Extraordinary events continue to unfold for a Westhill football program that, heading into the 2014 season, had no clue as to where things were headed.
All of the uncertainty is gone now, replaced by a growing confidence and a sense that, in the wake of Friday night’s hard-fought 27-12 victory over Marcellus, even greater things are within reach.
“This is a complete team effort,” said first-year head coach Jamie Casullo. “This is phenomenal. They are just driven to get this thing going again.”
Hurt by penalties, marred by offensive inconsistency, the Warriors still took control of this clash of unbeaten Class B West division rivals by taking charge in that portion of the game that, aside from offense and defense, is sometimes is taken for granted – special teams.
“They understand that there are three phases to this game,” said Casullo.
The main reason why Westhill had a 20-6 halftime lead was because of those special teams, for all 20 of the points came as a direct result of kicking plays.
Unfazed by having a long screen pass to Ja’Shai’ Jamison for a touchdown called back for a holding penalty, the Warriors used Richie Easterly’s 46-yard screen pass to Jesse Chester on its opening possession to set up those first points, on Mike Burton’s 37-yard field goal.
Late in the first quarter, Jamison intercepted Mike Keegan’s pass at the Marcellus 30, and with the wind at its back, the Warriors again got three points as Burton converted a second field goal from 32 yards out.
But it didn’t stop there. Marcellus tied the score, 6-6, early in the second period after Jamison fumbled deep in his own end and Matt Kaczor recovered. On fourth-and-goal, Ian McGloon caught a short pass from Keegan at the nine and bulled his way into the end zone, but the conversion was missed.
Then Marcellus tried a short kickoff – and it backfired, Joe Rainone returning it to the Mustangs’ 30. With a short field, the Warriors quickly drove to the go-ahead TD, Easterly scoring on a 10-yard run.
Again, a special teams play led to Westhill points when Casey Rogers blocked a Marcellus punt and sent it out of bounds at the Mustangs’ 33. Just two plays later, Jamison charged 28 yards to the end zone, and Burton’s extra point made it 20-6, where it stood at halftime.
Marcellus tried another short kickoff at the start of the third period. Westhill got the ball near midfield and needed just three plays to extend the lead to 27-6, all of them from Jamison, who caught an 18-yard pass and ran 23 yards to set up his own two-yard scoring plunge.
Even though the Mustangs got another TD later in the period on McGloon’s one-yard run, set up by Nate Garlow’s 46-yard run, the Warriors’ quick, aggressive defense made sure that Marcellus didn’t get any closer, making several key stops the rest of the way.
And now the Warriors simply have to make its way past Chittenango next Friday to set up a likely Class B West division championship showdown with Homer on Oct. 18. The Trojans moved to 5-0 by smashing Skaneateles 69-2 and will host Marcellus next Friday.
Casullo said that, while his team’s 5-0 record is nice, “it means nothing. We’ve got some big challenges ahead.”
