CAMILLUS – It has turned into quite a rewarding spring for the West Genesee football team, having twice prevailed in close home games decided on single plays.
First, it was the Wildcats stopping a potential two-point conversion from Christian Brothers Academy to prevail 33-32 in its March 20 opener.
Two weeks later, hosting Fayetteville-Manlius, WG rallied from a 20-12 halftime deficit and won 38-32 over the Hornets in overtime when Exavier Brumfield put in the game-winning touchdown.
WG’s defense featured in both games with their timely stops. Against F-M, Dan Becker amassed 15 tackles, with Vince Firenze adding 10 tackles as Devin Furbeck had eight tackles and Colin McAvan had seven tackles.
Offensively, Braeden McNeil completed 21 of 30 passes for a career-best 252 yards, with Ben Chamberlain catching three of those passes for 124 yards and Jacob Mueller getting eight catches for 68 yards.
Brumfield ran 16 times for 130 yards, finding the end zone on three occasions as McNeil scored twice on scrambles while gaining 71 yards on the ground.
All of this continued against Fulton, where for th first time this spring WG did not require any kind of late drama to reach the win column as it overwhelmed the Red Raiders 33-12.
McNeil’s 22-yard scoring pass to Mueller got the Wildcats on the board, though Fulton countered late in the first quarter with a big play of its own as Cuinn Burlingham found Marcus Shepard on a 72-yard scoring strike.
Fulton found the end zone again on Burlingham’s 10-yard TD run in the second period, but from there WG’s defense did a better job of containment, giving the offense ample time to take the Red Raiders apart.
Mueller’s second TD, on a 37-yard dash, followed a two-yard scoring plunge by Brumfield and put the Wildcats in front 20-12 going into halftime. All told, Brumfield gained 144 yards on 22 carries.
Meanwhile, McNeil, who was 16-for-25 for 254 yards, used two big throws to put the game away in the third quarter. He went deep and found Mueller on a 54-yard scoring pass and, a few minutes later, again burned Fulton with his arm, hitting Nick Louise on a 56-yard TD completion.
One more home game remains for WG as it welcomes Rome Free Academy this Friday at 6 p.m. before its April 23 finale at Central Square.
