Baker survives without top back in New York

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Some Plan B's work better than others.

The Portland Trail Blazers were disappointed when the Houston Rockets snatched Akeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 selection in the 1984 NBA draft. Portland ended up taking Sam Bowie with the No. 2 pick, leaving a kid by the name of Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls.

Whoops.

And then there's Baker (Baldwinsville), which had been riding sophomore sensation Tyler Rouse at running back for the first two months of the Section III football season. Rouse had piled up 1,604 rushing yards this fall but suffered a concussion last week against Fayetteville-Manlius in the Class AA semifinals.

Enter Parker Kiff.

The 5-foot-7 senior, generously listed at 185 pounds but obviously much lighter, rushed for 155 yards in three-plus quarters of work vs. Fayetteville-Manlius and then tacked on 40 carries for 138 yards Sunday in a 15-13 victory over Syracuse CBA at the Carrier Dome as the Bees won back-to-back sectional championships for the first time.

Kiff closed out the first half with a 1-yard touchdown run, Ben Paprocki scurried 44 yards to another TD early in the fourth quarter, and Baldwinsville escaped as CBA kicker Riley Dixon's 42-yard field goal attempt sailed just right of the uprights with less than 30 seconds remaining.

"We didn't quit," CBA coach Joe Casamento said. "We're kicking to win the game with 21 seconds to go."

The game was a rematch of a Week 7 mudfest won 14-10 by CBA in driving rain that all but wrecked Baker's home field for the rest of the year. Conventional wisdom said the Bees' torrid ground game could be negated by the Brothers' nearly-the-greatest-show-on-turf circus on the Carrier Dome's fast track.

"Without Tyler we knew we were going to have to keep the ball moving and keep pushing," Kiff said. "The bigger deal was the emphasis on defense, covering the pass and slowing them down there the best we could."

The Bees got it done. They intercepted Tyler Hamblin (10-for-24, 149 yards) twice in the first half, and CBA fumbled the ball away twice in the final two quarters and turned the ball over on a botched fake punt late in the first half.

That misplay led to a 26-yard drive to Kiff's TD – on his 21st carry of the first 24 minutes – just before the intermission.

"You get tired but you've got to have heart and keep on doing it," Kiff said.

Kiff is in his third varsity season, with last year spent primarily plowing a path for another featured tailback.

"Last year it was all fullback and blocking," he said. "But I didn't mind that. It was fun to do while waiting for Malik (Burks) to go. I didn't mind the idea of sharing the ball with Rouse this year. And then when it was time to step up, I stepped up. And the line did too. They accepted the challenge."

There is nothing but obstacles left for Baker. The state tournament begins with a quarterfinal against Corning, which has been putting up pinball-like numbers all year. The presumption is that equally explosive Rush-Henrietta will be awaiting in the semifinals and then Troy or Monroe-Woodbury in the final if the Bees should be so fortunate as to return to the Dome on Thanksgiving weekend.

Said Paprocki: "It's going to be a challenge."

Click here to view MaxPreps' New York football playoff brackets.

MORE FOOTBALL SECTIONAL FINALS
Class AA: Junior Stephen Hughes kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Clarence a 31-28 victory over Orchard Park in the Section VI final. It was Hughes' first varsity attempt at a field goal.

Quarterback Ashton Broyld ran for four touchdowns in the first half and threw a scoring pass as Rush-Henrietta (Henrietta) dominated Irondequoit 46-7 in Section V's state qualifier. Broyld rolled up 225 yards on 20 carries for the Royal Comets, who finished with 516 yards of offense.

Corning scored twice in the 10 seconds before halftime to take command en route to a 32-13 victory over Binghamton in Section IV. The Hawks scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jason Smith to Zach Moore to cap a 10-play, 59-yard drive. Following the kickoff, the Patriots threw deep only to have the ball picked off by senior Jordan Frysinger, who returned it 70 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the half.

Class A: Senior fullback Tim Young scored on a 5-yard run with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter to put Aquinas Institute (Rochester) ahead for good in a hard-hitting, 10-7 win over Victor for its fifth straight Section 5 crown.

