Cortland Standard .net

By TOM VARTANIAN
Staff Writer
It was a senior season that Homer Central’s tailback Alec Bush will never forget.
From rewriting the school record book individually and earning all sorts of post-season praise, Bush did it all yet still remained the ultimate team player as the Trojans set a number of team records while completing back-to-back undefeated Section 3 Class B West seasons for division titles and winning the school’s first Section 3 Class B football title since 2005.
In 2014, Bush set the single season rushing record (2,418 yards), single season average yards per game (219.8), touchdowns scored (33) and points scored (198). His career records include rushing yards (3,751), touchdowns (48) and points scored (288).
In addition, Bush holds five of the top 10 best individual rushing games in school history. Bush’s number two (366 yards) still trails Mark Brenchley’s 410-yard best, but he also posted the fifth (309), seventh (291) and eighth (285) this season along with number four (316) in 2013.
Post-season honors include New York State Sportswriters Association Class B first team running back. All-CNY Small School Co-Player of the Year and Section 3 Class B first team all-star.
“It’s really surreal now that the season is over thinking back that you aren’t doing this anymore,” Bush said after having a couple of weeks away from football. “Doing all this with teammates I’ve played football with since I moved here in fifth grade, it’s a great feeling working so hard with these guys. We all care about each other and the coaches all care about us. We all work hard together in the pre-season and the season, week by week, for a much bigger goal and it really was a lot of fun.”
BREAKING BOB AVERY’S career rushing mark may be a the top of the list as Avery’s 2,629 yards total had stood since 1973, as well as his 22 career touchdowns. The career touchdown mark went down early in the season while the career rushing record was passed in one game (16) less than Avery (17).
“That’s really shocking to know,” Bush said. “Even averaging around 200 yards per game, that’s still a lot of yards. That’s a lot of practices and games played.
“The team put up big numbers this year and that is basically how we have been accomplishing these goals,” he added. “I don’t think it’s because the teams we are playing are awful, I think it’s because we work well together as a team. This team has worked harder than any other team I’ve ever been on.”
“Bush has done one heck of a job,” said Mike Norris, Avery’s coach and a Homer legend in his own right.
“Bob was tough,” Norris continued, Avery going on to become a starting running back at Division I Syracuse where current New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was the backfield coach.
“He was a mean runner. He would run over you if he could, he would never run around you. He was a projectile,” said Norris of Avery. “He could do the other stuff too. He was always very determined in whatever he was doing. He was going to get into the end zone one way or another. He didn’t mind using his head as a battering ram. Bob had good speed and he was a good athlete. One thing some people didn’t know was that he was also a good artist.”
Norris also said there is a simple formula to any tailback to be successful.
“It’s usually where your best runner goes,” Norris said. “You then look for a good fullback to go in front of him. I think Bob had the (Brian) Young boy in front of him. We also used a wingback to get some additional blocking. It was almost a single wing.”
THE SON OF KEVIN and Rose Bush found his interest in football at a young age.
“My dad influenced me into playing football,” Bush explained. “I’ve always wanted to play since I was little. I think I started in third grade at Barry Elementary School for the Cortland Elks in CYB Small Fry Football. I was playing fullback and it was a lot of fun. I didn’t understand it yet, but going play-by-play I was getting older each season and it became more of a habit. I got into more off-season practice and it meant so much more to me as I kept getting older.”
Coming up through youth football, did he ever think that he would accomplish something special in his career?
“I don’t think it really hit me until eighth grade,” Bush recalled. “I love football and it started in third grade. It really clicked in eighth grade when (Coach Mark) Ferrito switched me to tailback. He said “Let’s run tailback a little” and I said okay. I started over Jayden (Gavidia) in one of the games because he was the tailback all the way up from Small Fry. He was crazy fast and it was ridiculous how he could get to the outside and be gone. I started running and I ran over people. I was more of a power runner and since the switch I have started as a running back over Jayden. I averaged two touchdowns a game and eight yards a carry in junior high. That really lit a fire inside of me. It made me strive to be better and become a better player to keep the spot.
“We have all had great coaching staffs from Small Fry up through junior high and high school,” he continued. “The coaches care about you and I think that is what really drives this program and makes it what it is. The coaches care about every athlete from the starters to the guys who barely get on the field. You’re not just another player. You get to know the coaches from the two days in the spring, to all the lifting during the summer. The coaches get to know you as well. It’s all about creating a special relationship through eight weeks of the season at the minimum.”
It took a long time for Bush to find a role model to follow, because he really never went to high school games was he was younger.
“”I never went to a varsity football game until I was in seventh grade,” Bush said. “I had no idea who was playing at the time, I just wasn’t into watching the varsity guys, I was more focused on what I had to do. When I was on JVs, I watched Mark Dove. He just went through people and he ran so hard. He’s partially the reason I run the way I do. I wanted to run as hard every play like he did. He put his heart into every single play so I put that into my head. I wanted to do the things he did.”
THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE in Bush’s game this season compared to last season. He ran the ball well in 2013. In 2014, he ran angry. What was the difference in his philosophy this year:
“I played in every game last year, but I also hurt my ankle,” Bush explained. “It bothered me that I couldn’t be in there the entire game against Camden. I wanted to have a fire this year that no one else had.I wanted to be different than every other running back out there. I wanted to go hard every down. My first goal in my book was to go 100 percent every time I touched the ball. If that meant running angry then I would. I want to deal with it that way. I focused on getting a first down, then getting into the end zone. If that mean’s running angry, I will do that. You’re going to get bumped and grabbed every play at the line of scrimmage, once you get by that, you’re gone.”
As mentioned earlier, as much as Bush was setting records there was a part that was his doing, but he was never short on praising his guys up front.
“My offensive line guys are big and physical,” Bush said. “They are strong and have been more physical than the opposition. It’s all because they worked well together, If they hadn’t worked well, I would have a few more doubts. They had to be ready to go every down and that have done that. I’m very confident because the guys in front of me are confident. I don’t know what I’d do without them in front of me.”
As for his relationship with Gavidia, Bush knows they each had very important roles.
“Jayden was still our go-to guy,” Bush said. “Inside two minutes of the half or game in our hurry-up offense, Jayden was that go-to guy. He cold catch the long ball because he is so quick and so fast, he got the job done. He makes things happen.”
WITH THE SEASON over, some area colleges have started knocking on the door.
“I’m talking with St. Lawrence University, Morrisville, Alfred State and Utica College,” Bush said. “There are a couple of more, but they have come to talk to us. They are all definitely some options that I want to look in to. I want to visit the schools because Coach P. said they are all good schools. It ‘s just a matter of picking where I want to go for the next four years.”
While Alec Bush was late in finding his role model, the senior was certainly a role model to the younger kids now.
“When we went down to Youth Day and Youth Camp, those guys all knew my name,” Bush recalled. “It’s nice and we are all part of the same community. I would simply tell them to work hard. Stay well educated about the game through the camps and stay in football. Anything is possible, especially in Homer football. Everyone gets a chance to play. It’s not just the starting squad, everyone gets a fair chance. That’s what I love about Homer football.”