{"id":65164,"date":"2025-06-08T23:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=65164"},"modified":"2025-06-09T10:58:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:58:28","slug":"genesee-county-spartans-rally-but-lose-to-watertown-31-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/08\/genesee-county-spartans-rally-but-lose-to-watertown-31-26\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Spartans rally but lose to Watertown, 31-26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jzon Henderson provided an early spark for the home team, returning the opening kickoff 50 yards to the Watertown 20-yard line. <\/strong><\/em> Photo by Lauren Donovan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY MIKE PETTINELLA
Genesee Spartans Publicist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although a furious second half rally fell short, the Genesee County Spartans gave about 300 fans plenty to cheer about on Saturday night as the semipro football team took on the Watertown Red & Black at Van Detta Stadium in Batavia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Watertown quarterback Jason Williams looks for a receiver as Spartans\u2019 defensive end Gunner Rapone closes in. Williams was the star of Watertown\u2019s 31-26 victory, passing for three TDs and running for another. <\/em><\/strong>Photo by Pete Welker<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans trailed by 24 points after Jason Williams, the visitor\u2019s highly skilled quarterback, threw his third touchdown pass of the game with five minutes left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They stormed back, however, with three TDs of their own before ending up on the wrong end of a 31-26 final score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesee County dropped to 0-2 while Watertown improved to 2-0 in the Northeastern Football Alliance AA Division. The Spartans\u2019 next game is on June 14 at the Ithaca Warriors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a 14-yard TD pass to Connor Crump (that was nearly intercepted by Spartans\u2019 Aiden Pitts) to make it 31-7, the Spartans quickly responded. The took just three plays (aided by a personal foul call) and made the score 31-13 on a four-yard TD run by halfback Kareem Pryor. The two-point conversion pass failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 21-yard pass from QB Corey Turpin to tight end Logan Pike and 13-yard run by halfback Will Lamar set up Pryor\u2019s touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Watertown\u2019s Williams out of the game, the Spartans forced a punt and took over at their own 6. On the first play, Turpin hit wide receiver Tai Reffell for 36 yards and, three plays later, connected with tight end for a 44-yard catch-and-run touchdown to close the gap to 31-19. Again, a pass for the two-point conversion incomplete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans\u2019 defense held again \u2013 stopping the Red & Black just short on a fourth-down run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Genesee County Spartans\u2019 wide receiver Deyonci Farley celebrates after catching a fourth quarter pass from quarterback Corey Turpin during Saturday night\u2019s semipro football game against Watertown Red & Black at Van Detta Stadium in Batavia. Photo by Lauren Donovan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking over at their own 44, Genesee County closed to within 31-25 when Turpin found wide receiver Deyonci Farley in the left side of the end zone with 6:36 left in the game. Kicker Julia Petry kicked the extra point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That drive was kept alive by offsetting penalties that negated what would have been an 80-yard interception return by Watertown linebacker Cory Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, Williams came back in the game, looking to seal the outcome for the visitors. With the home crowd rooting loudly, the Spartans\u2019 defense came through again, forcing another punt after Watertown had driven to the Spartans\u2019 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesee County took over at its own 6. After two incompletions, Turpin hit Farley for 13 yards and Pryor for 10. Three plays later and facing a fourth-and-inches situation, Turpin rushed into the line and reached over with the ball to get the first down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a minute left, his pass intended for Pike was tipped at the last moment by Smith and his next pass was incomplete, making it fourth-and-10 at the Spartans\u2019 39. Turpin then dropped back to pass but was pressured into scrambling. He was stopped four yard short of the first down, turning the ball over to Watertown with 40 second left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams knelt down on the final play to run out the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Watertown QB, who is enlisted in the Army stationed at Fort Drum near Watertown, proved to be the difference in the game as he was able to extend plays by avoiding the Spartans\u2019 pass rush \u2013 either by finding open receivers in the middle of the field or by getting to the outside for big runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams, at 5-foot-10, 150 pounds, carried the ball nine times for 85 yards and a touchdown and completed 14 of 26 passes for 246 yards, three touchdowns \u2013 and an interception (in the end zone