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Holley, Albion set for Bowl semifinals
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Quarterbacks Nick Passarell of Holley, left, and Kyle Smith of Albion will lead their teams into the bowl games semifinals.
Holley will visit Wayland-Cohocton at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for a semifinal round game in the Section V Class C Connors and Ferris Bowl.
Wayland-Cohocton, which went 1-6 during the regular season, and Holley, which went 0-7, will be meeting for the first time on the gridiron.
The Holley offense is led by quarterback Nick Passarell who has run for 6 touchdowns and passed for 7, 6 of which have gone to Clarence Moyer.
The victor will face the winner of the Mynderse (1-6) vs. Marcus Whitman (0-7) semifinal in the championship game next week.
Albion will visit Maryvale at 7 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the Section VI Class B Chuck Funke Memorial Bowl Classic.
Albion, which has won two in a row after a tough 1-4 start to the season, is looking to keep the momentum from last Friday’s 26-14 victory over rival Medina/Lyndonville while Maryvale has won three of its last four games after a slow 0-3 start to the season.
Quarterback Kyle Smith, who passed for 2 touchdowns and ran for another against Medina/Lyndonville, leads the Albion offense.
The Purple Eagles and Flyers bring identical 3-4 regular season records into the contest.
Albion holds a 12-0 lead in the all time series with Maryvale which began in 1995. The teams last met in 2013 and the Purple Eagles posted a 39-6 win.
Two Section VI matchup games are also on tap over the next couple of days. Medina/Lyndonville will visit Tonawanda at 6 p.m. Thursday and Barker/Roy-Hart will travel to Olean at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Tonawanda holds a 9-5 lead in the all-time series which began in 1995 but Medina won the last meeting in 2010 by a score of 36-0.
The Mustangs went 4-3 during the regular season and the Warriors 2-5.
Barker/Roy-Hart, which went 1-6 during the regular season, will be facing Olean for the first tiime. The Huskies went 1-5 during the regular season.
Albion varsity star also is committed youth football coach
Tyler Rotoli has a passion for football, mentoring young players
Photos by Tom Rivers – Tyler Rotoli greets members of the Albion JV youth football team when they are introduced before a Sept. 19 game versus Medina.
ALBION – Last Friday, Tyler Rotoli ran for 142 yards in leading the Albion varsity football team to a 27-14 win over rival Medina.
Early the next morning, Rotoli was at his job at Burger King at 5:30, getting the Main Street location ready for the day. He worked till lunch and then hustled to Oakfield to join a team of 10- and 11-year-olds from Albion. That team had a big playoff game against Medina.
Rotoli is one of the coaches of the youth team, the offensive coordinator for a group that likes to throw the football and break off long runs. Rotoli has taught the team more than 70 plays, many of the formations and techniques from the varsity team.
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Tyler Rotoli fights for yardage in a 14-12 loss on Sept. 25 to East Aurora/Holland.
This year was the first time the JV youth squad made the playoffs in years.
Rotoli has juggled his varsity schedule, his work at Burger King, and his homework with a devotion to practices and games with the youth team.
“He’s a natural born leader,” said head coach Geno Allport, who coached Rotoli when he played on the youth teams. “He has the passion and he has the heart.”
Allport said it’s unusual to see a high school player anywhere in the region be so committed to working with a youth program. Besides Rotoli, Jared Hollinger also has been working with the Albion youth program. Hollinger is a junior lineman for the varsity team.
Rotoli is running back, quarterback, linebacker, whatever position the teams needs him. He preaches unselfishness and a “Team First” attitude for the youth players. He fires them up before the game, and shouts encouragement and instruction throughout the contests.
After a tough loss to Medina on Sept. 19, Rotoli gathered the group on the sideline, reminding them to keep working hard in practices. The team would close out the regular season with several victories.
After a tough loss to Medina on Sept. 19, Tyler Rotoli gathered the youth JV team, offering encouragement and motivation to keep working hard in practice and the rest of the season.
“I just want to give back to the next generation and be a positive role model,” Rotoli said. “You don’t really remember the wins and losses. You remember the coaches.”
Rotoli, 17, said Allport has been a steady and positive influence in his life for many years.
“He’s been there through the ups and downs,” Rotoli said.
He knows some of the players need male role models. That is part of his drive to be at the practices and games, even when he is fighting exhaustion.
“All I want to do is touch another life,” Rotoli said. “I want to be that big brother to somebody else and motivate them.”
Rotoli aged out of youth football after seventh grade. In eighth grade, he offered to help with some of the youth teams. His younger brother Junior plays on this year’s JV team. Two of Rotoli’s cousins, Amari and Javon Jones, also are on the team.
Rotoli found as an eighth-grader that the kids responded to his instruction. The following year he took an on-line program and became a certified coach. That program makes sure coaches know proper techniques for tackling. (Click here for more information.)
Rotoli impressed Allport and the other coaches with his grasp for the game, his analysis of the players’ strengths and how to devise plays to best use those talents.
Allport said Rotoli typically calls the plays on offense, and the team usually finds the end zone several times a game.
“I gave him freedom to run the offense because he knows what he’s doing,” Allport said.
