All the early evidence suggests that the Solvay football team is right on the doorstep of challenging Section III Class B’s upper crust. Still, the Bearcats had to absorb its second close home loss in as many tries Friday night, beaten 20-13 by Homer at Earl Hadley Stadium. This was the first Class B West division outing for Solvay following a split of its early slate – that narrow one-point defeat to Oneida Sept. 4, followed eight days later by a comfortable win at Phoenix. Homer was also 1-1, and had also lost a one-point decision to Oneida. The Trojans brought to “The Pit” a potent offense that, led by quarterback John Sciera, had scored 68 points in its two games. If nothing else, though, Solvay had shown an ability to shut down an opponent for long periods of time – and it did so here, playing the Trojans to a 0-0 first-quarter stalemate. As the Bearcats patiently waited for its own offense to fire up, Homer got moving in the second quarter. A patient drive led to Andy Parker’s two-yard touchdown run, and Solvay trailed 7-0 at the break. That didn’t last too long. Taylor Delperuto, who had 15 carries for 107 yards, gave the home fans a boost when, early in the third quarter, he took off from midfield through a hole 47 yards for a touchdown. John Savo’s extra point made it a 7-7 tie. Good as that was, it got Homer moving, too, and it would take charge the rest of the period. Twice, it would move deep into Solvay territory, and twice it would score, Jake Morris going 23 yards for one TD, 20 yards for another. Down 20-7 going into the final period, Solvay was in major trouble.
But when Sciera tried to move the Trojans out of his own end, the Bearcats’ Ryan Bidwell intercepted the pass and returned it 27 yards for a TD, and suddenly Solvay’s deficit was down to six. Try as it could, though, the Bearcats could not put together a drive that may have produced the winning points. So Solvay is 1-2 going into next Friday’s game on the brand-new artificial turf field at Skaneateles. The Lakers are 0-3, coming off a 42-10 loss to Chittenango, and a win here would all but assure post-season participation for the Bearcats.