No doubt, the Skaneateles football team felt a large sense of accomplishment when it drubbed Phoenix 56-20 on Oct. 1 to end a long absence from the Section III Class B playoffs.
Perhaps the Lakers got too comfortable.
Just a week after the Phoenix rout, Skaneateles visited Oneida Friday night and saw everything fall apart, especially on the defensive side, during a 48-12 loss to the Indians.
For this non-league contest, the Lakers did not have the best timing. Oneida had just come off a game against unbeaten Cazenovia where it had squandered a fourth-quarter lead and took an 18-8 loss, and it wasn't happy about it.
Plus, as a team with a history of fine passing attacks, Oneida knew exactly what Conor Herr, fresh off his six-touchdown effort against Phoenix, was going to do.
By the time Herr got the ball the first time, the Lakers already trailed 7-0, the Indians using Matt Mosack's 53-yard pass to Shawn Ano to set up Chris Chesebro's five-yard scoring run.
On third down, Herr threw - and Oneida's Chris Morehouse got in front of Brandon Barron to make the interception at the Lakers' 21. Four plays later, P.J. Tayntor scored from the one, and Skaneateles was down 13-0.
There it would remain the rest of the first half, the Lakers gaining some momentum by halting a long Oneida drive short of the goal line just before the break. That carried over into the third quarter, when Ryan Sherman intercepted Mosack at the Indians' 36, leading to a TD as Herr found Barron on a three-yard strike.
From there, though, the Indians took over, scoring on its next four possessions. Whatever it tried, Skaneateles could not slow down Oneida as Tayntor added three more TDs on short runs to make it 34-7 by the fourth quarter.
The Lakers scored once more, Tyler Saunders finding the end zone on a four-yard run, but Jimmy Moyer returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a TD to wrap things up.
Herr threw 36 times, completing 17 of those passes for 108 yards. The longest completion, to James Smith, went just 16 yards.
Skaneateles concludes the regular season at home next Friday against Westhill (5-1), who is battling Homer and Marcellus for first place in the Class B West division. The Warriors, featuring stars like Nathan Nigolian and R.J. Chester, are coming off a 32-0 shutout of Phoenix.
