A Westhill football season that began in doubt and uncertainty is now one unlikely victory away from an improbable appearance in the Section III Class B championship game at the Carrier Dome.
The Warriors took the first steps down the post-season road Friday night by defeating Mexico, 42-28, in the opening round of the sectional playoffs, a fate far different than that of Marcellus, who was overwhelmed at Oneida in a 48-0 defeat to the Indians.
Having seen a six-game win streak halted by Homer in the Oct. 17 regular-season finale, Westhill, no. 21 in the state Class B rankings, still took solace in the fact that it had a home playoff game, something few people expected in head coach Jamie Casullo’s first campaign.
Now the Warriors dealt with Mexico, who at 4-3 had finished third in the Class B East division behind Cazenovia and Oneida, and the Tigers would not make it easy for Westhill to get rid of them.
It took a big second quarter for Westhill to seize control. With Mexico so worried about the run threat from Ja’Shai’ Jamison, quarterback Richie Easterly found more chances to take off – which he did, using large gains to set up his own touchdown runs of one and eight yards.
Combined with a 13-yard scoring pass from Easterly to Donovan Whipple, this helped the Warriors shake off Hunter Fox’s 15-yard TD run, and also pushed Westhill to a 21-7 halftime lead.
Then the Tigers unleashed its top running back, Collin Haynes, and he burned an otherwise solid Westhill defense, scoring twice in the third quarter on runs of one and 13 yards.
Fortunately, Westhill’s passing game, and Easterly, remained sharp, as he found Whipple for a second TD pass, this one of 27 yards, and it went to the final period with the Warriors on top, 28-21.
As Haynes tacked on a third TD run, Easterly offered the game’s biggest play. Working from Mexico’s 44-yard line, Easterly saw Mexico anticipate a pass, so he found a lane and, with strong blocking, plowed all the way to the end zone for what proved to be the winning score. Then Jamison tacked on a 10-yard TD sprint of his own late in the game.
By contrast, Marcellus was looking for any kind of points at Oneida, and not finding them against an Indians side that was burning for atonement after surrendering 63 points to Cazenovia the week before.
From the opening kickoff, Oneida was in full command, going 50 yards in 11 plays on its opening possession before Travis Moyer scored from one yard out.
More damaging was what happened on the Indians’ next series. A good Marcellus punt had pinned Oneida on its own three, but it promptly went the length of the field, 97 yards, in just eight plays, again with Moyer finding the end zone from two yards out.
So it was 12-0 going to the second quarter, and the Indians did not let up. Moyer’s third TD was a 26-yard pass from quarterback Rory McCarthy with 1:13 left in the half, and the ensuing two-point conversion left the Mustangs staring at a 20-0 halftime deficit.
Oneida’s defense continued to stifle anything Marcellus tried to establish, and forced a punt at the start of the third quarter. Another scoring drive followed for the Indians, McCarthy this time running nine yards for the TD and finding Nate Mallinder for two points.
Again, the Mustangs could not move anywhere, and punted. Again, the Indians mowed down the field, with Moyer flying 33 yards to the end zone for his fourth TD of the night that helped make it 35-0.
Now it was out of reach, and Oneida tacked on two more scores in the fourth quarter on McCarthy’s 10-yard pass to Dalton Buss and Nick Hart’s 25-yard strike to Nate Carinci, the Indians advancing to a sectional semifinal against Homer (whom it beat in that same round a year ago) as the Mustangs fell to 5-3.
Oneida moved on to face Homer in the Class B semifinal – and the other semifinal pits Westhill against the two-time defending champions, Cazenovia, who is 8-0, no. 3 in the state Class B rankings and smashed Skaneateles 54-8 in its playoff opener.
It’s a clash between Westhill’s multi-pronged attack and a stingy Cazenovia defense, while on the other side Casey Rogers, Chase Gedney and the rest of the Warriors’ defenders have to deal with a Laker offense where four strong runners – Dan Phillips, T.J. Connellan, Jake Wozniak and quarterback Keaton Ackermann – could hurt them with big plays.
