DEWITT –– It was a night of missed opportunities for the No. 3 Cortland football team Thursday, as it fell to No. 2 Jamesville-Dewitt 43-6 in an opening round Section III Class B2 playoffs.
The score was not indicative of how things played out early. The Purple Tigers ultimately unraveled down the stretch to let things get out of hand.
Cortland started things defensively out with an opening-drive interception. Rashaad Bryant came up with takeaway to set up his team offensively. Cortland drove down to the Red Rams’ 10-yard line before stalling out on fourth down. After forcing a punt on J-D’s second drive, Cortland struck. Connor Browngardt hooked up with Iniko Abani on a fourth down for a 23-yard score.
Cortland came up with a huge special teams play on the next drive, blocking a punt for the third straight game to set its offense up on the Red Rams’ 15. The Purple Tigers failed to cash in again despite great field position, turning it over on downs.
J-D drove down field and capped off an 11-play, 88-yard drive when Anthony Guidone found Hussien Osman for a 22-yard strike to tie the game at six. Cortland appeared poised for an answer on the ensuing drive. Instead, Browngardt threw a pick six to Carter Phaneuf with 1:19 left in the first half.
“Our kids were ready, we had a good week of practice,” Cortland head coach Brett Segala said. “We knew we could hang with this team even though the final score doesn’t really show it. It shows that they kicked our teeth in, and they did. They’re a really good football team. We came out fast, we did our job early. I think the turning point in the game was probably the pick six that made it 14-6, and then a couple missed tackles. We were in this ball game, the wheels just kind of came off in the second half. But, I’m proud of our fight all the way until the end tonight.”
Cortland had one last chance to respond and nearly did. Browngardt and Ibani hooked up again on what was essentially a Hail Mary attempt from the 38-yard line with 10 seconds left. Ibani fought down to inside the 1-yard line, but was ruled down as time expired. Segala tried to get a timeout call as the final seconds ticked away, but it was not granted.
Cortland stalled out on its first drive of the second half and never seemed to regain its first-half form. J-D rolled off 29 unanswered points and scored on four of its final six drives.
The Purple Tigers finish the 2024 season with a 4-5 record. Despite coming up short in their postseason appearance, Segala was proud of what his team accomplished and is looking forward to what they are building.
“Honestly, they were a great team to be around,” Segala said. “We had our ups and downs early on, but they were a great group. Our seniors did a great job.”
“I said at this exact time last year that Cortland football was back and I think Cortland football is here to stay,” Segala added. “We’re just going to go back to the drawing board in a couple weeks. We’re going to get in the weight room. We’re going to have a great winter, spring and summer and we’re going to run it back for 2025 and take this program to another level, because I know we’re capable of it.”
