It all turned out close to perfect for Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s football team – and at the same time, it all went haywire for Chittenango. Not only did the Red Devils beat archrival Oneida by a convincing 33-6 margin Saturday in front of a big home crowd at Sheveron Field, and not only did it clinch a Section III Class B playoff spot, it moved up to second place in the final Class B East division standings when Chittenango lost to Holland Patent 21-7. This means that VVS will be home again for next Saturday’s playoff opening round against Homer, while the Indians will visit Westhill on Friday night. Oneida, Chittenango and Holland Patent tied for third place in B West. Head-to-head, HP went 2-0 against the Indians and Bears, so it finished third, while Oneida went 1-1 and got the fourth spot. Chittenango will miss the playoffs. All this lay in the future when VVS and Oneida hit the field on Saturday, and none of it really mattered for the Red Devils except the fact that only a win would completely secure a post-season berth. A big help in this task was seeing quarterback Tyler Mautner make his first start since injuring his elbow on the last play of regulation in the double-overtime loss to Cazenovia on Sept. 25. Mautner, as it turned out, would not throw much – but with Collin Way and Dylan Guider gaining large chunks of yards on the ground, he didn’t need to. That became evident on VVS’s second possession, where long runs by Guider and Way got the Red Devils moving. Way would convert on a fourth down at Oneida’s 15-yard line, then go the final yard for the touchdown as Cole Barbano’s extra point made it 7-0. Oneida’s only points would come early in the second quarter, off Patrick Tayntor’s fine kickoff return that put the Indians in VVS territory. Runs by Tayntor, Matt Mosack and Matt Barlow led to Tayntor scoring on a one-yard run – but Casey Henderson blocked the PAT and the Red Devils kept its 7-6 lead. Right away, VVS answered, driving 70 yards, again keeping it on the ground most of the way. Way would again find the end zone, the senior fullback breaking three tackles on a 28-yard jaunt to the end zone that made it 13-6, a score that held until halftime. If the game turned at any point, it did early in the third quarter when Oneida saw a punt go sideways, putting VVS on the Indians’ 42-yard line. Right away, Mautner hit Henderson on passes of 16 and 18 yards, his most extensive throwing of the afternoon, and Way finished it off with another one-yard plunge, his third TD of the game, making it 21-6. When Oneida tried to bounce back, driving deep into VVS territory, an offensive pass interference penalty stopped the drive, and the Red Devils took over on downs at its own 29. It promptly marched 71 yards, with Guider going off on runs of 20 and 17 yards to set up Mautner’s one-yard TD sneak with 9:26 to play. Guider would add his own TD in the fourth quarter after recovering a fumble on the Oneida kickoff. In all, Way had 130 yards on 21 carries before leg cramps kept him out of the final minutes, while Guider ended up with 100 yards on 17 carries. The VVS offensive line, consisting of Henderson, Andrew Oliver, James Flagler, Anthony Matt, Aaron Oliver and Tyler Wendt, cleared the path throughout the game. While all this was going on, Chittenango found itself fighting to reach the playoffs at Holland Patent, and it started out well as, in the first quarter, fullback Nic Bacon found the end zone on a 25-yard run and Josh Burr made the extra point. But those would be the only points the Bears would score. HP answered with Andy Hurteau’s two-yard scoring run late in that opening period, and they would spend the rest of the half in a 7-7 stalemate, the two defenses taking over, waiting for someone to blink. Finally, in the third quarter the Golden Knights moved in front, moving to Chittenango’s one-yard line before John Iselo converted the go-ahead TD. Then, in the final period, Iselo took a handoff at his own 39-yard line and tore through the Bears’ defense, not stopping until he had scored the game-clinching touchdown. Iselo finished with 22 carries for 159 yards.