Albion faces big Section VI Class B title game challenge in top seeded WNY Maritime

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – This Albion senior quintet of, from left, Michael DiCureia, Brillance Johnson, Tyray White, Thomas Furmanski and Cody Wilson and their Purple Eagles teammates will face WNY Maritime in the Section VI Class B championship game at 5 p.m. Friday at New Era Field.

It’s been 17 years since Albion has advanced to the sectional final and the No. 3 seed Purple Eagles will face a challenging foe in top seeded WNY Maritime for the Section VI Class B championship at New Era Field at 5 p.m. Friday.

Maritime, which is 8-1 on the season, has advanced to the title contest with a pair of lopsided wins, 36-12 over No. 8 Iroquois in the quarterfinals and 42-7 over No. 5 Pioneer in the semifinals.

Albion, which is also at 8-1, has earned its first berth in the title game since 2002 with a pair of close wins 17-14 over No. 6 Tonawanda in the quarterfinals and 21-14 over No. 7 Olean in the semis.

“It will be a cool experience,” said Albion Coach Adam Krenning. “Maritime is a very good team. It is a great opportunity for our team.”

Maritime’s ground oriented attack, which has picked up 2,756 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns on the season, is led by the junior trio of Marvin Royster (932 yards, 7 TDs), Mekhi Bridgers (655 yds., 7 TDs) and Jion Washington (387 yds., 6 TDs).

“They like to run the ball so we have got to be able to control the ball,” said Krenning.

Maritime’s sophomore quarterback Reuben Hampton has thrown for 644 yards and 9 touchdowns. His primary receivers are sophomores Addison Copeland (10 catches for 171 yards and 3 TDs)  and Demetrius Potts (4 catches for 160 yards and 3 TDs).

Senior quarterback Thomas Furmanski who has passed for 10 touchdowns, run for 4 and kicked 2 field goals leads the Albion offense.

Kevin Hillman has caught 6 of those TD aerials, Chris Shabazz 2 and Anthony Freeman and Tyler Gibson 1 each. Shabazz has also returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Hillman has returned a fumble recovery for a score.

On the ground, the Purple Eagles have Tyray White with 9 rushing touchdowns, Brillance Johnson 6 and Deyonci Farley 4.

This will be the first meeting between Albion and Maritime which is in just its second year of varsity competition.

The teams have had only one common opponent this season and that was Medina/Lyndonville/Barker. Maritime scored a 38-14 victory and Albion a 23-6 win over the Mustangs.

The victor will advance to the Far West Regional against the Section V Class B champion either Honeoye Falls-Lima  or Livonia.