deficit to forge a 14-14 tie.
B’ville went up 14-0 on scores from Gabby Awwad and Capri Hartman in the first half and nearly made it more just before intermission before a critical defensive stop kept the Warriors within range.
Then Gracie Sleeth and A’briyah Cunninmgham, fresh off leading Liverpool’s girls basketball team to its second straight state Class AAA championship game, connected on a 60-yard TD strike early in the second half.
Sleeth found Cunningham again minutes later, pulling the Warriors even, but the Bees were able to regroup on defense and get the stops it needed to keep the game tied.
C-NS sat through the week, watched this activity and then returned to the field last Friday night, playing strong defense against Syracuse West on the way to a 19-0 shutout to move to 2-1 overall.
The Northstars play just once this week, against varsity newcomer Central Square, while Liverpool is tested by Syracuse East on Tuesday and Syracuse West two nights later.
