Football Game Preview: Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets vs. Penfield Patriots

The Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets will face off against the Penfield Patriots at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.

Rush-Henrietta is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed past Greece Olympia/Greece Odyssey to the tune of 55-13 on Friday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Royal Comets considering their 13-point performance the matchup before.

Imani Wagstaff Jr

Rushing Touchdowns (Career)

10/17/25 @ Greece Olympia/Greece Odyssey	2
10/03/25 vs Pittsford	1
09/25/25 @ University Prep	1
09/12/25 @ McQuaid Jesuit	1
09/06/25 vs Elmira/Southside	1

Imani Wagstaff Jr and Evan Mangone were among the main playmakers for Rush-Henrietta as the former gained 174 total yards and two touchdowns and the latter threw for 275 yards and four TDs while picking up 13.8 yards per attempt. The dominant performance also gave Wagstaff Jr a new career-high in rushing touchdowns (two). Lionel Gaylord helped Mangone out on the ground, rushing for 119 yards on only nine carries.

Rush-Henrietta was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 239 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 177 rushing yards in four consecutive games.

Special teams also deserves some recognition, posting 24 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Noah Collins-Howard, who ran a punt back for a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Penfield hadn't done well against Fairport recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Patriots simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Red Raiders 35-7. That looming 35-7 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Patriots yet this season.

Rush-Henrietta pushed their record up to 6-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 9.6 points on average over those games. As for Penfield, their victory bumped their record up to 3-4.

Rush-Henrietta and Penfield were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in October of 2024, but Rush-Henrietta came up empty-handed after a 29-28 loss. Can the Royal Comets avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.