By Eric Ahlqvist
Cooperstown football didn't want to lose more than just the game Friday night at Rome Free Academy, so area scoring and rushing leader Alec Silvera took a seat.
Although he scored the Redskins' touchdown in a 31-6 Section Three Class C semifinal loss to Cazenovia, Silvera watched the second half from the sideline with a left-shoulder injury.
"We could have played him, but he's got a lot of high school left," Cooperstown coach Steve Pugliese said of junior running back Silvera, who entered Friday's game with area-highs of 106 points and 1,140 rushing yards. "We didn't want to take the risk."
Silvera pulled the Redskins (8-1) to 14-6 with 1 minute, 6 seconds left in the opening half, after Noble Mattson set up a scoring drive with a kickoff return to the Lakers' 45-yard line.
Quarterback Tyler Hoke's 25-yard pass to Tanner Niedzialkowski fueled the drive, which ended with Silvera's 10-yard TD run. But Silvera landed hard on his left shoulder in the end zone and screamed in pain. He returned to the field for one more play before halftime but sat out for the entire second half, when Cazenovia outscored the Redskins, 17-0.
"Tonight, we got beat by a better team," Pugliese said. "I'm proud of my guys. They left it on the field. One game doesn't define our season."
It did end the season for the Redskins, though, who are 0-3 in sectional semifinals at Rome Free Academy.
"This field hasn't been good to me," said Pugliese, whose program last lost a sectional semi at RFA against General Brown in 2001. "I'm 0-3 here, but this was the hardest one to take."
Chad Dorrance scored the first two touchdowns to help Cazenovia to a 14-6 halftime lead.
Dorrance turned an option pitch to the left into a 10-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal and Chris Rogers followed with the extra point to give the Lakers a 7-0 lead with 8:07 left in the opening quarter. Cazenovia started the scoring drive at the Redskins' 18-yard line, where it recovered a fumble by Niedzialkowski.
Cooperstown drove deep into Lakers' territory on its next two possessions _ reaching the 20- and 17-yard lines, respectively _ but turned the ball over on downs both times.
Lawrence later dived into an end-zone pylon to cap a 4-yard TD run, and Rogers hit another extra point to put Cazenovia ahead, 14-0, with 4:38 to play in the first half.
Silvera's touchdown _ his 18th of the season _ ended the first-half scoring as Ryan Parshall missed the extra-point attempt wide right.
Justin Hoffman wasted little time extending Cazenovia's lead, returning the opening kickoff in the second half 65 yards for a touchdown. Rogers kick made it 21-6 just 14 seconds into the third quarter.
The Lakers (9-0) started their next scoring drive with little room to spare as Luke Folts punted to their 1-yard line. Cazenovia drained the last 6:27 of the third quarter and moved the ball to the Redskins' 7 before Rogers hit a 24-yard field goal with 10:51 to play for a 24-6 lead.
Cooperstown's next possession ended at its 40-yard line, where Hoffman intercepted Hoke with 8:48 to go. Cazenovia advanced the ball 7 yards before Rogers came out for a 50-yard field-goal attempt. The Lakers faked the field goal, though, as Rogers passed to Todd Colligan down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown with 6:27 to go.
"We wanted to key on Cooperstown's running game," said Cazenovia coach Tom Niedl, whose team will try to win its fifth sectional crown next weekend at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. "I thought we did a good job stopping them. They have very impressive runners, but experience played a big factor. We've been here before and we know what it takes to win these types of games."
The Lakers intercepted Hoke three times.
Folts contributed an interception in the first half for Cooperstown, marking his third pick in the last three games.
Cazenovia 31, Cooperstown 6
Cooperstown0 6 0 0 _ 6
Cazenovia7 7 7 10 _ 31
FIRST QUARTER
Caz _ Chad Dorrance 10 run (Chris Rogers kick), 8:07.
SECOND QUARTER
Caz _ Chad Dorrance 4 run (Chris Rogers kick), 4:38.
Coop _ Alec Silvera 10 run (kick failed), 1:06.
THIRD QUARTER
Caz _ Justin Hoffman 65 kickoff return (Chris Rogers kick), 11:46.
FOURTH QUARTER
Caz _ Chris Rogers 24 FG, 10:51.
Caz _ Todd Colligan 33 pass from Chris Rogers (Chris Rogers kick), 6:27.
