Albion sectional game to highlight busy four day stretch of postseason football action

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s JaQuess Harrison, shown here picking up yardage during the recent loss to Dunkirk, and his Purple Eagle teammates will look to avenge that setback when they visit Dunkirk on Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B playoffs.

Local high school football fans can enjoy postseason contests each of the next four nights.

The feature game will be on Friday as No. 6 seed Albion visits No. 3 Dunkirk at 7:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Section VI Class B playoffs.

This contest will be a rematch as the Purple Eagles dropped a narrow 18-15 decision to the Marauders two weeks ago in a key clash of unbeatens at Dunkirk for the B-2 Division title.

The sectional appearance will be the first for Albion since 2011 while Dunkirk is the defending Section VI Class B champions.

Both teams bring 6-1 season records into the contest as Albion is looking to keep the momentum from a 51-22 victory over rival Medina/Lyndonville while Dunkirk is looking to rebound from a 15-8 upset loss to rival Fredonia/Westfield/Brocton.

“The Dunkirk game was a great game. It was a tough one to lose but our kids came back strong against Medina and now they are now even more determined this time,” said Albion Coach Adam Krenning. “We know each other well now and we’re making some adjustments to what we saw. We just have to play hard and put up another good battle up front.”

Quarterback Bryce Pritchard, who has thrown for 7 touchdowns and run for 4, leads the Albion offense. Four of those TD passes have gone to Nate Moore and 2 to JaQuess Harrison who has also had a big season on special teams with 2 punt returns and 1 kickoff return for scores.

Ugene Harrison has led the Purple Eagles ground attack with 11 rushing touchdowns. He and Pritchard each had a TD run in the narrow loss to Dunkirk.

Quarterback Jaziah Rivera scored a pair of touchdowns for Dunkirk but it was workhorse running back Quantavis Kleckley with over 200 yards rushing and a TD who  really keyed the Marauders attack.

The victor will advance to a semifinal matchup against the winner of Friday’s No. 7 Depew (4-3) at No. 2 Cheektowaga (6-1) contest.

The other Class B quarterfinals will have No. 8 Pioneer (5-2) at No. 1 Lackawanna (6-1) and No. 5 Newfane (6-1) at No. 4 Maryvale (6-1). The sectional appearance is the first for Newfane since 1993.

Medina/Lyndonville hosts Alden in B Bowl semi

Thursday evening Medina/Lyndonville entertains Alden at 6:30 p.m. in the semifinal round of the Class B Chuck Funke Memorial Bowl.

The contest will also be a rematch as the Mustangs outlasted the Bulldogs 58-34 in a wild B-3 Division contest two weeks ago.

Quarterback Izaiah Rhim threw for four touchdowns and ran for three more during that high scoring contest.  He has a total of 13 passing touchdowns to six different receivers on the season including 4 to Jalin Cooper, 3 to Mason Lewis, 2 to Brendan Luthart and Brian Fry and 1 to DaRon Bellan and William Braswell. He has also rushed for 9 TDs. Braswell has also rushed for 5 touchdowns.

Medina/Lyndonvile brings a 4-3 record into the contest while Alden is 2-5.

The other semifinal will have Burgard (2-5) at Olean (2-4).

The winners will meet for the Class B Bowl title on October 26 at Pioneer.

Holley hosts Wellsville in C-1 Bowl semi

Holley will also be in bowl action as the Hawks host Wellsville at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals of the Class C-1 Connors and Ferris Bowl.

The Hawks bring a 3-4 record into postseason while the Lions are 2-5.

This will be the second postseason meeting between the teams as Holley downed Wellsville  27-12 in the semifinals of the 2014 Connors and Ferris Bowl.

The Hawks offense has been sparked by running back Camron Labarge with 8 touchdowns and quarterback Jeremy Mallett and funning back Jacob Affronti with 4 each.

Roy-Hart/Barker hosts East Aurora/Holland

The busy four days of gridiron action begins this evening when Roy-Hart/Barker hosts East Aurora/Holland in a matchup game at 6 p.m. at Middleport.