One side needed a lot of points in a hurry. The other side needed well-timed points, delivered in a spectacular manner.

Whatever the method, though, Jordan-Elbridge and Bishop Ludden both prevailed in their respective season openers Friday night, with the Eagles rallying on the road to outlast Watertown IHC 51-35 and the Gaelic Knights, at home, fighting past Pulaski 18-8.

But while those Class C teams won, West Genesee, opening its season at Central Square, did not, struggling on the defensive end throughout a 46-25 loss to the Redhawks.

J-E, of course, was coming off its magical 2014 season, where it went 7-2 and reached the Section III Class C semifinals before falling to Herkimer. Wanting a successful follow-up, the Eagles ventured north, to Watertown, where it found IHC far from hospitable.

During the first half, J-E produced plenty, with Zach Pangaro kicking a 25-yard field goal to throwing a 63-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Humberstone, with Sam Robles also scoring on a 16-yard run.

Yet with all that, the Eagles trailed, 21-17, at halftime. IHC quarterback Nick Draught threw for one TD (35 yards to Vincenzo Altieri) and ran for another, and would light up a struggling Eagles’ defense all night, completing 17 of 41 passes for 353 yards.

Knowing that it had a hard time stopping the opposition, J-E set out, in the third quarter, to wear the Cavaliers out, and started to do so with a 20-point outburst.

Pangaro started it, connecting with Humberstone on a 50-yard TD pass. Two more scoring drives followed, with Sam Everett going four yards for one TD and LaMatt Chisholm racing 31 yards for another.

Still, IHC hung in there, only trailing 37-29 going to the fourth quarter, so J-E kept marching. Robles’ second TD, on a 14-yard run, provided the winning points, and Pangaro clinched it by breaking loose on a 44-yard sprint to the end zone.

Pangaro completed eight of 12 passes for 187 yards, most of them to Humberstone, who had six catches for 184 yards. That, plus Robles’ 153 yards on 17 carries, helped overcome the work of Altieri, who led IHC with nine catches for 233 yards.

None of those gaudy numbers were found at Bishop Ludden, but the Gaelic Knights didn’t need them. Instead, to subdue Pulaski, it required two big plays, each of them coming late in the half, to g the et a season-opening win over the Blue Devils.

Defenses dominated throughout the first two periods, and it was still 0-0 when, with 3:52 left in the first half, Ludden’s Deandre Sanders fielded a Pulaski punt at his own 40. Finding a lane, and then picking up blocks, Sanders went 60 yards to the end zone.

The Blue Devils fumbled on its ensuing possession, and Kevin Burkhart’s big run set up quarterback Shi’kem Lee’s one-yard TD plunge, extending the Gaelic Knights’ lead to 12-0 as it went to halftime.

Pulaski clamped down on defense to stay close, blanking Ludden for much of the second half and cutting the gap to 12-8 on Billy Maynard’s one-yard TD run and two-point conversion.

It all came down to two plays late in the fourth quarter. Pulaski drove to the Gaelic Knights’ six, threatening to take the lead, only to get stopped on fourth down with 4:20 to play. Austin Hoyt led the charge, just as he haa led the defense all night, recording four sacks among his 16 tackles.

Moments later, Burkhart took a handoff at his own 10, found blocks and some room to run, and soon was gone on a 90-yard jaunt to the end zone that provided Ludden’s clinching points. It gave Burkhart 166 yards for the night on just 12 carries.

Up at Central Square, West Genesee did not have the same triumphant start, its defense facing struggles from the outset and forcing the Wildcats into catch-up mode.

The Redhawks took a 14-0 first-quarter lead, with Nick Myers scoring twice on runs of eight and nine yards. Central Square added to that lead early in the second period with Jake Dwyer’s 19-yard scoring pass to Mitch Vincentini.

Even when WG did break through, on James Kerr’s 14-yard TD run, Myers took back the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for six points. So despite a defensive score on Joe Malinowski’s interception return, the Wildcats trailed, 33-12, at intermission.

Dashon Turner, in his third season as WG’s quarterback, would run for one TD and throw for another (30 yards to Justin Huppmann) in the second half, but it didn’t prove enough.

Myers, in particular, torched the Wildcats, finishing with five touchdowns overall as he had that long kick return, caught a 62-yard scoring pass from Dwyer and tacked on a 79-yard run to give him 158 rushing yards on just eight carries.