The Friday Night Lights are upon us and the West Genesee Wildcat team has a few chips on their shoulder heading into their matchup versus Christian Brothers Academy.
Coach Joe Corley and the team started off practices this week getting a look at their opponent on tape. And while CBA may give them several looks on the field, Corley and company have had to contest with so much more this year.
“Hey, we’re getting ready to play a physical football game. You’re going to see some of these guys, you’re gonna see what they look like up front, they’re well put together, they play fast, they’re a good defensive football team,” said Corley. “To go through what our guys have gone through, it’s been a roller coaster with COVID, with things like that. We’ve had more distractions this year than I could ever, ever imagine would have happened.”
“Here we are in a position where we can control our own destiny here so just to be here, is a lot to be proud of and we got a shot to go play the game Friday and do something special again, so I’m excited about it.”
Tough losses to top tier opponents have paved the way for the extra work this week.
“I think it gives our guys a chip on their shoulder. The BBL game, the F-M game, we’re right there and we can really literally point to any one or two plays that make the difference in that game and usually you can’t do that,” Corley noted. “So our guys use that as fuel to go to work and get better and it’s helped us I think ,coming off those two games is given our guys some motivation, so hopefully we can build off that this week.”
At the helm and helping keep this West Genny team on track is senior signal-caller River Oudemool.
“I mean, week one we really got a shocker with the bill that came out – nothing we were expecting – and every team’s kind of given their own different kind of spin off of what we’ve prepared for,” said the senior quarterback. “So we just kind of prepare for everything and do the best we can come game day.”
Trying to round out some high school careers with a memorable season, River and company will look to use these reps wisely.
“Just some small mistakes made and you know it’s all team effort we’re gonna put together the best effort coming forward,” he added. “Move past those simple mistakes, learn from them and hopefully hit the playoffs hard.”
Senior defensive lineman Taiquwan McGriff understands the importance of every down, every series, every game.
“It’s been very confusing, you know, whether we’re gonna get shut down whether we going to play kids getting you know getting COVID and all that,” he said. “It’s just like you always got to be on your toes about it. It just really, you never know he’s gonna play like put your heart out every game.”
Facing adversity this season all comes down to focusing on a single opponent when the whistle blows at CBA.
“You know, nameless and faceless opponents doesn’t matter what’s at stake,” said Corley. “We want to play our best football on Friday night.”
