MANLIUS — Near the end of the third quarter, Fayetteville-Manlius stood just five yards away from the goal line and an opportunity to cut the lead to seven. After three plays moved F-M to the one, quarterback Owen Neuman kept the ball for a QB draw but was stopped inches from the line by the Cicero-North Syracuse defense.

That goal-line stand to force a turnover on downs at the one-yard line was the spark C-NS (4-0, 2-0) needed for a 35-21 win at F-M (3-1, 1-1) in a game rescheduled to Saturday afternoon because of weather.

“The goal-line stand was huge,” C-NS head coach Dave Kline said. “That was a big goal-line stand, and we were able to make that and stop them down there.”

Going into halftime, C-NS had been presented with a similar opportunity to mark its authority on the game. But after trapping F-M in its own end of the field, C-NS gave up first downs for roughing the kicker on a fourth-down punt and for a late hit to the quarterback as he was sliding short of the marker on third down.

The two penalties cost C-NS seven points as Neuman and senior linebacker and running back Tim Shaw drove F-M down the field for a touchdown right before halftime. A five-yard pass from Neuman to Jack Hannah cut the lead to seven.

“We can’t make those mistakes,” Kline said. “The penalties, the mental mistakes, fourth down and they’re punting and we rough the punter, we can’t make those plays and expect to win a championship going forward. Especially against a good team like F-M, you can’t give them hope. We had a chance to take the ball game over at that point in time, and we didn’t. We let them back into the game.”

F-M’s first drive of the game resulted in a 30-yard pass from Neuman to sophomore wide receiver Jack Nucerino, but as the first half progressed, it was C-NS that looked comfortable and poised to run up the score.

The Northstars answered the first touchdown immediately with a three-yard touchdown run by JaiQuawn McGriff, and the senior running back added a one-yard touchdown run before the first quarter ended to make it 14-7.

Backup quarterback Domenic Isabell increased the C-NS lead to 14 with a seven-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Nate Geloff in the second quarter, and the Northstars looked to be cruising to their fourth-straight win.

With the Hornets’ top two running backs out of action due to injuries picked up during the game and a third sidelined because of a recurring injury that kept him out of the team’s first two games, F-M’s offense struggled to find rhythm in the second quarter. But the mental mistakes by C-NS to gift first downs to F-M late in the first half helped cut the deficit to just one score going into halftime.

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C-NS finally found the big passing play it was looking for in the third quarter. Senior quarterback Conner Hayes found star senior wide receiver Shy’rel Broadwater for a 34-yard passing touchdown and a 28-14 lead.

Four minutes into the fourth quarter, the Northstars earned their largest lead of the afternoon through a 33-yard pick six. Neuman attempted a short pass to the right flat, but a deflection at the line sent it toward Geloff, who snatched it and ran in to score.

“I think from our standpoint, we wish we didn’t make as many mistakes as we did with interceptions and getting stuffed,” Hornets head coach Paul Muench said. “Sometimes, oftentimes, it’s the opponent that made those plays happen. C-NS made those plays more than us just making mistakes. The tipped ball was just devastating, especially when you’re trying just to hit a quick out, just to start the engine. Next thing you know, they’ve scored.”

Newman hit senior split end Hannah for a 52-yard touchdown reception following the pick six, but it was too little, too late. F-M got the ball back once more, but forced to go into a shotgun formation and pass the ball, the Hornets were out of their comfort zone. It showed as they weren’t able to string together another drive down the field.

“There were some things that looked good and some things we made mistakes, but like I said, those are caused sometimes,” Muench said. “People seem to make mistakes against C-NS.”

Published on September 22, 2018 at 4:56 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder