H.S. football season kicks off Friday: Mustangs host Depew; Albion visits Olean

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 30 August 2018 at 7:12 am

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Senior quarterback Izaiah Rhim will lead Medina/Lyndonville/Barker into Friday’s home opener against Depew.

Medina/Lyndonville/Barker will host Depew (7:30 p.m.) and Albion will visit Olean (7 p.m.) on Friday to open the B2 Division football season.

The other local opener will have Roy-Hart hosting Gowanda/Pine Valley ( 7 p.m.) in a C North Division contest.

The Albion offense is led by the veteran group of quarterback Bryce Pritchard, running backs Ugene Harrison and Brillance Johnson receivers Nate Moore and Matt Kovaleski along with the front line quartet of Kirk Ellison, Ben Restivo, Donamic Farley and Jon DePuy. All are seniors except Johnson who is a junior.

“Olean has some good athletes, no doubt about that, so we will be in for a dogfight,” said Coach Adam Krenning. “It will be a very good test for us.”

Albion defeated Olean 25-14 last fall but the Huskies hold a 4-3 lead over the Purple Eagles in the all time series.

The Medina/Lyndonville/Barker offense is likewise led by a veteran quarterback in senior Izaiah Rhim who passed for 13 touchdowns and ran for 9 last fall.

The Mustangs attack also looks to include running backs William Braswell (senior), Bobby Geiger (Jr.) and Chaise Prest (Sr.); wide receivers Rickie Pitts (Sr.), Brian Fry (Soph.), Tyler Chinn (Soph.) and tight end Zach Johnson (Sr.) along with linemen Tim Roy (Sr.), David Class (Jr.), Blaire Prest (Sr.), Lincoln Pace (Jr.) and Michael Kleinhans (Sr.).

“We’re a little banged up so a big concern now is to keep everyone healthy,” said Coach Eric Valley. “We need to have some of the new kids step up as Depew is always a real physical team.”

The teams last met in 2016 with Medina earning a 50-15 victory. However, Depew holds a 15-12 lead in the all time series which began in 1929.

The Roy-Hart contest will mark the Rams return to being a single school team after merging with Barker the last seven years. It all also mark the debut of new Rams coach Marcus Wyche.