by free safety Takhi West in the second quarter). Two of those TDs went to Crump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Spartans, Turpin completed 17 of 32 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Two of his passes were intercepted, leading to 10 Watertown points in the first half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesee County rushed for 54 yards, with Lamar carrying seven times for 30 yards. Pike and Farley each caught five passes for 100 and 66 yards, respectively, while Toast Malone caught three for 36 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spartans\u2019 Head Coach Harry Rascoe said he liked the way his squad didn\u2019t give up but noted that penalties and missed assignments put them in a big hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stuck together and at times it was tough, but we stayed together,\u201d he said. \u201cBottom line, we\u2019ve got to play better football. Too many costly penalties. We\u2019re still a young football team and it\u2019s a long season. But we\u2019re better than what we showed tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans\u2019 lost defensive end Gunner Rapone (foot) and lineman Alex Schmidt (knee) during the game and entered the contest without the services of wide receiver Jzon Richardson (hand) and defensive lineman Nick Mitchell (ankle).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rick Mancuso, owner of TF Brown\u2019s Restaurant, presided over the coin toss in front of about 300 fans at Van Detta Stadium. TF Brown\u2019s is this year\u2019s gold sponsor of the Spartans, who will play their remaining home games at Pembroke Town Park. Photo by Lauren Donovan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jzon Henderson provided an early spark for the home team, returning the opening kickoff 50 yards to the Watertown 20-yard line. Photo by Lauren Donovan. BY MIKE PETTINELLAGenesee Spartans Publicist Although a furious second half rally fell short, the Genesee County Spartans gave about 300 fans plenty to cheer about \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[3497],"class_list":["post-65164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesee-county","tag-genesee-county-spartans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-gX2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":77827,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/genesee-county-spartans-close-out-regular-season-with-home-game-on-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":65164,"position":0},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Spartans close out regular season with home game on Saturday","author":"aka","date":"July 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Genesee County Spartans\u2019 running back Jzon Henderson attempts to elude Kesean Sparks of the Watertown Red & Black during last week\u2019s Northeastern Football League game in Watertown. Photos courtesy of Genesee County Spartans. 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Photo by Lauren Donovan. Press release: The Genesee County Spartans raised their record to 3-1 on Saturday night with a 15-6 victory over the host Watertown Red & Black in Northeastern Football Alliance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/celebrating-the-victory-1.jpg?fit=800%2C728&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/celebrating-the-victory-1.jpg?fit=800%2C728&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/celebrating-the-victory-1.jpg?fit=800%2C728&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/celebrating-the-victory-1.jpg?fit=800%2C728&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66820,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/genesee-county-spartans-face-buffalo-in-nfa-playoff-tilt-on-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":65164,"position":2},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Spartans face Buffalo in NFA playoff tilt on Saturday","author":"aka","date":"August 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BY MIKE PETTINELLAGenesee County Spartans Genesee County Spartans Head Coach Harry Rascoe is looking at this Saturday\u2019s playoff game against the Buffalo Stampede as a chance to turn around a frustrating Northeastern Football Alliance semipro season marked by injuries to key players and close losses. 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Photo courtesy of Genesee County Spartans Press release: The Genesee County Spartans travel to Ithaca on Saturday, looking for their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/genesee-spartans-coaches-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/genesee-spartans-coaches-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/genesee-spartans-coaches-.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/genesee-spartans-coaches-.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42918,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/05\/31\/genesee-county-spartans-home-opener-moved-up-to-this-saturday-at-gcc\/","url_meta":{"origin":65164,"position":5},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Spartans\u2019 home opener moved up to this Saturday at GCC","author":"aka","date":"May 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release: Genesee Region football fans will have their chance to root for the home team Genesee County Spartans sooner than expected. 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