East wins a shootout, earns first victory
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

It took five games and a wild shootout, but the Williamsville East football team is no longer without a victory this season.

The Flames (1-4) won 42-35 at Kenmore East on Saturday.

"It was draining from a coach's standpoint," said East coach Henry Fumerelle. "The game went back and forth. After the game, my staff and I went out to eat and we were exhausted. We felt like we had played."

The win also gave East a chance to avenge a 34-15 loss from week five last year.

"It was sweet revenge," said Fumerelle. "The kids talked about it all week. They felt like they owed them."

Flames' junior running back Mike Langfelder and senior quarterback Zach Stubbendeck had career days.

Langfelder, who had been nursing a sprained right knee since the first quarter of East's week one loss against Albion and played some against Amherst last week, had eight catches for 181 yards and touchdown receptions of 68, 34 and 43 yards; rushed 12 times for 59 yards, including a 3-yard TD; caught a two-point conversion; and had a game-saving interception at the East 10 to end a late Kenmore East rally.

Stubbendeck completed 23 of 38 passes for 330 yards and two touchdown passes, ran in two 1-yard TD runs and threw a two-point conversion to Langfelder.

"I found out a lot about the team, especially Langfelder and Stubbendeck," said Fumerelle. "Langfelder's performance is the kind of productivity we were expecting out of him. He played last week against Amherst but wasn't as effective as he was against Kenmore East. Stubbendeck is maturing game by game. I have so much confidence in him now."

East needed great performances by Langfelder and Stubbendeck because their special teams were awful. The football on the opening kickoff hit one of Langfelder's shoes and before he could scoop it up, Kenmore East recovered at the 15-yard line. The Bulldogs' Mike Doherty scored on the next play, and quarterback Jon Anthony Wiltberger ran in the two-point conversion to put Kenmore East ahead, 8-0.

After Langfelder scored twice (68-yard TD catch; 3-yard TD run) and caught a two-point conversion and Joe O'Gorman hit an extra point to put the Flames up 15-8, Doherty returned the ensuing kickoff, a school record 99 yards and kicked the extra point to tie the game at 15-15.

Doherty tacked on a 7-yard rushing TD with seconds remaining in the first quarter to give Kenmore East a 21-15 lead. Stubbendeck's first TD run, an O'Gorman extra point and a 62-yard run by Doherty were all the points scored in the second quarter.

East gambled on the opening kickoff of the second half as they recovered an onside kick at midfield, which led to another 1-yard TD run by Stubbendeck.

Kenmore East answered with a 35-yard TD run by Ryan Mc- Gowan. Kevin Wagner ran in the two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs ahead, 35-28, heading into the fourth quarter.

But East, which has lost several close games this season, did not quit.

Langfelder caught a 34-yard TD from Stubbendeck, and O'Gorman added the extra point to tie the game at 35-35.

With four and a half minutes remaining, Stubbendeck threw a lateral to receiver Dan Rizzo, who launched a 43-yard pass to Langfelder for the go-ahead score.

Kenmore East, with all three of its timeouts, got the ball at its own 20 after O'Gorman had kicked the ball out of the end zone and drove down to the East 15. That's when Langfelder intercepted Wiltberger with about 50 seconds left to play.

"I was proud of the way they stayed together through adversity," said Fumerelle. "We could have folded but we didn't."

East amassed 422 yards of offense. Fumerelle said Rizzo made five catches, including a 20-yard reception in the third quarter where he maintained great body control and kept his toes in bounds on the sidelines. Fumerelle also said juniors Mike Silvestri and Jordan DiBernardo each had four receptions. Silvestri rushed seven times for 39 yards.

O'Gorman made five of five extra point attempts.

Junior J.L. Ivey, who moved from cornerback to outside linebacker, recorded 10 tackles and made two sacks to lead the East defense. Sophomore and senior linebackers, Will Kelly and Max Cohen, added 10 and nine tackles, respectively. Sophomore M.P. Joseph, making his first start at defensive end, registered eight tackles.

East looks for its second win at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lewiston Porter (3-2).

"We've been competitive in every game, so I think if we take the momentum from the Kenmore East game and clean up our special teams, we'll be OK," said Fumerelle.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com