As night’s go, Brian Cooney’s could not have been better if he had charted it out in advance.
For openers, Cooney prowled the sidelines at Geneva’s Burgess Field Friday night while he watched his Oswego varsity football team roll to a 47-21 victory.
Not only was it Cooney’s first win as a varsity coach but he received his first Gatorade shower and a game ball to boot.
“I love it,” Cooney said. “It (the Gatorade shower) felt great. It got halfway through and I was wondering what was happening and then it hit me. I was getting a bath.”
It was almost like the soaking Cooney’s Panthers put on the Vikings and it all happened after Geneva took a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard TD run by Bobby Hess.
Not to worry. Oswego, fueled by six Geneva fumbles and a snap over sophomore punter Daniel Santacaterina’s head, scored 47 straight points to take a commanding 47-7 halftime lead.
Cornerback James Richardson picked up two of Geneva’s six lost fumbles and scored on returns of 25 and 98 yards.
The Panthers definitely came to hit.
“We’ve changed our philosophy on defense, swarming to the football, and it really paid off tonight,” Cooney said.
Quarterback Bret Wainwright completed just three passes but all were for touchdowns — 35 and 11 yards to Jack Kwiatkowski and 15 yards to Elliot McGaughy — and Mickeel Stewart rushed for 76 yards and scored on a 5-yard run.
It was just too much for the inexperienced Vikings, although Hess did rush for 144 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Santacaterina was 8-for-12 for 104 yards and a touchdown in his first varsity game.
“We’re green,” Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said. “I got a lot of green. I told them (at halftime) we have to get better at what we do.”