Vestal, N.Y. -- Anthony Testa scored a go-ahead rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter and Cicero-North Syracuse topped Corning-Painted Post, 20-16, in the Class AA regionals on Saturday at Vestal High School.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Farouk Ibrahim Jr. ripped off a couple of big runs from the Northstars' six-yard line. The first one was for 21 yards and the second was for 56 yards to put C-NS at Corning's 17-yard line.
After Testa ran 13 yards to move the ball to the 4-yard line, he rushed four yards more for the TD at 9:53 in the fourth.
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"We didn't run the ball as much during the game so we decided to see what we could do (on the game-winning drive)," C-NS coach David Kline said. "The kids rallied behind it."
The Northstars' defense came through in the clutch in the fourth quarter. C-NS forced Corning to turn over the ball three times in the fourth, two of which came after the Northstars scored the go-ahead TD.
"Our defense played ridiculously well tonight," Kline said. "We can't emulate what you do in practice, but they still played unbelievable."
Two members of the Northstars' squad -- offensive coordinator John Giannuzzi and quarterback Jaxon Razmovski -- were taken to the hospital for medical treatment on undisclosed conditions, but Kline noted neither situation was serious and it was "only taken as a precautionary measure."
"Both are doing well, feeling good," Kline said. "We just wanted to be safe."
A majority of the scoring came in the first quarter.
The Hawks struck first. Logan Booker took it to the house for 48 yards at 10:41. Following a successful two-point conversion run from Dillon Kennedy, Corning took an 8-0 lead.
The Northstars answered in their second possession of the quarter. Razmovski threw back-to-back nifty passes to Mason Ellis and Joshua Kubala for 13 and 19 yards, respectively. A few plays later, Razmovski scored a touchdown on a one-yard quarterback sneak to cut the deficit to 8-6 at 6:23.
Three minutes later, the Hawks increased their lead when Landen Burch targeted Jack VanWoert for a 36-yard TD reception. After Booker ran it in for the two-point conversion, the Hawks went up 16-6 at 3:51 in the first.
Cicero-North Syracuse, however, was quick as well on its next scoring drive. Razmovski threw a deep pass to Kubala for a 56-yard TD. The extra point from the Northstars sliced the score to 16-13.
"We were going through the motions," Kline said. "We faced a lot of adversity tonight. It's amazing how much guts these kids showed."
Razmovski completed 16-of-20 passes for 184 yards and a TD. Kubala had three catches for 79 yards and a TD, while Ellis caught six passes for 57 yards.
The Northstars move on to the NYS semifinal round next Saturday at 6 p.m. on their home turf. Kline noted C-NS has been in the state semifinal round for four straight seasons.
"It's incredible," he said. "Looking forward to moving on."
