CENTRAL NEW YORK – Three straight defeats was something to which the Cazenovia football team was unaccustomed, even if the quality of competition (including state-ranked General Brown and Skaneateles) may have something to do with it. Still, when the Lakers welcomed Southern Hills Saturday for Homecoming and the official dedication ceremony for the turf at Buckley-Volo Field, it was in no mood to continue this skid. With a potent offense finally unleashed in the game’s early stages, the Lakers defeated the Storm 40-20, though the margin didn’t reflect how good Cazenovia was in the first half. Five different times, the Lakers found the end zone, amounting to a 34-6 advantage that allowed it to relax a bit in the second half. A day earlier, Chittenango went to Westhill and found itself in yet another wild, high-scoring affair, but the Bears had the final push and would defeat the Warriors 54-42 to improve its record to 3-2. Both defenses were pushed around for much of the first half, resulting in a 22-22 tie as Chittenago got on the board with Seamus Gardner’s one-yard scoring plunge and then saw Gardner throw touchdown passes of 11 and 34 yards to Zailor Caras. Ironically, it was a defensive TD on an interception that gave the Bears a 29-22 lead going to the break, and the second half would evolve into a long chase where every Westhill surge was met by a Chittenango answer. Kyle Wehrlin twice found the end zone on runs of five and three yards in the third quarter. Gardner returned in the final period to score from three yards out after the Warriors had closed the gap to 46-42. To win, the Bears had to overcome Westhill quarterback Elijah Welch completing 17 of 22 passes for 226 yards and adding 134 rushing yards on 17 carries.