CAZENOVIA – In and around Buckley-Volo Field, a group is hard at work, all trying to make sure the facility is ready on the second Saturday of September for the season opener.
Oh, and the Cazenovia football team is working hard, too.
Though the new turf, scoreboard and grandstands are in place, workers were still adding the last touches to the complex in the weeks leading up to the Lakers’ first game of 2024 against General Brown on Sept. 14.
Meanwhile, Cazenovia’s players tended to its own kind of “unfinished business” – exactly the term head coach Kyle Martin gave for this fall in the wake of back-to-back Section III Class C semifinal defeats each of the last two seasons.
On the surface, the task in 2024 seems a steep one with most of the starters from 2023 gone on both sides of the ball. What makes up for it is the presence of a strong junior class, 28 deep, led by returning quarterback Bobby Livingston.
Starting as a sophomore, Livingston threw for more than 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns with just three interceptions while also rushing for a team-best 455 yards and five scores.
Martin said that Livingston spent the off-season improving his ability to be quick off the snap. He also got plenty of chances to work with his teammates on Cazenovia’s upper turf field, honing a passing attack that will heavily depend on Livingston’s strong arm.
There will be plenty of spread formations with the Lakers’ deep group of receivers that includes one of the team’s four seniors, Wyatt Scott, along with Carter Bowden, Paul Mitchell, Bryce Odessa and Dylan Schug, all of whom work in front of running back Finn Smith.
By far, the Lakers’ biggest task on offense is putting together a brand-new offensive line that includes, in the interior, wrestling standout Bryce Enders, who bulked up from 155 to 180 pounds and could see time at center along with Joe Fisher.
Surrounding them are other new starters, from Kyle Caraher and Exazander Sizmer to Riley Fowler and Brock Duerr, a group of that Martin said needs time to gel and click, more so than at the other positions.
Traditionally strong on defense, Cazenovia will run a 3-4 to take advantage of its speed and athleticism, with Fowler at nose guard flanked by Duerr and David Tugaw, each of them hoping to match the production lost when Jack Macro (who led the Lakers in 2023 with 45 tackles and five sacks) graduated.
Enders, Scott, Bowden and Sizmer make for a potentially exciting group of linebackers, while Livingston, who didn’t play defense in 2023, will do so this fall, lining up at safety with Smith and Mitchell. Ed Moskvich returns at cornerback, joined by Odessa and Schug.
As it did a year ago, the Lakers open with General Brown, one of just three home games on the new turf as Southern Hills visits Oct. 5 and Bishop Ludden/SAS arrives Oct. 26.
Given the team’s relative lack of physical size, Martin said that it’s important that his players understand how to attack at angles, to use its speed and depth to produce big plays – and perhaps, by doing so, take the extra step toward glory denied to recent Cazenovia sides.
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