ONONDAGA COUNTY – There’s nothing quite like playing your best game at the best time possible.
Such was West Genesee football in 2022, shutting down Fayetteville-Manlius at the JMA Dome to claim the Section III Class A championship and avenge an earlier defeat to the Hornets.
Now, in a reconfigured Class A that welcomes back teams from Independent divisions, the Wildcats will try for another title, but it won’t be easy.
Gone are many key players, including two-way stars Vincemt Firenze and Dom Burris and most of a strong secondary that included Noah Coleman, Anthony McCrimmon and Sam Snyder.
Junior Jack Wade replaces Firenze at quarterback, having started one game in 2022 against Corcoran, but he won’t have to carry the offense.
Francisco Cross, who ran for 1,228 yards and 11 touchdowns a season ago, is back, as is an experienced group of receivers featuring Anthony Baggett, Alex Malone and Rob Newell.
As to other local teams that get underway in the next two weeks, most of them are in Class C, with Marcellus having undergone the biggest change.
Nick Patterson stepped down as head coach early in July, ultimately taking the job at Henninger, and Cole Blossey is now in charge, having served as a JV coach in several sports at Marcellus.
Thus, Blossey knows well the players on the roster, saying that the key to success for the Mustangs is to have good athletes and then put them in the right spots on the field.
Having gone 3-5 a season ago (losing four straight after a 3-1 start), Marcellus saw quarterback Pat Louer (1,449 yards, 13 TD’s) and running back Jake Kermes (870 yards, seven TD’s) graduate, with a new offense getting inserted and a defense led by returning junior Brady Ellis, who recorded 70 tackles last fall.
Bishop Ludden will try to follow up a strong 2022 where the Gaelic Knights went 6-1 in the regular season but suffered a first-round sectional playoff defeat to Holland Patent.
Returning for Ludden is both quarterback X’zavion Streiff, who threw for 889 yards as a freshman, and top running back Jahbari Clarke, who gained 718 yards and netted five touchdowns. Tom Cervantes is the top returning wide receiver.
Defensively, the challenge is greater. Ludden’s top three tacklers (Evan Cervantes, Kenyon King and Jaysir Briggs) graduated, as did Joey Adamo, who snared five interceptions. Abdullah Rashid and Micah Baker will take on larger roles alongside the likes of Tom Cervantes.
At Skaneateles, who opens Friday at Little Falls, it was a tough first season (3-5) for head coach Jay Steinhorst and the Lakers are bound and determined to reclaim its winning form.
To do so, Skaneateles will need to get a strong performance from sophomore quarterback Hugh Carroll, who takes over for Patrick Herr under center, and must find production in the backfield after Grayson Brunelle’s departure. But the Lakers might be strong on both front lines with returning starters Will Feeney, Louis Richards and Colton McDonald.
Solvay just missed out on a playoff berth a season ago but closed out 2022 with two wins to go 6-3, and there’s reason to think the Bearcats can make a serious league and sectional title push.
And it has a lot to do with Jaysin Bliss, back for his senior season after rushing for 1,722 yards and 17 TD’s a season ago, with a strong core of offensive linemen also back, too.
At quarterback, there’s an open competition after Luis Mujica moved over to wide receiver to join Jeff Sharpe, while on defense Luke Butler tries to replicate a 2022 season that included 102 tackles and six sacks.
Up in Class B, Westhill wants to make its own noise, and is hungry after a 2022 season where it opened 4-0 but then lost five in a row, including a first-round sectional playoff defeat to Indian River.
Elijah Welch threw for 1,897 yards and 23 TD’s as a freshman. Now, in his sophomore year, he could get even better with each of his top three receivers – Taden Chester, Collin White and Keller O’Hern – back, the trio having combined for 93 catches last fall.
Chester also accounted for 58 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries on defense. He joins Ladaryl Watkins (58.5 tackles) and Brody Clayton (47.5 tackles) to lead Westhill’s defensive unit.
Returning from an Independent division to Class C/D-2, Jordan-Elbridge looks to improve on last year’s 1-6 mark, and could do so.
Jakob Frost, at quarterback, and top running back Nixon Karcz returns, as does the Eagles’ top two tacklers from 2022, Elias Titus (56 tackles) and Austin Brunelle (50 tackles), plus defensive back Joe LaFluer.
