ENDICOTT — Skaneateles had stopped everyone in its path this season, and had won 17 games in a row. But Saturday, the Lakers couldn’t stop Batavia’s Ray Leach.

“At times we felt like we had him, and he would just muscle out of tackles and then outrun us,” Skaneateles head coach Joe Sindoni said. “He was a very, very, very good back, and he’s tough to stop.”

The 215-pound senior running back carried 50 times for 462 yards and eight touchdowns to lead Section V’s Batavia (12-0) over Section III’s Skaneateles (11-1) in a Class B New York state semifinal at Union-Endicott High School. The Lakers kept pace for much of the contest, relying often on quarterback Pat Hackler’s legs to remain in the game. But in the end, after Leach ran for 417 yards and eight scores to get to the semis, he put up another standout effort to end the Lakers’ season and send Batavia to the Carrier Dome for the state finals. It ends the best two-year stretch in Skaneateles history.

“They are now the standard that if you want to be a great Skaneateles football team, this is what you measure yourself against,” Sindoni said of this Lakers’ team.

Before Skaneateles’ sectional semifinal game a few weeks ago, Hackler said: “I’d love to leave a lasting memory” at Skaneateles. Hackler made history with the Lakers. He won a state title. He raised the bar. But he wanted another state title. Because of Leach, he can’t.

Batavia opened the game with a 6-play drive. All six went to Leach on the ground, and he racked up 61 yards to end up in the end zone. The Blue Devils did it again the next drive, too, as six more plays led to 65 more yards for Leach and culminated in another touchdown.

Skaneateles quarterback Pat Hackler crouches to the ground following the Lakers’ loss in the state semifinal game. Billy Heyen | Asst. Sports Editor

Skaneateles kept up, though. After the first Batavia score, the Lakers moved the ball to the 23-yard line, where they faced a third-and-10. Three players aligned wide to the right of the formation, and Hackler dropped back in the shotgun as if to pass. But instead, he handed it to Areh Boni going left, and the senior running back broke through and carried for a 23-yard score.

The Lakers stopped Batavia just once in the first half, on the Blue Devils’ third drive, to allow for a chance to knot it up. That’s what they did, on an 81 yard, 15-play drive that ended in a Hackler 5-yard touchdown run.

But Leach was just too much, and his power-speed combo showed on the following drive. From his own 32, he broke through up the middle and down to the Lakers’ 40, where it seemed he’d be wrapped up. But he shook out of the tackle and carried all the way to the 1-yard line. He powered it in on the next play. The Blue Devils went into halftime up a score.

“It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to make enough plays to come out,” Sindoni said.

The first play of the second half may have been the difference in the game. Hackler rolled right and fired down the field, but Batavia’s Andrew Francis cut in front to pick it off. Leach scored his fifth touchdown on the ensuing possession to break open a two-touchdown lead.

Leach added three more rushing touchdowns. He threw in an interception of Hackler. Skaneateles kept within range, twice getting within a touchdown in the fourth quarter. But it wasn’t enough, as after Leach set a state-tournament rushing record last weekend, he broke it this weekend and ended the careers of 17 Skaneateles seniors.

After the game, as they’d done much of the season, the Lakers discussed their 50-point shellacking by Cazenovia two seasons ago. Huddled in an end zone at Union-Endicott, Sindoni told his team how proud he was of them.

While Sindoni spoke, Hackler and Boni, two four-year varsity players, embraced with tears in their eyes. They’d endured intense two-a-days as freshmen, rode home with their parents and discussed how it was “just awful,” Boni said. They knew they wouldn’t play much then. But since then, they became stars. They dealt with that sophomore year defeat to win a state title and come within two wins of another.

“From being a team that three years ago got absolutely pounded by Cazenovia in the B playoffs,” Sindoni said. “I challenged them and said who would’ve thought that you’d be the number one (Class B team) in the state.”

Published on November 17, 2018 at 6:51 pm

Contact Billy: [email protected] | @Wheyen3