Over the years and decades, many a Friday night was spent by fans at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium cheering on the Baldwinsville football team as it romped through the grass (and sometimes the mud) before exiting at the end of an evening, most of time happy with the winning outcome.
Something was different, though, when the Bees had its home opener Friday against West Genesee – the look, not the result, which was a 34-14 victory over the Wildcats that helped B’ville bounce back from a season-opening defeat to CBA.
Gone was the grass and mud, and in was a brand-new Field Turf that was the centerpiece of a $3.6 million project that included new lights, bleachers and press box for the stadium complex.
Dignitaries took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the game. They also rededicated Veterans Memorial Field in honor of fallen World War I and World War II veterans, an honor first bestowed on Memorial Day 1948 for the baseball field, but now expanded to include the entire sports complex on the main B’ville school campus.
And once the pomp and circumstance was done, it was back to football, and back to the classic B’ville style that worked so well on a natural surface for so long – plenty of runs, the occasional pass, and a tough defense that, once in a while, made its own big plays.
Fittingly, it was a Bees running back, Jack Buis, that scored the first football points on this new turf, finding blocks and going 28 yards to the end zone in the first quarter. Ben Dwyer’s extra point gave B’ville a 7-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, that margin doubled when E.J. Edmonds capped another scoring drive with a two-yard TD plunge, but West Genesee answered with a march of its own that was capped by Liam Barry’s 30-yard scoring pass to Marcus Hudgins.
Unfazed by this, the Bees went right back to the ground, not letting up until Buis had scored a second time from nine yards out. That made it 21-7, where it stood at halftime.
Any hopes of a Wildcats comeback got dashed by the Bees’ defense – specifically, Thor Sutphen, who intercepted Barry and returned the pass 32 yards to the end zone in the third quarter, extending the Bees’ margin to 28-7 as Dwyer made it four-for-four with PAT’s.
About the only thing that went wrong on this night for B’ville was that Dwyer missed a fifth extra-point attempt following Nick Cacciola’s 34-yard TD run in the final period. WG added a late touchdown on Zak Mills’ nine-yard run.
B’ville will return to the new turf this Friday at 6;30 for the Class AA-2 division opener against Utica Proctor. The Raiders, thanks to close wins over Rome Free Academy and Central Square, will arrive at Pelcher-Arcaro with a 2-0 record.