Little Irish tailback Mike Messina played through an ankle injury suffered on the opening series, all-state receiver Chris Bostick missed the second half with a leg injury, two-way contributor Jahmahl Pardner missed time with a leg injury and lineman Scott Henderson exited late with a bum shoulder. Taken in total, that's no way to prepare for two-time defending NYSPHSAA champ Sweet Home.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake stayed on course for a third straight trip to the final by beating Lansingburgh 42-21 in the Section II title contest. Brandon Beatty ran for 134 yards and four touchdowns, Evan Nusbaum rolled up 137 yards and a score and Keaton Flint contributed 128 yards and one touchdown.

Class B: Defending state champ Hornell had no trouble securing its 10th Section V championship, routing Midlakes 67-0. Jordan Schwartz (seven catches, 233 yards) made touchdown receptions of 70 and 18 yards, and also caught a pass on the opening drive to set up Sam Stonerock's 2-yard scoring run. Dominic Scavo's first three throws were all completions and accounted for more than 150 of his 260 yards on the day on 9-for-12 accuracy.

Class C: Letchworth (Gainesville) rolled past Holley 48-14 in Section V as junior Ryan Owens threw touchdown passes to senior Matt Mayle covering 64, 53 and 5 yards. Mayle also returned a fumble 11 yards for a score. Owens kicked field goals of 28 and 27 yards and also intercepted two passes.

Christian Conway ran for five touchdowns as Bronxville won the Section I trophy with a 36-8 triumph vs. Hastings. Conway finished with 20 carries for 205 yards.

Shane Smith engineered a 13-play, 86-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter to lift Fredonia over two-time defending state champion Southwestern in the Section VI final. It snapped the Trojans' 38-game winning streak, the third-longest active run in the country. Trailing 10-6 midway through the fourth quarter after a 24-yard field goal by Southwestern's Jimmy Rauh, Alex Ippolito began the winning drive with a 29-yard run. The Hillbillies moved to the Southwestern 20 with less than a minute left, and a 13-yard pass from Smith to Ippolito got the ball to the 7-yard line with 29 seconds left. After a timeout, Smith worked from the shotgun and hit Tyler Buckley in the end zone.

Class D: Silver Creek jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its third play from scrimmage, built a three-touchdown lead and knocked off defending NYSPHSAA champion Randolph 21-14 in the Section VI title game. Senior Frank Sterlace gave Silver Creek the lead for good on a 66-yard run down the left side in the game's early moments.

NOTES FROM AROUND THE STATE
* Lincoln (Brooklyn) completed its first perfect PSAL regular season in 10 years by beating New Dorp 38-0. On the night Lincoln honored former player Emmanuel Williams, the younger brother of star defensive end/tight end Ishaq Williams who was killed last year at the age of 15, Ishaq Williams caught a 20-yard touchdown pass and had a pair of sacks.

* In the Monsignor Martin Association semifinals, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute (Buffalo) topped Canisius 35-19 as Nicholas Hall ran 17 times for 208 yards. St. Joe's (5-5) will play St. Francis (4-6) for the League AA title Thursday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Canisius quarterback Travis Eman was an uncharacteristic 8-for-34 for 115 yards and three interceptions. The Buffalo News reported Eman had a 16-year old cousin killed in an auto accident on her way from Canada to see the game.

* Daniel Ventricelli opened the Long Island postseason in style. The Syosset quarterback, making just his third start, tied a Nassau County playoff record with five touchdown throws in a 44-10 win over East Meadow in Conference I. The senior was 12-for-18 for 236 yards. Receiver James Cohan caught seven passes for 182 yards and also tied a county record, reeling in four scoring passes.

* Junior running back Stacey Bedell of William Floyd (Mastic Beach) turned a screen pass into an 83-yard touchdown to start the way to a 33-16 win over Bay Shore in Suffolk Division I. He also scored on a 66-yard draw play in the third quarter.