For varying reasons, the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse-Minoa football teams were unhappy thanks to defeats suffered on long road trips in the second week of the 2013 season.

To resolve this, the Red Rams and Spartans simply had to return to its home environment – or at least close to it, anyway – and rely on its proven strengths to reach the win column again.

J-D was at home last Friday night, taking on Fulton, and the complete lack of a passing game meant nothing on this night as Rasheed Baker and James Jones ran wild from the start and the Red Rams, with 387 total yards on the ground, roared to a 42-7 victory over the Red Raiders.

A big play got the Rams started as it blocked a punt deep in Fulton territory early in the first quarter, setting up Baker’s five-yard scoring run. Then, on J-D’s next possession, Baker, from the Red Raiders’ 44, broke tackles and rumbled to the end zone, quickly making it 14-0.

After Cody Green threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Bradley late in the first quarter, the Rams’ defense clamped down, using its speed and skill to stop anything that Fulton tried to establish, and even scored for itself when Joe Morgan returned a fumble for a TD late in the half.

That made it 28-7 at the break, as Jones scored on a 13-yard run earlier in the second quarter. Though Jones had just eight carries, he made them count, amassing 109 yards to complement the tough work of Baker, who earned 195 yards on 24 carries.

J-D steadily put things away late, Baker’s runs setting up John Werbowsky as he scored on runs of three and four yards. Anthony DiGiovanni made all six of the extra points he attempted.

Just as J-D began to swamp Fulton, ESM was at Corcoran High School’s turf, putting on the finishing touches as it blew past Fowler 40-6 in its league opener.

Having seen a fourth-quarter lead disappear in a 30-20 loss at Colonie the week before, ESM made sure that the 0-2 Falcons never even entered the argument, sprinting out to a 33-0 halftime lead even though it had the ball for less than six of the 24 minutes of game time.

Similar to its Sept. 5 opening win over Watertown, the Spartans got on the board in less than a minute – 33 seconds, to be precise – as Sean Richardson floated a 23-yard touchdown pass to Fred Johnson and Kollin Diedrickson added the extra point.

, RiQuelle Othman had a team-best 88 yards on the ground, and he scored on a three-yard run minutes after Johnson’s TD. Richardson, who finished seven-for-11 for 120 yards, threw his second TD pass, 30 yards to Pat Bryant, that made it 20-0 by the end of the first period.

Even though Fowler had two long possessions in the second quarter, it still didn’t get on the board – and ESM scored twice, off fumble returns.

Attempting a sweep, the Falcons lost the ball on its own five-yard line early in the period, and Nick Cesarini returned it for a TD. Then Fowler reeled off a 13-play march that reached ESM’s 25, giving the Falcons a chance to at least get on the board before halftime.

Instead, defenders swarmed Jihad Wright as K’Hari Flagg stripped the ball at the 30, and then took off, not stopping until he was in the end zone 70 yards later and ESM had put the game essentially out of Fowler’s reach.

ESM mostly played it safe in the second half, scoring only on fullback Jose Sanchez’s seven-yard run in the third quarter. The only suspense lay in Fowler trying to avoid the shutout – and while it did so with Dalton Cooley’s seven-yard TD run, it was far from enough.

Now the Spartans (2-1) get to return home to face struggling Whitesboro (0-3) this Friday at 6:30, a day after J-D (2-1) plays Nottingham (1-2) in the rematch of last year’s sectional final, won 14-7 by the Bulldogs. Time Warner Cable Sports will broadcast that game, starting at 7 p.m.