CENTRAL NEW YORK – Both the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse flag football teams could take solace from their first head-to-head matchup of the season on April 26.
In the Warriors’ case it was just a matter of winning the game, 13-7 to get the temporary upper hand in this rivalry. But the Northstars had to feel good, too, having kept things close and knowing a rematch looms May 14 in the regular-season finale.
Liverpool did not have a letdown in its next game against Central Square two nights later, the Warriors scoring six touchdowns on the way to defeating the Redhawks 41-19.
Here it was the run defense which made up for Central Square’s success through the air. The Redhawks had just 26 yards on the ground.
Now it was Friday’s trip to Baldiwnsville, meeting the Bees side Liverpool played to a 14-14 tie earlier this season.
Having learned from that game, the Warriors maintained a steady offense with a pair of scores but completely clamped down on defense, never letting B’ville get into the end zone.
The 13-0 victory kept Liverpool right on the heels of Syracuse East, who was pushed hard by C-NS on the same night that the Warriors conquered B’ville.
Again, the defenses ruled, with the Northstars limiting Syracuse East to a single touchdown while converting the same. Yet a successful conversion allowed Syracuse East to pull it out 7-6 for its eighth win in a row
Back on Monday C-NS had a better outcome, keeping Sherburne-Earlville off the board in a 29-0 victory over the Timberwolves.
And the Syracuse East defeat was hardly a disappointment given how well the Northstars played, with three games this week against Oneida, Fayetteville-Manlius and Syracuse West on hand.
Before it played Liverpool again, B’ville tuned up last Wednesday with a dominant performance against Syracuse OnTech, ultimately scoring eight touchdowns on the way to a 53-0 shutout.
In the last full week of the regular season B’ville will challenge first-place Syracuse East, whom it lost to 13-0 on April 17, after meeting Syracuse West earlier in the week.
