The Wellsville girls’ volleyball team won the Campbell-Savona tournament over the weekend.
Here is a look at the athletic calendar for the week for Wellsville, and after, Chris Brooks football photos and report on Wellsville sports from the weekend:
Stories and photos by CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
Craig Lawrence Tourney Consolation
Wellsville 2, Wayland-Cohocton 1
COHOCTON — The Lions of Wellsville have built a bundle of momentum to return home with on Saturday.
Following a tough defeat to the hands of Alfred-Almond in the opening round, they bounced back in a supermassive way with big goals from Blake Kalkhof and Aiden Cowburn to record their first win of the season in style — a 2-1 decision over host Wayland-Cohocton in the Consolation round of the Craig Lawrence Tournament.
“Gavin (Haggerty) had some saves that really allowed us to stay in this game,” said Lions coach Bethany Faulkner. “We definitely looked like we were slower and still recovering from the 100 minutes we went through on Thursday with Alfred-Almond. But through it, we managed to stay on top of it.”
The Lions (1-0-1) managed to outshoot the Eagles by a 10-7 count, with one of those shots working their way into the back of the net just over 10 minutes into battle, as Jace Densmore sent along a pass for Kalkhof. With it, he provided a dribble down the sideline before letting a floating straight on goal go from around 25 yards away to help break the ice for the team in black and orange.
The advantage would remain glued in place up until the first half’s final minute of play, when Wayland-Cohocton provided a strong response behind the aid of Stephan Hayes, who snuck the ball underneath Lions keeper Gavin Haggerty and into the net.
Both teams remained competitive across the field for the fight for possession, but a prime opportunity arose with less than 10 minute remaining for Wellsville, when Aiden Cowburn elected to take a free kick. With it, the senior did not hesitate, as he delivered an absolute strike to the back of the Wayland-Cohocton cage to give the Lions the lead, ultimately for good with 8:38 left.
Haggerty managed to keep the Eagles on their feet from start to finish, making six gigantic saves to pick up the win for the Lions.
Wellsville returns to the field Wednesday night with a 6:30 p.m. visit to the Bath-Haverling Rams.
FOOTBALL
Pembroke 26, Wellsville 24 (PPD from Friday)
WELLSVILLE — The nearly day-long wait to resume play between Pembroke and Wellsville was over, with much better weather conditions Saturday night, as the game picked up right where it left off with the Lions controlling an 8-6 lead on the defending State Champion Dragons with less than five minutes remaining until the half.
The back-and-forth exchange between both teams that was put on full display the previous night wound up carrying over to establish a thrilling and epic conclusion to their first battle of the season. Wellsville gave Pembroke everything they had in the tank from all facets of the game — a strong and clutch game under center from Brennen Geffers, some major stops and forced turnovers by the defense, you name it.
The only problem at the end of the night was Caleb Felski, as the Dragons senior exploded from the backfield and ripped off all four of the offenses scores — two from the goal line and two from long range to keep the Lions defense at bay, as they officially warded off Wellsville tough challenge to garner their first win of the season by a 26-24 count.
On the previous night, the clash on the gridiron began with a defensive eruption from the Lions (0-1), as they forced three big turnovers against the Dragons in the first half to keep them on their feet early on. On the flip side, the Dragons countered with a strong defensive stand themselves, as they issued a goal-line stand against the Lions to force the ball over on downs towards the tail end of the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lions would regain control of the ship behind some clutch throws from Geffers, providing a 21-yard touchdown strike to JJ Howard on 3rd-and-12 to put them on top with an 8-0 lead. The momentum shifted right back to Wellsville on the ensuing kickoff, as Felski muffed the return, allowing Xander Outman to jump on the loose ball for his second fumble recovery of the half.
But despite the opportunity to capitalize even more, it was ultimately denied by the Dragons with three straight stops on defense, forcing a turnover-on-downs. With the momentum slightly tilted in their favor following their latest stand, Pembroke punctuated their strongest outing on the field with a 63-yard touchdown scamper from Felski behind some tremendous blocking up front to create a wide open lane up the middle.
That would finish off a second quarter that saw an early end to the evening, due to the severe weather.
Fast forward to Saturday night for the start of the third quarter, the Dragons picked up where they left off with some big help from the backfield. Following a 15-yard penalty for the Lions to start the frame, the first possession of the second commenced from midfield where the defending State Champions used a series of runs to set up Felski’s third touchdown of the game from the goal line and an 18-8 lead.
Wellsville countered, using a roughing the passer penalty against their opposition to their advantage. Facing a 3rd-and-12 straight in the face, Geffers came in through the clutch once again under pressure, rolling out to his left before circling back around to the opposite side of the field, shedding three Dragons defenders to find a wide open Trenton Green for what was a 40-yard touchdown.
With the gap closed to a pair of points, it all came down to the wire in the last 12 minutes of play. Pembroke looked to respond to Wellsville’s touchdown behind the guidance of Felski, who used a series of runs from the backfield to set up his score from 28 yards out, finishing off a lengthy drive that would leave the Lions with just four minutes to work with.
Although there was little room for error remaining, Wellsville made the most of the opportunity. Following a big kickoff return past midfield from David Clark, a big 20-yard connection from Geffers right back to Clark set up a goal-line score from the Lions quarterback under center to close the game to 26-24.
Pembroke was given the ball back for what would be the final drive of the contest, falling under pressure to the Lions defense and their three straight stops in the backfield to force fourth down. But Felski picked up 13 yards on the 4th down to issue a new set of downs for the Dragons with under two minutes remaining — time that Wellsville could not stop.
Pembroke then took the field for victory formation to close the game out, as they staved off one brilliant challenge from Wellsville to open up the new campaign on the gridiron.
Further in-depth statistics were not available to report upon publication.
The Lions will look to bounce back next Friday night with a 7 p.m. visit from Thomas A. Edison.
Pembroke 0 12 6 8 – 26
Wellsville 0 8 8 8 – 24
Scoring Summary
1st
None
2nd
WLSV – JJ Howard 21-yard pass from Brennen Geffers, 2-pts good (8-0 WLSV)
PEM – Caleb Felski 63-yard run, 2-pts failed (8-6 WLSV)
PEM – Caleb Felski 1-yard run, 2-pts failed (12-8 PEM)
3rd
PEM – Caleb Felski 2-yard run, 2-pts failed (18-8 PEM)
WLSV – Trenton Green 40-yard pass from Brennen Geffers, 2-pts good (18-16 PEM)
4th
PEM – Caleb Felski 28-yard run, 2-pts good (26-16 PEM)
WLSV – Brennen Geffers 1-yard run, 2-pts good (26-24 PEM)
