ONONDAGA COUNTY – More than anything else, what the West Genesee football team does best is draw energy from its defense that spreads over to its entire on-field performance.
And it was that Wildcats defense which took a featured role Friday night at Alibrandi Stadium, setting the tone for a 21-0 victory over Christian Brothers Academy that could greatly improve WG’s eventual playoff position.’
Overall, the Wildcats are 3-2, but are 3-1 within the Class A American division, second behind Fayetteville-Manlius. Both of WG’s losses were by a single point – 14-13 to Baldwinsville, 21-20 to F-M.
Any kind of points would prove important at CBA, where the two sides would go through much of the first half scoreless as they were both hurt by penalties and other mistakes.
A key turning point came early when the Brothers appeared to go up 6-0 on Jordan Rae’s touchdown run, only to have it called back on a penalty and the Wildcats made a fourth-down stop at its own 16-yard line.
Having again stopped CBA on fourth down inside its own 40, WG’s defense forced a turnover when linebacker Landon Spencer sacked Rae, forcing a fumble that lineman Adrian Marino recovered at the Brothers’ 31.
Marino later intercepted a fourth-down pass in WG territory and stopped Rae on another fourth-down try late in the third quarter, leading a front line where Nelson Hudgins and TaiQuawn McGriff also made clutch stops.
As the second quarter wound down, the Wildcats drove from midfield on two runs by Francisco Cross covering 25 yards before River Oudemool threw deep and found Dom Burris in the end zone, putting WG up 7-0, where it stood at the break.
The Wildcats then doubled that margin with an impressive third-quarter drive where Oudemool hit key passes to three different receivers – Hudgins, Vincent Firenze and Ben Chamberlain – setting up Kenneth Davis to score on a one-yard run.
Cross accounted for most of the yards on a fourth-quarter march before Oudemool, from CBA’s 17, found Chamberlain, who fumbled at the two – but the ball bounded into the end zone and Jeremiah Newkirk recovered for the touchdown.
Getting its third win of the season, Westhill hosted South Jefferson on Friday and overpowered the Spartans right from the outset on the way to a 50-8 victory.
Three times in the first quarter, the Warriors scored and added two-point conversions, with Reggie Welch twice finding the end zone from four yards out and Taden Chester getting a 22-yard TD run.
Keller O’Hern’s five-yard scoring pass to Collin White was the only points of the second quarter. Then Westhill built upon that 30-0 edge when Geoff Daniul scored on a one-yard plunge and Lee Hynes dashed 34 yards for a TD during the third period.
Brody Clayton added a fourth-quarter TD as O’Hern completed five of six passes for 96 yards and Welch led the Warriors rushing for 92 yards on nine carries.
Marcellus carried a three-game win streak into Friday’s game against Institute of Technology Central at PSLA-Fowler, only to get shut out 24-0 by the Eagles.
Two big plays in the second quarter put ITC in charge. Prince Perry threw a 45-yard scoring TD pass to Tyshawn Taylor and then, pinned at its own three, the Eagles handed the ball off to Tre’Juer Sledge, who tore 97 yards to the other end zone.
Sledge added a third-quarter TD on a five-yard run and Perry found Anderson Rodriguez-Castro for a 40-yard scoring pass in the final period as ITC won its third in a row.
