CBA football devours another AA title en route to state 3-peat chance: ‘Straight gas, no brake’ (50 photos)

Syracuse, N.Y. — A familiar question hung in the air of the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday night.

Who can beat this Christian Brothers Academy football team?

For the third straight year, the answer was the same — nobody in Section III.

And what about the state as a whole?

Well, we’re about to find out.

Quarterback Gradyn Dixon and wide receiver Javon Edenfield combined for a pair of touchdown passes to spark Christian Brothers Academy to a 27-6 decision over Liverpool in the Section III Class AA title game Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.

CBA (10-0) earned its third-straight sectional title and will begin its quest for a state three-peat with a first-round game vs. the Section IV champion next Saturday at Vestal High School. The Brothers have won 38 games in a row.

The Legends finished 9-2 this season, with both defeats coming at the hands of CBA.

It was a clinical performance by the champs, one that was settled early with the Brothers big-footing its rival by taking a 19-0 lead in the first half.

“I’m not surprised, honestly. Our team ... we put in so much work in the weight room during the offseason,” Edenfield said. “This is the outcome we expected. And, yeah, we’re gonna get back to work for the state.”

The Brothers were a machine on their first drive, rolling 81 yards on a drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown rush by Isaiah Coleman.

“Just straight gas, no break,” Coleman said. “It was really the mindset all week. Get on them early and then once we get up early, keep pushing and keep playing. You know the score is always 0-0.”

Except that it really wasn’t for most of the game.

Liverpool coach Joe Sindoni knew he had to take chances to stay in the game and keep the ball out of CBA’s hands, but the Legends were stuffed on a 4th-and-5 at their own 45 on their next drive.

“A lot of those fourth downs were 50-50,” he said. “It was usually under five yards, three yards. It was right in that range, kind of on the outside of where we normally like to go. But in a game like this, you’re going to have to score points to win and we had to take some chances to do that.”

This one didn’t pay off.

That turnaround set up a 1-yard plunge by Dixon for a lead that stood at 13-0 after the extra point was missed.

“Our offense was just clicking on early. It’s a lot of hard work over practice during the week, repping those plays,” Dixon said.

Coleman credited his offensive line for the heavy lifting in the run game.

“They mean the world to me because outside of football, they’re also my best friends,” he said. “So when your best friend is going all out for you on the field to make sure you’re able to do what you do, it’s a great feeling.”

Liverpool again unsuccessfully played the odds to set up CBA’s final score of the half. The Legends went for it on a 4th-and-5 at the CBA 44, but the Brothers forced and recovered a fumble.

1/50

Liverpool then compounded that gaffe with a defensive mistake. Edenfield snuck behind the Legends’ defense for a wide-open catch of a Dixon pass to make it 19-0.

“Yeah, that’s my brother. I love that guy,” Dixon said. “I’ve been throwing to him since eighth grade. So that’s just a lot of years of hard work with him.”

Liverpool’s upset hopes were tied to the talented right arm of John Sindoni, perhaps the best quarterback in Section III. But the Brothers’ defense took the big plays off his menu.

“They did a lot of different things in the secondary,” Joe Sindoni said. “We had a couple of passes, a couple of drops we want back. The game plan was to try and run the ball, which we did on them with some success in the first game. And we had a harder time with it in this game. That’s just the way it goes. They’re a good team and they’re really fast in the secondary. It’s not a great matchup for us.”

The Legends made a final bid to get on a scoreboard before intermission, but CBA’s defense stood tall on a 4th-and-3 on its own 18 with 12 ticks left.

Liverpool turned to some trickery on their first possession of the second half to get back in the game. With his team controlling the ball at its own 22, Sindoni threw a lateral to teammate Nico Leone on the right side. Leone then launched a long pass to Dalton Loguidice for a 78-yard score 55 seconds into the third.

But that momentum couldn’t stretch any farther. CBA struck back with 1:27 remaining in the third, when Dixon again hit Edenfield for paydirt, this time from 24 yards out.

“We do feel a little pressure, but we know what we got to do, so we’re focusing on the future,” Edenfield said of his team’s status as a target. “We’re ready for next week in the state regional.”

Brothers coach Casey Brown won’t compare season to season, but he senses his players are nearing peak form.

“The goal is to show perfect effort every single day and to go 1-0 in every rep,” he said.

And how close is this team to clearing that bar?

“We’re close, but we still got a ways to go,” he said.

CBA: 13-6-14-0 -- 27

Liverpool: 0-0-6-0 -- 6

First quarter

CBA: Isaiah Coleman 2-yard run (Thomas Cooney kick) 7-0

CBA: Gradyn Dixon 1-yard run ( kick missed) 13-0

Second quarter

CBA: Javon Edenfield 52-yard pass from Gradyn Dixon (pass failed) 19-0

Third Quarter

Liverpool: Dalton Loguidice 78-yard pass from Nico Leone (pass failed) 19-6

CBA: Javon Edenfield 24-yard pass from Gradyn Dixon (Khalen Reese run) 27-6