Though it wasn’t like the Baldwinsville football team had disappeared from the short list of serious Section III Class AA title contenders, some had wondered if it had what it took to climb back to the top of the ladder.
They may have stopped wondering after Friday night’s game at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, where the Bees, making all the crucial plays on both sides of the ball, put West Genesee away with 30 first-half points, eventually earning a 36-7 victory over the Wildcats.
True, the game didn’t count in the league standings. But B’ville knew that West Genesee, who had rolled past Central Square 43-14 in its Sept. 5 opener, was a high-quality opponent, and if it wasn’t aware, the game’s opening kickoff quickly offered a reminder.
Collin BeVard received that opening kick for WG and took off through the Bees’ coverage, all the way to the end zone. Instead of a 6-0 lead, though, the Wildcats reeled from a flag on the field for a holding penalty.
Given that reprieve, the Bees’ defense, whose first string did not allow a point to Auburn the week before, clamped down again, not letting WG near the end zone throughout the first quarter.
Yet it took Cameron Skipworth’s long punt return late in the period to get the Bees’ offense rolling. That return went to the Wildcats’ 30-yard line and, two plays later, Skipworth went in for the game’s first touchdown.
B’ville saved its best work, though, for the second quarter. On a third-down-and-14 play from its own 20, the Bees gave it to Sam Mahar, who tore 67 yards deep into Wildcat territory and set up Tom Scarfino’s 25-yard field goal.
Then the defense really started to shine, especially linebacker Cole Burchill, whose recovered fumble led to one score and who added an interception that set up his own offensive TD, when Burchill caught a 21-yard pass from quarterback Madison Wolfanger.
Proving that he could do more than just hand off the ball, Wolfanger threw a pair of TD passes in that second quarter, with the strike to Burchill and another one to Skipworth that covered 24 yards. He also scored his own touchdown on a one-yard plunge.
Add it all up, and it gave the Bees a 30-0 halftime edge. Stunned, the Wildcats didn’t even get a chance to regroup before Skipworth, who had 167 yards on 13 carries, took off on a 72-yard sprint to the end zone early in the third quarter.
From there, the Bees didn’t score again, despite 75 rushing yards from Josh Smith and 67 rushing yards from Sam Mahar (the team had 348 total yards on the ground), but the defense managed to keep the shutout until WG finally scored on James Kerr’s two-yard run in the final period.
The Wildcats’ quarterback, Dashon Turner, completed just five of 15 passes for 41 yards and threw two interceptions – one to Burchill, the other to Sam Smith. Adding to that was a pass rush that caused all kinds of trouble, especially from Mark Lannier, who recorded three sacks. Jake Snowdon, Ethan Plouffe and Sam Gosson earned one sack apiece.
With that 2-0 mark, B’ville will go on the road for the first time next Friday, when it plays Fowler at Corcoran High School’s field. Off to an 0-2 start, Fowler, who moved up from Class A this fall due to enrollment, has taken losses to Utica Proctor and Henninger to open its season.
