Just in time, the West Genesee football team stopped a month-long skid and kept its post-season hopes alive.
The Wildcats rode a big second quarter Exavier Brumfield to a 26-22 victory over Fayetteville-Manlius Friday night at Mike Messere Field, which meant that, it it wins at Rome Free Academy next weekend, it could still find itself in the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Also returning to the win column, Jordan-Elbridge broke a two-game skid when it went to Port Byron/Union Springs and scored four touchdowns in the first quarter on the way to defeating the Panthers 48-8.
By contrast, Skaneateles, once 4-0 and ranked no. 2 in the state in Class C, suffered its second consecutive defeat, putting up lots of points, but surrendering more to General Brown in a 56-49 loss.
West Genesee had lost three in a row since beating Corcoran 28-12 on Sept. 13. It could not afford any more setbacks and, with that urgency, proceeded to jump all over Fayetteville-Manlius following a scoreless first quarter.
Early in the second period, quarterback Braeden McNeil scrambled 19 yards to the end zone to put the Wildcats on the board. Even bigger was Exavier Brumfield taking a handoff at his own 26 and dashing down the right sideline 76 yards for a touchdown.
A third scoring drive led to a second Brumfield TD on a one-yard plunge, which made it 19-0. But just before halftime, F-M found the end zone to cut into that margin, setting up a tense second half.
Another Wildcats scoring drive in the third quarter led to Brumfield going seven yards for his third TD, part of a night where he gained 149 yards on 27 carries.
The Hornets countered by finding the end zone twice and following up with two-point conversions, but WG’s defense made enough late stops to preserve its first Class AA-2 division win of the fall.
Jordan-Elbridge managed to top West Genesee in terms of the numbers it put up in the first quarter to quickly put Port Byron/Union Springs away.
It took barely three minutes for the Eagles to get its first touchdown, Tyler Scott scoring from one yard out. Less than three minutes later, it was 13-0, Alex Pond going deep and finding Erik Ryan on a 61-yard pass.
Joining in the fun, J-E’s defense earned points when Caleb Rouse intercepted a Panthers pass and returned it 46 yards for six points. When Avante Brown scored on a 42-yard run and Trent Thomas hit Dakota Holbrook for two points, the Eagles had earned 28 points in less than seven minutes.
More big plays on both ends followed, Rouse returning a second interception 65 yards for a TD and, in the third quarter, Pond going deep to Ryan for a 78-yard scoring play.
J-E will ride this momentum into next Friday’s regular-season finale, when it hosts a Skaneateles side that suddenly finds itself in its own slump as the 40-0 defeat to Cato-Meridian was followed by a wild battle with General Brown at Hyatt Stadium.
Despite its 2-3 record going into the game, the Lions got on the board first, with the Lakers countering late in the opening period on Evan Brunelle’s five-yard TD run, but that was just the appetizer for the point barrage to follow.
Three touchdowns were scored in less than two minutes early in the second period, but even with Jacob Nesbitt returning a kickoff 81 yards for a TD, Skaneateles found itself trailing 28-14 when it put together a drive that Brunelle capped by going 14 yards to the end zone with less than a minute left in the half.
James Musso then drove the Lakers to the GB two-yard line before scrambling home to tie it 28-28 early in the third quarter. Less than two minutes later, the Lions led again, and a Musso interception led to another GB touchdown.
So it was 42-28 going to the final period, which stared with Nick Wamp going five yards for the TD, but continued with GB driving twice more against a porous Skaneateles defense to build its margin to 56-35 with barely five minutes to play.
Still not done, the Lakers had Nick Wamp go 85 yards for the team’s second kickoff return to the end zone. After some defensive stops, it moved to the Lions’ 17, from where Musso hit Max Wamp with 1:06 left.
GB held on, though, and Skaneateles fell to 4-2, now needing a win at J-E to regain its confidence in time for the sectional playoffs.
