CENTRAL NEW YORK – Again the West Genesee football team found itself in a tight battle against a high-quality opponent, and again found itself separated by a single point late in the contest.
Only here, things got away from the Wildcats as Fayetteville-Manlius, solidifying its grip on first place in the Class A American division, prevailed by a score of 29-20 at Hornet Stadium.
At the very least, WG gave the Hornets the kind of test it did not receive when it outscored its first two opponents, Auburn and Watertown, by a combined 97-0.
That was evident on the game’s third play from scrimmage, when Vincent Firenze threw deep and found his favorite target, Dom Burris, on a 69-yard scoring pass, the first points F-M had allowed all season.
From the outset, though, the Wildcats had problems containing the Hornets ground game, which got large chunks of yards to set up short touchdown runs by T.J. Conley and George LaCombe.
Responding through the air, Firenze hit Burris again for a 40-yard TD pass midway through the second quarter, Firenze’s extra point making it 14-14, where it remained until halftime.
After F-M went back in front in the third period, the Wildcats, on the first play of the fourth quarter, pulled within one when Firenze threw his third scoring pass of the night, 11 yards to Rob Newell.
Here WG gambled, went for two points and the lead and did not convert. Again moving the ball, F-M saw LaCombe score and then was successful in its own two-point attempt, all but putting the game out of reach.
Francisco Cross ran well for the Wildcats, gaining 160 yards on 12 carries. Both F-M backs topped those numbers, Conley gaining 207 yards on 23 carries and LaCombe adding 193 yards on 17 carries.
Westhill was involved in its own close game at South Jefferson last Friday night, with the Warriors again able to pull it out, beating the Spartans 27-20 to improve its record to 3-0.
They traded points throughout the first half, Elijah Welch throwing scoring passes of 11 yards to Collin White and 24 yards to Kellen O’Hern to to help Westhill forge a 14-14 tie.
Then, in the third quarter, the Warriors scored twice more, Welch going 30 yards to White and Samir Salaam-Jennings-Bey scoring on a 17-yard run. Down by seven, South Jefferson had an opportunity to catch up, but could not do so, including the decisive stop with a minute to play.
Welch completed five of his nine passes for 169 yards. The Warriors go for a fourth straight win this Friday against Cortland.
Skaneateles still was without Grayson Brunelle in the lineup when it traveled to Canastota, but the Lakers were able to rebound from its season-opening defeat to Cazenovia, topping the Raiders 20-12.
Trailing early, the Lakers moved out in front by the game’s middle stages and, with its defense, made several key late stops, negating the work of Canastota running back Clay Roberts, who had 29 carries for 182 yards and a TD.
Having knocked off Skaneateles, Cazenovia now turned its attention to Bishop Ludden last Saturday and kept the Gaelic Knights off the scoreboard in a 21-0 decision.
A key moment came early, when Ludden, on fourth down at midfield, was stopped. A long J.P. Hoak pass to Taven Reilley followed, setting up Hoak’s two-yard TD run.
It was 14-0 before the first quarter ended, Hoak throwing a 13-yard scoring pass to Jack Byrnes, and the pair connected again on a 62-yard TD strike in the second period.
Ludden did keep Cazenovia off the board in the second half, but despite 212 total yards (to the Lakers’ 277) it could not convert on its chances, falling to 1-1 on the season.
Jordan-Elbridge nearly broke into the win column last Thursday against Phoenix, but dropped a tight 28-24 decision to the Firebirds in Independent League action.
