SKANEATELES — Pat Hackler’s sophomore season ended covered in mud. He and his Lakers teammates had just been blown out by the eventual sectional champs, Cazenovia, 51-0. It was a beating unlike any he and his classmates, who’d been successful at younger levels, had ever taken.

But Hackler’s junior season ended with a gold medal around his neck. The Lakers team won the New York Class C state title in the Carrier Dome. It was a goal that had been set two weeks after the muddy blowout against Cazenovia.

“I think we all came together,” Hackler said. “We realized seeing a team like Cazenovia, who won the sectional championship that year, that there’s a lot more work that we have to do.”

For the last three seasons, Hackler has been the starting quarterback for New York state Class B No. 2 Skaneateles (8-0). After completing 49.6 percent of his passes and throwing 14 touchdowns as a sophomore, he completed 54.5 percent with 53 passing touchdowns en route to the 2017 state title.

The Yale lacrosse commit and former wide receiver has exceeded his head coach’s expectations and will seek to lead the Lakers to a second-straight state title, this time in Class B.

“I saw he was smart, and I saw he was athletic,” Skaneateles head coach Joe Sindoni said. “But did I see, as a freshman, the kid that he was gonna be as a junior and senior? No. And a lot of that is he has worked his butt off wanting to be great.”

Two weeks after the thrashing against Cazenovia, Hackler remembered meeting with his team. They came up with a motto: “all in.” They reached the conclusion Skaneateles would win the state title in 2017.

The Lakers showed a new level of commitment in the weight room during the 2017 summer, Hackler, Sindoni and senior Areh Boni said. Its only loss last season came on the road to Section III Class B champs Homer. Skaneateles outscored its opponents by 350 points over 13 games.

In the state final against Holy Trinity, Hackler came to the sideline during a timeout as the Lakers faced a third down with four yards to go. He sensed an opportunity.

“Coach, if I run this play, I can already see that I’ve got it,” Sindoni recalled Hackler saying, describing a play the Lakers had never run.

“What are you talking about?” Sindoni replied.

“Coach, I’ve got it.”

Hackler noticed that when Skaneateles ran a play-action rollout to pass, no one ever accounted for him. So on that third down, he kept the ball on a sweep and picked up the first down. The Lakers won the game by three points.

Sindoni said he has sometimes received calls from his quarterback at 10 p.m., after Hackler saw a play in a college or pro game he likes.

“He saw something in the game that I didn’t see,” Sindoni said. “And he did it on the biggest stage in the biggest game.”

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This past summer, Hackler wasn’t around a lot, Sindoni said. He was traveling to “elite” lacrosse camps and tournaments.

“It’s a lot of seeing a play before it develops, where the ball is thrown before a guy is even open,” Hackler said. “And it’s very similar in football, especially playing quarterback.”

After a summer filled with lacrosse, Hackler and the Lakers are focused on their “all in” motto again this season. After slight enrollment shifts, Skaneateles is back in Class B after one year in C, against larger schools than they faced last season. There’s a target on their backs, Hackler said.

In their eight wins this season, the closest game finished with a 33-point margin. If top seeds win out in Class B, Hackler will face Cazenovia in another sectional game, this time the final, two years after the loss that sent Skaneateles on its current path.

That wasn’t on the Lakers’ minds two days before their sectional quarterfinal, though. Instead, it was the weather. While working on defensive alignments near the block blue “S” at midfield of the Skaneateles High School turf field, the Lakers were bombarded with hail. Hackler, in his red, no-contact jersey, jumped and hollered with his teammates while their coaches looked on and laughed.

It was only after getting inside and warming up that Hackler reflected on what these next few weeks, the last few weeks of his football career, could mean.

“I’d love to leave a lasting memory,” Hackler said. “We’ve already made school history, but I’d love to enhance that … I’m gonna do everything I can for this team and everything for this school and community just to succeed and hopefully win a state championship.”

Published on October 23, 2018 at 10:22 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3