CAMILLUS – True, the West Genesee football team’s 20-14 victory over Baldwinsville Friday night did nothing to affect its eventual course over the rest of the regular season and upcoming Section III playoffs.
But by knocking off one of the top Class AA programs in the area, the Wildcats earned its fourth consecutive win and showed that it could make key plays at key moments on both sides of the ball.
At the outset, it was WG’s defense in the spotlight as it completely shut down the Bees in the first quarter, not allowing a single first down and producing the game’s first points, too.
A fierce pass rush deep in B’ville territory forced quarterback Greg Marinelli into a throw that got tipped in the air and caught by defensive lineman Christian Burns, who rumbled 15 yards for a touchdown and received a tumultuous reception on the Wildcats’ sideline.
Maintaining that momentum, WG, on in its next possession, drove from midfield, mixing runs and passes before Vincent Firenze, from the Bees’ 11 scrambled out of the pocket and found the end zone, the extra point making it 14-0.
Striking back, B’ville turned solely to its ground game on a scoring drive that Brandon Levin finished off with a two-yard TD run.
Then, in a two-play sequence late in the half, Marinelli intercepted a deep Firenze pass and then scrambled 47 yards into Wildcats territory before finding Griffin Killian on a 17-yard scoring pass 1:01 before halftime.
Tied 14-14 at the break, WG went back into its passing game in the third quarter. Firenze mostly relied on short passes until, working from the Bees’ 28, he threw to the end zone and Dom Burris, despite heavy coverage, snared it for the go-ahead TD.
Burris also caught a 30-yard pass on a critical third down as the Wildcats tried to put the game away in the final minutes, only to have Marinelli intercept Firenze again at the Bees’ four-yard line with 4:32 to play.
Once more, WG had to make a defensive stop – and did so when, with 1:25 left, Noah Coleman stepped in front of Marinelli’s deep pass at the Wildcats’ 32. Firenze’s pair of first-down runs clinched it.
Aside from his offensive heroics, Firenze also recorded a team-best 12 tackles, pacing a defense where Landon Spencer got 11 tackles, with Jerry Grobsmith and Carson Pagan earning nine tackles apiece. Burris finished with eight tackles.
Next Friday at 6 p.m., WG hosts Corcoran, a game critical to both teams who are battling for Class A playoff position.
By contrast, Westhill kept going in the other direction after a 4-0 start, dropping its third straight game Saturday night when it lost to Homer 61-27.
The Trojans led 20-0 by the end of the first quarter and 27-0 before Taden Chester caught a 77-yard scoring pass from Elijah Welch to finally put the Warriors on the board.
Welch would add three more TD pass, including another 77-yard bomb to Chester, but Homer’s ground game accumulated more than 400 yards as Sam Sorenson had 14 carries for 213 yards and scored twice, with Jeff Stauber adding 108 yards on just nine carries.
