LEROY - Head coach Brian Moran told his Oatkan Knights that he wanted the evening to be memorable as the hometown crowd welcomed the Wellsville Lions to Hartwood Park. A storm was on the radar as bad weather was on its way from the west. The Knights were struggling to get on that same radar as dropped footballs were the order of the night in the early going. Though the weather did not appear until after the contest, the Knights did arrive by halftime and function on all cylinders for the remainder of the contest to give Coach Moran his 150th career win as head coach at LHS. Only 9 coaches prior have ever ascertained the 150-win plateau in Section V. Along the way, a few players' stock rose mightily.

Wellsville moved the ball a total of 9 yards on their first series and wisely decided to punt. The Knights crashed through the line and senior DE John Whiting harassed the punter into the arms of LB Kory Cosimeno at the Lions' 21. The Brothers Humphrey got the Knights on the scoreboard in a flash as an 8-yard determined run by Ian was followed by a Mike Humphrey snag of QB Travis Fenstermaker on-target dart for a 13-yard TD. Three minutes into the contest the score was 7-0 Knights as Travis was true on the PAT kick.

The Lions seemed determined to run the ball up the middle though they were being met heavily by the interior of the LeRoy D. Chewing off time seemed to be their goal. After managing to get the punt off on 4th down, the Knights took over at their 35-yard line. A fumble (the first of 5) ended the series on first down. The Lions were elated with their great field position.

The Knights stuffed the outside running attempts and a holding penalty moved the visitors backwards over midfield, forcing a 3rd-and-28 from the Wellsville 47. The Lions chose a conservative run and punt to pin the Knights deep into their own portion of the field.

The Knights' offense responded with great line push and running by powerful Brady Bonacquisti and the elusive Ian Humphrey. With Bonacquisti smashing up through the line and Humphrey gaining 38 yards on two gems, the Knights seemed poised to go the distance for another score. No such luck. A fumble stymied the locals at the Wellsville 19.

The Knights sacked the Wellsville QB for a 6-yard loss with Whiting and Fenstermaker making their presence known in the Lions' backfield. Coach Andrew Paladino's D forced another punt and the ball came to rest at the LeRoy 49. Two plays later, the ball was returned to Wellsville as fumble #3 reared its head. Big yardage on offense, tough defensive play, and but 7 points shortly into the 2nd quarter.

Wellsville made matters interesting with a first down before DT Chuck Brandes stuffed the Lions' 3rd-and-2 rush at the LR 32. The Knights were forced to start their offense from their own 6-yard line after a sweet punt rolled out well for the visitors.

RB Ian Humphrey moved the Knights out of harm's way with a superb 44-yard dash around the right end. Ian was hit out of bounds by a Wellsville tackler so the Knights were looking solid with a first down at the Wellsville 39. That was until the Lions played good defense to thwart the LeRoy no-huddle offense at the 21.

Chris Andrews, Bonacquisti, and Whiting played great D and forced a Wellsville 3-and-out as time was winding down in the first half. The Knights gained excellent field position at the Wellsville 37 and looked to get points instead of just yardage.

QB Travis Fenstermaker found Bonacquisti in the flats for a big 26-yard gain to the Wellsville 11. Back-to-back runs of 5 and 6 yards by Ian Humphrey put the Knights on the board with 2:22 to the half by a 14-0 margin.

Wellsville looked to run out the clock but some heady LR defense, good use of timeouts, and a poor Lions' punt gave the Knights yet another scoring opportunity. Fenstermaker, looking sharp as he has so far this season at QB, hit WR Andrew Alexander for a sweet pickup to the Wellsville 29. Ian Humphrey went to town, gaining 17 and 11 yards on two successive runs which put the ball at the one-yard line. Enter Chuck "Buffalo" Brandes. O coach Ron Plummer called for the 320-pound Brandes to make his way into the end zone. Chuck crashed through the line with ease to put the Knights up 21-0 at intermission.

The second half saw the Knights receive the ball and start their offensive series at their 36 after a nice Andrew Alexander return. The offense looked smooth as LeRoy's top O weapons, Bonacquisti, Alexander, and the Humphrey brothers picked up big yardage against a baffled Lions' D. Ian Humphrey followed a fine lead block of FB Chris Andrews and raced 21 yards into the end zone for his second score of the night to put the Knights up 28-0, 3:12 into the second half.

Wellsville returned the ensuing kickoff well as they started their offensive series at the LeRoy 41. Travis Fenstermaker raced into the backfield and recovered a fumble at the 40. Two plays later, Fenstermaker takes matters into his own hands and races 60 yards around left end to push the score to 35-0 just 35 seconds after the previous Ian TD. Right OT "Big Cat" Marcus Epps provided some excellent blocking to spring Fenstermaker to paydirt.

John Whiting drilled a kickoff into the Wellsville return formation and teamed up with Ian Humphrey to make the stop of the return man at the Wellsville 36. Chris Andrews read the 1st down play perfectly and snuffed the Lions for a 7-yard loss. The Lions were forced to punt once more after some great pressure placed on the Wellsville QB by OL Tyrone Wyckoff on a 3rd-and-7 pass play. After the pressure on D, Tyrone electrified the crowd with some explosive O.

Wyckoff entered the LeRoy backfield for the first time this season and made the most of his opportunity and talent. Tyrone took the ball and dashed 31 yards through the Lions' D to the 14. Tyrone needed just 2 plays to pick up the remaining 14 yards and score his first varsity TD, to the joy of his teammates, coaches, and fans. 42-0 Knights.

The Knights remained solid on defense as junior John Scheuing provided a great spark at LB as he shed blockers well to make 7 tackles on the night, 4 of them resulting in lost yardage for the visitors. Travis Pangrazio caused and recovered a fumble for the D, and Travis "Scooter" Hurd showed great effort to trip up a streaking Wellsville RB just 9 yards from the LR end zone. Jourdain Holly, Andrew Miller, Zack Reed, Evan Calmes, and Ben Carlie all got into the act on D as well.

The final score for the Knights once again featured an electrifying gem by Wyckoff who dashed 49 yards for his second TD at the 5:42 mark of the final quarter. Tyrone added the 2-point PAT run behind "Buffalo" Brandes who steamrolled a wide open path up the gut for his teammate.

At the 3-minute mark, coach Moran was doused with ice water from the Gatorade bucket as indeed his 150th win was solidly in the books. The final read LeRoy 50, Wellville 8 as the Lions tacked on a score late in the contest to negate a shutout loss.

The roll call of Section V coaches who have achieved at least 150 coaching victories: