Press release:
Written by Mike Pettinella for the Genesee County Spartans
The Genesee County Spartans lost to the Buffalo Stampede, 18-17, on Saturday in a Northeastern Football Alliance AA Division season opener at Mulray Park in South Buffalo.
Stampede backup quarterback Anthony Davis found Kendrick Benson from 10 yards out with 54 seconds remaining to complete the host squad’s comeback from a 17-6 deficit.
The winning play was set up by a fumble recovery at the Spartans’ 20-yard line by Tyler Wilson with about three minutes to play.
After falling behind, the Spartans drove down to about the Stampede’s 30-yard line before a deep pass down the sideline was intercepted by Marcelus Tolivar to seal Buffalo’s victory.
Julia Petry’s 30-yard field goal had given the Spartans a 17-6 lead in the third quarter before Buffalo rallied.
Wide receiver Deyonci Farley scored both of the Spartans’ touchdowns on passes from QB Corey Turpin – the first capping a 60-yard opening drive and the second late in the first quarter. Julia Petry was successful on both extra point attempts.
Spartans’ Head Coach Harry Rascoe said the loss was a case of “taking our foot off the gas and committing a couple of costly turnovers.”
“We played probably our best first half ever and dominated the statistics,” he said. “We just didn’t finish it off.”
Rascoe said that tight end Logan Pike had a big day, with seven catches for 150-plus yards, while running back Will LaMar carried for about 70 yards.
On defense, Cody Wenner had an interception while defensive end Gunner Rapone, free safety Takhi West and linebackers Marley English and Martin Krayna each had multiple tackles.
The Spartans limited the Stampede to about 230 yards of total offense.
For the Stampede, Davis completed eight of 11 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns – the first was a 15-yarder to Kaleb Walker – while running back Auston Neal tallied the team’s other TD. Defensively, Amir Dubose led the way with five tackles and forced the fumble late in the game.
The Spartans’ home opener is set for 7 p.m. next Saturday (June 7th) at Van Detta Stadium in Batavia against the Watertown Red & Black.
The team’s schedule is as follows (game times to be determined):
- June 7 – Watertown Red & Black (Van Detta Stadium, Batavia), 7 p.m.
- June 14 – at Ithaca Warriors, 5 p.m.
- June 21 – Upstate Predators (Pembroke Town Park), 5 p.m.
- June 28 – at Lockport Wildcats (Outwater Park), 7 p.m.
- July 12 – Southern Tier Stallions (Pembroke Town Park), 5 p.m.
- July 19 – Lake Erie Power Pines (Pembroke Town Park), 5 p.m.
- Aug. 2 – TBA.
Genesee Spartans’ roster (uniform number, name, position):
0 Gunner Rapone DE1 Jzhon Henderson DB2 Alex Rood LB
3 Jzon Richardson WR
4 Kareem Pryor RB
5 Deyonci Farley WR
6 Nick Santos WR
7 Brandon Robinson LB
8 Ryley Elliott DL
9 Marley English LB
10 Corey Turpin QB
11 Malkolm Taylor LB/DB
13 Ben McMindes WR
14 Aiden Pitts WR
16 Martin Krayna LB
17 Takhi West FS
18 Devan Flanagan WR
19 Jalen White DL
20 Will Lamar RB
21 Delonta Curry LB
22 Cody Wenner DB
23 Caleb Cudzillo DB
24 Eric Snell LB
25 Dontre Woods DB
26 Emmanuel Fisher RB
27 Jaysen Wylie DB
28 Keith Neureuter DB
32 Jayden Osborne LB/DL
33 Robert Thurston Jr. TE
40 Julia Petry K
51 Mekhi Rivera LB/DL
54 Nick Mitchell DL
55 Aaron Treleaven G
60 Thomas Richmond G
61 Alex Merica C
70 Timothy King T
78 Baylee Vercruysse T
80 Tai Reffell WR
89 Logan Pike TE
97 Jack Fox-Salah DL
99 Franklon Rice DL
