Cazenovia football’s success is defined by the steady, mature presence of Tom Neidl and his veteran coaching staff on the sidelines, preaching a style that has resulted in a steady string of league and Section III titles. More might be on the way in 2010, but first Neidl had to reach an important career milestone – namely, his 150th career victory. In Saturday’s game at Holland Patent, the Lakers, no. 8 in the state Class B rankings, received its first real push of the season, but took over in the second half and beat the Golden Knights 44-16. Both Cazenovia and HP came into the game with 2-0 records, and the winner would gain the early edge in what already appears to be an intense Class B East division. Having beaten its first two foes (Bishop Ludden and Hannibal) by a combined 110-0, the Lakers started out treating the Golden Knights in the same rough manner. A quick scoring drive early in the first quarter led to John Greacen’s two-yard touchdown run. Minutes later, Cazenovia hit again, Jeff Hopsicker finding Forest Blanchard on a 34-yard TD pass. When the Lakers’ defense registered a safety to make the score 16-0, HP was dazed – but it spent the second quarter fighting back. John Iselo’s three-yard scoring run was the first points the Lakers had allowed all season. Not content with that, the Golden Kinghts’ quarterback, Andy Hurteau, hit Mark Parshall for a 77-yard touchdown pass. Both times, HP hit on the two-point conversion, and a possible rout had turned into a 16-16 tie. Even when Dan Majewski’s three-yard TD run gave the Lakers a 23-16 halftime lead, it was far from safe. Challenged for the first time all season in the second half, Cazenovia responded with a second half where it kept HP off the board and assured that Neidl would reach his milestone. As the Lakers’ defense took away anything the Golden Knights tried, it put together three scoring drives, all ending in short touchdown runs. Greacen scored a second and third time on two and eight-yard jaunts, respectively, and Hopsicker scrambled 12 yards for another TD. This leads Cazenovia to its home opener at Buckley-Volo Field next Saturday – a big clash with the other league favorite, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, which kicks off at 1:30. VVS, after its season-opening, 38-28 loss to Westhill on Sept. 3, has rolled to a pair of wins, including Saturday’s 70-21 romp over Phoenix where quarterback Tyler Mautner completed all 14 of his passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns. In Mautner, running back Colin Way and wide receiver Tyler Curtis, the Red Devils give the vaunted Lakers defense its biggest test so far.