Ever since the current group of Clarence boys lacrosse seniors were in seventh grade, they thought about becoming the team that would dethrone Orchard Park.

There were many teams that have had that same goal -- 16 years' worth of teams, to be exact -- but no one had done it until the Red Devils dominated the second half of Wednesday night's Section VI Class A championship game.

Clarence outscored Orchard Park, 6-0, over the final 25 minutes to beat the 16-time defending champions, 7-5, before an estimated 1,000 at All High Stadium.

"This is a legacy right here for us," Clarence coach Mike Silverstein said. "This is a group that's been working their butts off for us for the last couple of years. We had a feeling a couple years ago that this could be the group that could do it for us, and they really did. I couldn't be more proud of the effort they gave in the second half."

Clarence (16-2) advances to the Far West Regionals against Section V (Rochester area) power Pittsford at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. John Fisher.

"Since seventh grade this group has been together, just working hard, summer tournaments, working all year long," senior Charles Warkenthien said. "We just kept fighting and fighting and we finally did it."

Orchard Park's last loss in the title game came to Sweet Home in 1994. The Quakers had won 19 of the last 20 Section VI Class A crowns, and it appeared they were headed for another championship when they built a 5-1 lead deep into the second quarter.

Sophomore Austin Goltz had three goals while sophomore Tim Wagner and senior Connor Hicks each had one for OP (13-4) in the first half against a Clarence team that OP had defeated, 11-7, on May 18. However, the Quakers wouldn't score again.

Clarence got a momentum boost in the final minute of the first half as Dave DeCirce scored unassisted to make it 5-2 with just 2.9 seconds left in the second quarter. The Red Devils owned the second half in possession, keeping the ball in the OP end for most of the half, and on the score sheet, 5-0.

Seniors Cooper Wittig and Warkenthien each scored twice in the second half while DeCirce added another goal. Clarence got another huge goal as Wittig scored to tie the game at 5-5 with just 4.4 seconds left in the third quarter.

Wittig added a goal off a Nick Gay feed with 10:47 left to give Clarence a 6-5 lead, and a big faceoff win by junior Jack Lally led to another goal. Warkenthien, son of assistant coach Charley Warkenthien, came from behind the cage on the left side and scored for the 7-5 lead.

The Quakers had a 95-game winning streak against Western New York competition stopped earlier this year with a 12-11 loss to Silver Creek, which won the Class C championship Wednesday. OP went 224-2 against local competition in between the 1994 loss and the Silver Creek loss. It had a 129-game win streak end with a loss at Amherst in 2005.

"Clarence outplayed us today," Orchard Park coach Gene Tundo said. "They got a big goal at the end of the first half, and they just kept coming. Every part of the game they outplayed us. I'm proud of our kids. They were just the better team."

kmcshea@buffnews.comnull