Beaten by a combined 66-16 margin in its first two games, the West Genesee football team turned it around just in time.
The passing combination of Matt Naton and Pat Brown smothered Auburn throughout Friday night’s Class AA-2 contest, leaving it a happy Homecoming in Camillus as the Wildcats smacked the Maroons 45-14.
Not far away, in Geddes, Bishop Ludden made it back-to-back home victories and moved to 2-0 in the Class C West division (2-1 overall) by rolling past previously unbeaten Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 19-6.
Both WG and Auburn carried 0-2 marks into this game, but it was quickly apparent which side would get its first victory in 2010.
Late in the first quarter, the Wildcats were already ahead 7-0 thanks to freshman Naesean Howard’s one-yard touchdown plunge when the Naton-Brown aerial show began.
From midfield, Naton threw deep – and Brown caught it, finishing off a 50-yard TD play, and WG had a 14-0 lead going to the second quarter.
Another drive, and another Naton-to-Brown scoring pass, the two Wildcat captains connecting from 38 yards out. And just before the break, Naton hit Brown for a third TD covering 19 yards.
In between, Jalen Thomas ignited the Wildcats’ running game by going 38 yards for a touchdown, so the hosts went to the break with a 32-0 edge.
By the time Naton found Brown for an 18-yard scoring strike in the third quarter, the outcome was well settled. Brown, overall, had 193 receiving yards on seven catches, accounting for most of Naton’s 223 yards on the night. Howard added 100 rushing yards on 11 carries as Kesean Sparks contributed a 43-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
No one would get anywhere near those numbers when Bishop Ludden met APW. Instead, the Gaelic Knights put together its best defensive effort of the young season, especially in the second half.
Neither side scored until the second quarter, when the Rebels’ Skylar Wheeler broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run. From that point forward, Ludden tightened up and did a fabulous job containing Wheeler.
Matt Rogers’ passing set up Michael Works’ two-yard TD run that, combined with a Chris Davis extra point that gave the Gaelic Knights a 7-6 edge going into halftime.
Rogers, who completed eight of 16 passes for 167 yards, expanded the margin to 13-6 in the third quarter by finding Davis on an 11-yard scoring strike.
Antoin Montgomery contributed on both sides of the ball. Twice, he intercepted APW passes to thwart their comeback attempts, and he broke open to catch Rogers’ 39-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter that clinched Ludden’s win.
Ludden draws Jordan-Elbridge for its third straight home game next Friday at 7 p.m. West Genesee will try to slow down Corcoran, sitting at 3-0 and no. 13 in the state Class AA rankings, when it visits Syracuse’s South Side to meet the Cougars for a 6 p.m. kickoff.