Bennett blanked Cicero-North Syracuse, 38-0, on the Northstars' home turf in the Class AA state football semifinals on Saturday. The Tigers overwhelmed the Northstars on both sides of the ball. "They're a very good and physical football team," C-NS coach Dave Kline said. "They have some special players."
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Bennett's offense caught fire right out of the gate. After Dominic Allan ran 11 yards on the opening play, he took it to the house for 60 yards and the touchdown at 11:20. Following a two-point conversion run from Dominic Howard, the Tigers had an 8-0 lead. Bennett capitalized on its next possession following a turnover on downs from C-NS. The Tigers moved quickly and after six plays, Jamario Toliver rumbled six yards for the TD. Jeremiah Rowell punched in the conversion, and Bennett suddenly had a 16-0 advantage. C-NS had two opportunities to score in the first and second quarters. The Northstars moved into the red zone each time, but they turned over the ball on downs twice on incomplete passes from quarterback Anthony Testa. Prior to turning over the ball in the second quarter, Alec Scripa recovered a fumble from Bennett's Allen. Testa kicked off the drive by completing a 15-yard pass to Mason Ellis. A few plays later, while scrambling out of the pocket and dealing with Bennett defenders at every corner, Testa connected with Vincenzo Lattanzio to his right for a 29-yard completion. Setting up at Bennett's 39-yard line, Farouk Ibrahim Jr. ran 18 yards to the 21-yard line. C-NS followed up with some smaller plays, but couldn't take advantage of the fumble earlier in the game. "We really had a chance there," Kline said. "It was tough to come away with no points." The Northstars' defense, however, kept Bennett off the board through the second quarter. "We fought through to get to halftime," Kline said. The Tigers broke away from C-NS heading into the second half. The Northstars punted the ball on their first possession of the third quarter. Bennett took over from there. At C-NS's 28-yard line, Allen darted to the right side. With a mix of being untouched and solid blocking on the run, Allen high-tailed into the end zone for the 28-yard TD at 5:53. Ahmar Bradberry provided the conversion to make it 24-0 Tigers. The Northstars didn't have the ball for long on their second possession of the third, as Jayden Lewis picked off Testa and took it back 65 yards for the TD to increase the Bennett lead to 30-0. The Tigers' final TD of the game came at 1:44 in the third, when Bennett's Brian Patterson snatched a fumble off of C-NS's David Shafer-Mooney and returned it 51 yards for the score. "We hoped to have come out in the second half and do something, but I give (Bennett) credit for being just too good," Kline said. For the Northstars, Testa completed 12-of-19 passes for 112 yards. Ibrahim carried the ball seven times for 40 yards. "It was an incredible season," Kline said. "We looked like a band of misfits out there at times. If you told me we'd make it this deep into the state playoffs, I would've said you're nuts." C-NS finished its season with a 9-3 record. "These kids showed courage, guts and faced adversity all year," Kline said. "They worked through with their character and the quality of people they are."
