Both the West Genesee and Bishop Ludden football teams find themselves going to the Section III playoffs. And both head there with lots of confidence and momentum following impressive showings on a wet, cold and windy Friday night.
The Wildcats used its potent passing attack to pull away from the Fowler Falcons and prevail 51-19 at Nottingham High School’s turf, while the Gaelic Knights got one more chance to impress the home crowd in Geddes and did so with a 26-0 shutout over Tully.
WG was quite happy to play on an artificial turf field on this night, avoiding all the complications that grass and mud might bring. Just as importantly, it was pleased in the way its offense took it to Fowler from the moment the game started.
A pair of scoring drives in the first quarter set the tone for the night, both of them ending in short touchdown runs – Jalen Thomas from five yards out, then Pat Brown on a one-yard plunge. That made it 13-0, and though Fowler inched closer late in the period with a long drive and Kelvin Amparo’s two-yard TD run, the tone had been set.
Then Matt Naton took over in the second quarter. Three times, he moved the Wildcats into Falcon territory. Each time, he tested the Fowler secondary with a deep ball that led to a touchdown.
It started with Naton throwing a 23-yard scoring pass to Brown. Then it was Naton to Brown again, the TD covering 37 yards. Finally, Brown connected with Sean Howard on a 26-yard scoring strike. The flurry all but put the game away before halftime as WG’s lead grew to 32-7.
More was to come, though, as in the third quarter Naton tacked on his fourth TD pass, 29 yards to Teddy Glesener. Though Fowler would get a pair of its own scoring drives in the late going, WG would stay in front thanks to Nasean Howard’s three-yard TD run and James Pontello’s 28-yard sprint to the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Ovearll, Naton threw for 143 yards, half of it to Brown, who had three catches for 73 yards, while Thomas, who had taken over as WG’s primary back midway through the season, had 93 yards on 14 carries.
Thanks to CBA’s stunning 14-10 win at Baldwinsville on Friday, the Wildcats (3-4) will meet the Brothers (7-0) next Friday at Alibrandi Stadium in the opening round of the AA playoffs. The winner plays Utica Proctor or Rome Free Academy in the semifinals.
As for Bishop Ludden, it had to deal with the mud (plus the rain and the wind) on its home field against Tully. But it managed just fine, excelling on both sides of the ball against Tully, especially defense.
Not once were the Black Knights able to find the scoreboard against the Gaelic Knights, as linebacker Mike DePalma, who finished with nine tackles, led a unit that gladly got its green uniforms dirty and protected a lead that Ludden earned early in the game.
Working at Tully’s 45-yard line in the first quarter, quarterback Mike Rogers saw Tully playing close to the line of scrimmage and decided to throw deep. That paid off when Aaron Maher flashed open – and Maher caught the pass for the touchdown.
Rogers threw just five passes in the difficult conditions, but completed four of them for 124 yards. He deftly led Ludden on another scoring drive in the second quarter, capped by Michael Works scoring on a seven-yard run as the Gaelic Knights took a 12-0 lead to the break.
And it didn’t take long for that lead to expand once the third quarter started. Myles Montgomery fielded the second-half kickoff at his own 24-yard line, then tore through Tully’s special teams unit (and the mud) to go 76 yards for a back-breaking touchdown. That, plus Works’ seven-yard scoring run later in the period (and a pair of Chris Davis extra points), accounted for the rest of the points on this night.