WILSON — There was a point in the fourth quarter when Bill Atlas looked at the clock, saw the game was won and would have liked to take out his starters.
He couldn’t afford that luxury.
On most nights, Wilson has 17 dressed players. That’s the state minimum required to be eligible for a game.
High school football is a numbers game. The more players a team has, the greater chance it has to produce stars. Many schools are turning to mergers rather than fighting low numbers.
But Wilson is chasing a Section VI Class D championship. After a 38-6 win over Cattaraugus/Little Valley Friday, the Lakemen are 5-0 and bludgeoning opponents by 171-26.
“We were able to run the ball,” Wilson head coach Bill Atlas said about what his team has done well this season. “… We were aggressive with the line of scrimmage and if we continue to do that, we’ll continue to be successful.”
Atlas could tap into his junior varsity team. He could have combined the two teams. He chose not to do that.
Through the first five weeks of the season, Atlas has only called up one kid, sophomore tight end Jamison Geier.
And that was because of an injury to a fellow sophomore, Eli Barone. But the kids who have been on varsity since the start of fall camp have done plenty well without the reinforcements.
“I just brought a kid (Jamison Geier) up from JV last week that hadn’t practiced with us … but he hasn’t taken a varsity snap in his entire life,” Atlas said. “I threw him in at starting tight end last week and that’s what you got to do when you have 17 guys.”
One of the key contributors to the team has been a kid that bided his time on the junior varsity team before coming up this year and making an immediate impact, junior running back Mason Coulter.
In his first year on the varsity squad, Coulter has has 744 of Wilson’s 1,363 yards and 10 touchdowns.
While not much has surprised Atlas through the first five weeks, Coulter’s dominance has.
Coulter improved the way he runs in his transition from junior varsity. He tried to get to the edge and bounce the run outside on the JV team, whereas now he runs in between the tackles more often.
“I’m kind of just trusting my line, cutting off their blocks and just trying to do my job, help my guys out to do what they can and that’s pretty much it,” Coulter said.
The fact that the team has not missed a beat despite losing 16 seniors from last year’s team and 84% of its total yards and 76% of its total tackles has been down to the experience factor.
This year’s team has 18 returners from last year’s roster including Coulter and quarterback Wyatt Sherman who has had a breakout campaign in his own right throwing for 288 yards and five touchdowns this season.
“Well so far obviously it’s been pretty good,” Sherman said. “We’re winning games, we’re doing good. We’re scoring points. We’re not letting in many points. It’s good.”
Wilson will attempt to remain undefeated when it goes to Silver Creek/Forestville at 7 p.m. Friday.