When the West Genesee football team fell to Liverpool n the opening round of last year’s Section III Class AA playoffs, it only allowed 28 points.
Henninger got to that total, and then some, in less than a quarter Saturday afternoon at Sunnycrest Field, quickly snuffing out the Wildcats’ hopes and eventually prevailing by a score of 60-8 in this year’s sectional playoff opener.
As the no. 6-ranked team in the state, the Black Knights has spent the entire season on a mission after a close defeat to CBA in the 2013 sectional final at the Carrier Dome. It had gone a perfect 7-0 in the regular season, yet saved its best performance for the arrival of West Genesee.
From quick defensive stops to a blocked punt, Henninger turned the first quarter into an all-around clinic, finding the end zone four times.
Devin Redden got it going with a 13-yard touchdown, also converting the two-pointer. Minutes later, the Black Knights had it near the Wildcats’ goal line again, and Romero Collier threw a seven-yard scoring pass to Keisean Scott.
Najee Everson’s two-point run quickly made it 16-0, and when Henninger got the ball back again, it was Everson getting the TD from eight yards out. And right at the end of the period, Collier made it 30-0 with a nine-yard scoring pass to Dewan White as Redden ran in for two.
That torrid pace could not be kept up, but Henninger still added two more TD’s in the second quarter, each of them coming on big plays as Everson, the Black Knights’ leading rusher, broke loose on scoring runs of 51 and 66 yards.
Only in the third quarter, with the game well out of reach, did the Wildcats get on the board, James Kerr scoring on a five-yard run and Matt VanAllen throwing a two-point pass to Justin Huppman.
But Henninger added two more TD’s on runs of 47 yards from John Bryant and 27 yards from Drequan Brantley as it advanced to a sectional semifinal against Auburn Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, while WG fell to 3-5.
