Able to get just two wins in the 2009 regular season, the Fayetteville-Manlius football needed only two weeks to reach that same mark a year later.
The Hornets, still in high form after its season-opening 31-21 win at Henninger on Sept. 3, had even more fun in Friday night’s home opener, scoring in every conceivable manner against West Genesee and cruising past the Wildcats 42-16.
A large, boisterous crowd turned out at F-M, and didn’t have to wait long to start the cheering as the home team in green easily improved to 2-0 on the season.
Senior quarterback John Wittig, from his own 37-yard line in the first quarter, went deep -and found Austin Perez, who covered the rest of the ground in a 63-yard touchdown play, and the Hornets led for good.
Meanwhile, F-M’s defense swarmed over the Wildcats, and it forced a fumble near midfield that star defensive end Brett Strickland picked up and returned 45 yards for another six points. Ari Waffle’s extra point made it 14-0.
With WG reeling, the Hornets kept attacking in the second period with three more scoring drives, some of them set up by Wildcat turnovers.
Wittig capped off one drive with a five-yard TD run. Fullback Matt Moro scored from the same distance a few minutes later, and when Wittig found Sawyer Dew from 34 yards out just before the half, it was 35-0, and already settled.
Maybe that was why F-M (much like it did against Henninger after a strong start) eased up a bit in the second half, its defense allowing a pair of scores.
Still, the Hornets were never threatened as Wittig, who threw for 169 yards on the night, threw his third TD pass to Ryan Simmons, covering 36 yards.
Following a short week of work, F-M will play again Thursday against Fowler at Henninger’s Sunnycrest Field at 6:30, with a huge home game looming on Sept. 24 against Utica Proctor, whose 2-0 start included Friday’s 24-21 thriller over Rome Free Academy in the state’s oldest rivalry.
