CENTRAL NEW YORK – What the West Genesee, Westhill and Jordan-Elbridge football teams all shared was limited since they were in three separate classes and three separate leagues.
However, they had all lost their season openers, with WG falling to Canandaigua 21-13 in the Kickoff Classic at the JMA Dome and Westhill falling 42-28 at Chenango Forks and J-E taking a 41-26 defeat to Southern Hills.
Two of them would recover last week to get in the win column, Westhill handling Central Valley Academy 40-13 on Thursday and, on Saturday, WG blanking Henninger 31-0 after J-E lost again, 28-14, to Cato-Meridian.
When the Wildcats faced Canandaigua, it fell behind 15-0 through one period before its defense settled down the rest of the way, patiently waiting for some help from the offense.
It came in the form of third and fourth-quarter TD plays, Jack Wade ultimately completing eight of 20 passes for 167 yards as Evan Dufford had four catches for 66 yards, he and Colton Keller both finding the end zone. Raul Colon’s 12 tackles paced the defense as Jay’Mari Newsome and Elijah Apps had seven tackles apiece.
Improving plenty in the eight days leading up to the Henninger game, WG proceeded to score all 31 of its points in the first half, 21 of them in the first quarter, while its defense never allowed the Black Knights in the end zone.
Jaeden Barfield stepped up for the Wildcats, scoring twice while gaining 62 yards on seven carries. Wade added a scoring pass to Rob Newell as, defensively, Baggett grabbed an interception and R.J. Bartholomew led with six tackles, with Colon, Logan Willis and Ali Abu Mustafa getting four tackles apiece.
Westhill had shown, at Chenango Forks, that it could put up points against anyone, even a traditional power like the Blue Devils, even if it wasn’t quite enough for victory.
Elijah Welch overcame a pair of interceptions to complete 13 of 23 passes for 220 yards and two TD’s while also scrambling well, gaining 135 yards on just eight carries and a score. Colin Shiel’s three catches covered a team-best 70 yards.
And when this same Warriors offense went up against Central Valley Academy just five days later, it resulted in an easy victory as it grabbed a 19-0 edge by halftime, then matched CVA’s pair of touchdowns in the third quarter with two of its own to keep its cushion.
Welch ran and threw for the same total – 153 yards – going nine-for-12 through the air and getting all of his yards on the ground on just eight carries. Jack Hayes had just 63 yards on nine carries, but scored three times and made five of six extra points as Shiel caught a long scoring pass.
J-E’s game with Southern Hills was more frustrating than the others, for it was tied 20-20 through three quarters before the Storm got away from the Eagles with a trio of touchdowns in the final period led by Harper Shaw’s 225 rushing yards and two scores.
What’s more, Nixon Karcz was sensational for J-E, running for 201 yards on 15 carries and three TD’s while also completing 10 of 19 passes for 130 yards. Joey LaFluer added 71yards on 10 carries as Dylan Czarnecki caught three passes for 67 yards.
Then, against Cato-Meridian, the Eagles fell behind 21-0 by halftime, unable to recover despite LaFluer scoring on a 20-yard run in the third quarter and then, later, catching a 19-yard TD pass from Karcz, who combined to pass and throw for 163 yards as David Dominik led the J-E defense with six tackles.
