CAMILLUS — After a homecoming victory, West Genesee head coach Joey Corley and starting quarterback Tyler Cook embraced. Just two years ago, West Genesee suffered a winless regular season.

But Friday night, the pain of that season felt like a distant memory, as the Wildcats’ (6-1) 45-7 blowout win over Rome Free Academy (0-7) caps off the best regular season West Genesee football has had since 2011. From 2012-2017, the Wildcats never won more than four games.

“It feels amazing,” Cook said. “We haven’t been to sectionals in a while, and I feel like we’re just bringing Wildcat football back… I feel all the fans are on our side. You see a lot more at these games now.”

After not starting before this year, Cook is making the most of his last and only season as West Genesee starting quarterback. The senior accounted for three touchdowns on Friday, with two through the air and one on the ground.

After a first quarter in which the Wildcats only scored three points, Cook opened the second quarter with a six-yard touchdown scramble. On a bootleg to his left, Cook thought about throwing but then tucked the ball and finished the run himself.

“Could he have thrown it? Sure,” said Corley. “But what you have here is a kid who’s not afraid to make a play. And when you have athletes who are playmakers, sometimes you just have to put your helmet down and make a play and that’s what he did.”

Once the Wildcats got the ball back after a Black Knights three-and-out, the West Genesee offense got to work, as Cook found senior Esaias Brumfield for an 11-yard score to put the Wildcats up 17 in the middle of the second quarter.

Toward the end of the half, a failed fourth-down conversion by Rome Free Academy set up another West Genesee score. Wildcats receiver John Benson, who stands 6-foot-6, climbed the ladder to catch a pass from Cook near the front right pylon. The score put West Genesee up 24 points heading into the half.  

The second half was more of the same for a West Genesee team that outgained Rome Free Academy by 235 yards. The Wildcats started the half with a long drive that ended with a touchdown run. Exavier Brumfield received the initial pitch before handing it off for a four-yard reverse to his brother, Esaias Brumfield.

The third quarter was also highlighted by two more rushing scores. One came from a 37-yard scamper with multiple jukes from senior halfback Brad May, and the other from senior Eddie Hebert from 19 yards out.

Rome Free Academy would score their first points of the game with just three seconds left in the third quarter on a 91-yard screen pass to Gary Kimball. That accounted for more than half of the Black Knights’ yardage.

With the last regular season game and homecoming win out of the way, Corley and the rest of the Wildcats turn their focus to their home sectional playoff game next week.

“It’s gonna have to be intense,” Corley said. “I don’t know who we’re playing yet, but it’s gonna have to be an intense week of practice. It’s gonna have to be fast, physical, and focused. Right, Tyler?”

“Yes,” Cook responded.

Corley finished: “Focused, focused. We gotta play our best football Friday night.”

Published on October 12, 2018 at 10:04 pm

Contact Nick: nleconom@syr.edu