SYRACUSE >> Six turnovers proved too much for Kingston High’s football team to overcome Thursday when it lost 35-14 to Cicero-North Syracuse in the Kick-Off Classic at the Carrier Dome.
Cicero scored 22 unanswered points in the second quarter to spoil the Tigers’ season opener. It was the 10th loss in a row for Kingston, dating back to last year.
Dante Nardi’s heroics could not change the outcome for Kingston. The junior raced 85 yards on a reverse on the opening kickoff to put the Tigers immediately on top.
He had another long kickoff return at the end of the first quarter, also rambled 46 yards on a pass from Tanner Davis in the second quarter and had another long gainer on a screen pass in the fourth.
Kingston, however, could never stop Cicero’s ground game, led by Vinny Pitonzo’s three touchdown runs,
Conner Hayes’ 15-yard pass to Landry Rogers on a fourth-and-long late in the first quarter led to Pitonzo’s 2-yard scoring burst two plays later and a 7-6 Cicero lead.
Nardi countered with a long kickoff return down to the Northstars’ 8, but Kingston eventually turned the ball over on downs. Less than two minutes later, Pitonzo shrugged off a defender and raced 62 yards on a sweep for a 13-6 Northstars advantage.
Davis, a sophomore making his first varsity start, then found Nardi for the 46-yard strike and connected to Reid Jordan for a 15-yard TD pass that would put Kingston ahead 14-13 with 7:53 left in the half.
Cicero responded with sophomore Erik Pride accounting for 51 of the Northstars’ 54 yards on the next drive. Pride scored on a 2-yard run and Hayes ran for the 2-point conversion for a 21-13 lead that Ciero never relinquished.
The Northstars scored twice in the final three minutes of the half. A Keegan Wright interception led to a Pitonzo 1-yard TD run. Hayes later hit Rogers for an 11-yard scoring pass as time was running out.
Kingston was able to move the ball, but could never get back into the end zone.
Rogers intercepted a Davis pass on the Cicero 10 midway through the third quarter and Pitonzo got a pick off a tipped pass early in the fourth.
The Tigers, who were intercepted four times and lost two fumbles, forced two fumbles and had a pickoff themselves, but never cashed in any of their turnovers. They were stopped on downs three times in the red zone.
While most of the Hudson Valley had scholastic events delayed or postponed because of the heat index, Kingston and Cicero played in sweltering conditions. Although the Carrier Corporation (noted for its air-conditioning units) has eternal naming rights to the Dome, the facility does not have AC.
Kingston opens at home 7 p.m. next Friday against Washingtonville.