CENTRAL NEW YORK – As it began the defense of its Section III Class A title, the West Genesee football team is quickly finding out what is working well – and what still needs work.
Despite not getting a single point on offense, the Wildcats were able to push Troy’s LaSalle Institute to overtime Friday night at Utica University before taking a 13-7 defeat to the Cadets.
Replacing several key starters from 2022 on offense, WG did manage a pair of drives deep into LaSalle territory, but was unable to convert, its only points coming when Anthony Baggett returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown, along with a Connor Parker extra point.
The Cadets got even, 7-7, just before halftime, and it remained that way through the entire third and fourth quarters, each defense standing out and sending the game to OT, where each time is allotted a possession starting at the opponents’ 20.
Right away, though, the Wildcats fumbled, and LaSalle converted it into a decisive touchdown, leaving WG to wait until next Friday’s home opener against Watertown to break into the win column.
Meanwhile, Bishop Ludden and Skaneateles both went on the road for their first games of the season – and both won, the Gaelic Knights outscoring Nottingham 35-28 and the Lakers handling Little Falls 28-7.
Ludden found itself as the guests at a special occasion – the christening of Nottingham’s new turf field, and the Gaelic Knights got the first points on it, Jahbari Clarke scoring on a four-yard run.
Clarke converted again from 11 yards out late in the second quarter, answering a Bulldogs TD, and the two-point conversion made it 14-6, where it stood at halftime.
Nottingham again tied it, 14-14, early in the third. Here, and again later in the period, Ludden answered a Bulldogs drive with one of its own, each of them capped when X’Zavion Streiff found Tom Cervantes on scoring passes of 38 and 23 yards.
Still, it took Streiff throwing a third TD pass, 20 yards to Gabron Polk, midway through the fourth quarter to give the Gaelic Knights a 35-20 cushion that could withstand a last-minute Bulldogs TD and unsuccessful onside kick.
As for Skaneateles, 3-5 a season ago, it took a good first step at Little Falls, striking for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns as Dom Caraccio scored on a two-yard run and Hugh Carroll scored from 35 yards out.
From there, the Lakers were quiet until the third quarter, when Caraccio again scored on a two-yard plunge and Braydon Mayer added a four-yard TD run. Skaneateles meets Lowville Friday in its home opener at Hyatt Stadium.
Jordan-Elbridge put up even more points than Skaneateles when it hosted Clyde-Savannah Saturday night, but its defense could not stop anything in an 82-41 defeat.
Nixon Karcz ran for 149 yards on 13 carries, scoring three times to go with five-for-16 passing for 143 yards. Kuchuan Gorman added 129 yards on the ground while twice finding the end zone as Jayden Castaldo caught three passes for 75 yards. Karcz, Colin Bennett and Ellis Titus each led the defense with eight tackles.
