WILSON — Wilson lost seven games last season, a year after reaching the Section VI Class D final. But it was a Lakemen roster made up mostly of juniors.
While he didn’t call it a rebuild, Wilson head coach Bill Atlas was looking past those losses and looking ahead to the coming season.
“I knew that going into last year that we were going to have 15 guys who were going to be young and have to play big, big roles. And we were not successful. I knew exactly what we were getting into,” Atlas said. “You want to win every single game, but just for the fact that we were young, played tough, we were in every game. We played the state champion (Clymer/Sherman/Panama) to a 15-7 loss. So I knew good things were on the horizon.”
The Lakemen (2-7, 1-5 Class D) have those 15 players back for their senior year, and both they and their coaches are fired up.
“I’ve been coaching now for 35 years. This is probably the most enthusiastic first week of football I’ve ever had, and it’s not coach driven, it’s all player driven. I’m super excited to see how these guys go,” Atlas said.
Some of the players admitted disappointment in last season’s results, but are ready to reunite as seniors and make a statement in 2025. One is Ryan Hough, who caught 23 passes for 398 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024.
“I think that pushed us forward to put in a ton of work in the offseason, and we have a ton of energy when we’re stretching, and just everything we do,” said Hough, who plays both wide receiver and defensive back. “I took it upon myself to put in a lot of work in the offseason as well, to get faster, to get stronger. I think we have a shot at making a long run this year.”
Luckily for the Lakemen, CSP is off their schedule. The team Hough described as their “kryptonite” has moved into Class C South for 2025. They do gain a longtime local rival as a league opponent, Newfane, which dropped down to Class D this season.
“It makes it huge, now that the game really does matter towards our record,” Hough added.
Vic Cusatis returns as the starting quarterback. In 2024, he completed 55 of 130 pass attempts for 603 yards, tossing eight touchdown passes. Atlas is working with Cusatis to improve his passing completion percentage.
“I told him, we need to take the easy throw this year. Our goal for him is to try to get to what our completion percentage record is, which is in the 60s,” Atlas said.
Michael Ruble led the team’s rushing last season with 597 yards on 120 carries, scoring four touchdowns. Brock Lepsch was second on the team with 438 yards on 69 carries, also scoring four touchdowns. Lepsch also led the team defense with 53 tackles and two sacks.
“He is a sideline-to-sideline middle linebacker that loves to hit,” Atlas said. “He has eyeballed (record) career tackling stats. He and I talk about it all the time, and that’s something that he’s interested in, trying to try to get to and trying to beat.”
While many players play on both sides of the ball, Lepsch added a third dimension of kicking last year, putting up 12 points after touchdowns.
“I was given a job,” Lepsch said. “My whole life, I’ve just been working hard at whatever I’ve been given. So it’s nothing special, really. I mean, the coach needed someone to do it. I was willing to step forward and do it.”
When reflecting on last season, Lepsch spoke of the lessons he and other younger players learned, and apply to this season. He explained that it was especially educational for those who had a great run in JV but soon discovered varsity was on another level.
“They went eight and oh, and it’s a different game, completely different pace and everything. It took them a season to get used to it and know the speed and all that, all the steps. But I think we’re going to have a great year this year,” he said.