Christian Brothers Academy started the 2014 football season by rallying for a 34-16 victory over Shaker.
Eight weeks later, the Brothers pulled off another come-from-behind win over the Blue Bison.
CBA (8-1) outscored Shaker 27-0 in the second half to beat the Blue Bison 37-21 Friday, Oct. 31, in the Section 2 Class AA semifinals at Shaker.
The Brothers advance to face Empire Division champion Shenendehowa (9-0) in the championship game Friday, Nov. 7, at the University at Albany, while Shaker (7-2) is left to ponder what went wrong after building a 21-10 halftime lead.
“We’re glad to be playing in week 10. That’s important to our program,” said CBA coach Joe Burke.
“It’s an emotional way to walk off the field, but we’re proud of what we accomplished this season,” said Shaker coach Greg Sheeler.
The turning point came early in the third quarter. CBA forced Shaker quarterback Matt Woods to fumble the ball on a run up the middle, and the Brothers recovered it at the Blue Bison’s 12-yard line. Two plays later, tailback Nasir Tune scored on a 1-yard run to pull CBA within four points of Shaker.
CBA’s defense made another big play later in the second quarter. Tom Stanton knocked the ball out of Michael Tanu’s hands as Tanu was sweeping left. Ben Anthony picked up the loose ball and raced 33 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Brothers missed the extra point, but they had the lead and they weren’t about to let it go.
“Tom Stanton had a nice tackle to force the fumble, and I saw it. I just picked it up and ran as fast as I could,” said Anthony.
CBA wore down Shaker’s defense in the fourth quarter by bombarding the Blue Bison with run after run. Jaylen McIntyre exploited the edges, while Tune pounded the ball up the middle. Each of them found the end zone in the period — Tune on a 2-yard run, and McIntyre on a punishing 7-yard run where he powered his way through three Shaker tacklers.
Meanwhile, CBA’s defense bottled up Shaker’s offense. The Blue Bison managed only two first downs in the second half, one of which came on a fake punt that briefly kept a Shaker drive alive in the fourth quarter.
Shaker’s offense benefitted from good field position in the first half. An early CBA turnover led to a 13-yard touchdown run by Ryan Duda in the first quarter. Then following a CBA touchdown, a long kickoff return by Andrew Bolton landed the Blue Bison on the Brothers’ 39-yard line. Bolton finished the drive with a 2-yard scoring run to put Shaker in front 14-7.
Shaker defensive back Nick Brown intercepted CBA quarterback Joe Kolbe midway through the second quarter and returned the ball to the Brothers’ 28-yard line. Tanu completed the ensuing Shaker series with a 3-yard touchdown run to increase the Blue Bison’s lead to 21-7.
That was the last time CBA let Shaker near its end zone, as the Brothers rallied to beat the Blue Bison for the second time this season.
“They made some plays in the second half, and field position did not help us,” said Sheeler.
“Our defense has been great all year. They were awesome today,” said Burke. “They rose to the occasion.”
CBA now has an opportunity to avenge its lone loss of the season — a 28-14 setback against Shen Sept. 20 in which the Brothers played without Tune and Anthony, both of whom were out with injuries.
“We were missing two key guys the first time, but credit Shen for playing great that night,” said Burke.