Most of the JV youth players would watch Rotoli during Friday home games at the varsity field. The next day, Rotoli would join them for their game. Allport said Rotoli inspires the kids “to see where they can go” as a varsity player.
Rotoli is considering majoring in criminal justice in college so he can work as a police officer. Allport is hopeful Rotoli will stay in the area after college, and continue to coach and work with the youth football players.
Allport also said Hollinger has been a big help with the youth football program. He and Rotoli help set up the field and with clean up after the games.
“You’re not going to find kids that busted their butts more than those two,” Allport said.
Tyler Rotoli and Geno Allport, head coach of the Albion JV youth team, talk strategy before Saturday’s playoff game versus Medina.
Rotoli said he would like to be a coach in the future. He enjoys the life lessons with the game, and often gives fiery speeches to the players.
“If you work hard, you get good outcomes,” he tells the players when they’re doing push-ups or finishing sprints.
“You got to be disciplined,” he bellows.
Rotoli said spewing those words has been good for him. It reminds him he needs to keep working hard, too, including the early morning shifts at Burger King following an away game on Friday.
“I’m preaching you need discipline and perseverance,” he said. “It motivates me, too.”
Kendall spikers rally past Edison
Kendall posted a come-from-behind 23-25, 25-12, 25-15, 25-16 victory over Edison this evening in a regular season ending non league volleyball match.
Madison Rath had a career high 13 spiking kills to go along with 7 service aces and 2 digs to lead the way for Kendall.
Chelsea Wright added 6 kills, 9 digs and 3 aces; Sarah Pearson 18 assists, 9 aces and 5 digs; Emily Mattle 4 kills and Alexis Payton 2 kills, 6 digs and 7 aces for the Lady Eagles.
Kendall finishes the regular season at 11-9.
Pembroke 27-25-25
Lyndonville 25-13-21
Pembroke downed visiting Lyndonville 27-25, 25-13, 25-21 to finish the regular season at 10-5.
Sam Quaranto had 10 kills, 6 aces, 5 assists and 5 digs to lead the way for Pembroke.
Cassie Maynard had 3 kills and 8 digs, Jessica Harling 3 kills and 4 digs and Jennie Wetherbee 10 digs for Lyndonville which finishes at 3-14.
Kendall booters win sectional opener
A lone second half goal proved to be just enough to earn No. 6 seed Kendall a 1-0 victory over No. 11 Bolivar-Richburg in the opening round of the Section V Class C2 boys soccer playoffs this evening at Warsaw.
Jake Adams scored his 12th goal of the season with 19 minutes remaining in the second half to provide the margin of victory for the Eagles.
Improving to 9-8, Kendall next visits No. 3 Bishop Kearney on Saturday in the quarterfinals.
Albion girls bow; Roy-Hart advances
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Mikayla Yaskulski (12) battles for control of the ball with Newfane’s Makena Carpenter during the Purple Eagles sectional loss to the host Lady Panthers this afternoon.
A quick two goal scoring burst early in the second half keyed No. 5 Newfane to a 2-0 victory over visiting No. 12 Albion this afternoon in the second round of the Section VI Class B girls soccer playoffs.
Emily Foltz and Brianna Heers netted the goals for Newfane which also downed Albion twice during the Niagara-Orleans League season by scores of 5-4 in overtime and 4-1.
Albion finishes the season at 9-9.
Albion’s Maria Elsenheimer (1) tries to block an advance by Newfane’s Kaelen Swogier.
Roy-Hart 2, City Honors 0
No. 16 Roy-Hart upended top seeded host City Honors 2-0 on first half goals by Emma Lindke and Amber Villella. A corner by Ava Bligh set up the first tally by Lindke.
Roy-Hart advances with a 10-7-1 record.
Wilson 2, East Aurora 0
A penalty kick goal by Lauren Courturier with just 19 seconds to go in the first half snapped a scoreless deadlock and sparked No. 2 Wilson to a 2-0 victory over visiting No. 15 East Aurora.
Rachel Senek added an insurance goal for Wilson six minutes into the second half off a corner by Madelyn Austin.
Akron 8, Eden 0
Jenna Robnett and Eliza Papke each scored two goals and Katie Apholz and Ashley Mietz both chipped in with a pair of assists to lead No. 6 Akron to an 8-0 victory over visiting No. 11 Eden.
Frewsburg 8, Barker 0
Jumping out to a 4-0 half-time advantage, No. 3 Frewsburg went on to defeat visiting No. 14 Barker in a Class C opening round game.
Arkport/Canaseraga 3, Lyndonville 0
A quick goal in the first two minutes ignited No. 4 Arkport/Canaseraga to a 3-0 victory over No. 13 Lyndonville in a Section V Class D1 opening round game at Warsaw.
Field hockey sectionals begin Thursday
Niagara-Orleans League champion Akron heads the field for the Section VI Class C field hockey playoffs which begin at 3 p.m. Thursday with four quarterfinal round games.
Those contests will have No. 8 Medina (1-11) at No. 1 Akron (11-1), No. 5 Eden (7-8-1) at No. 4 Roy-Hart (7-5), No. 6 Newfane (3-9) at No. 3 Wilson (7-4-1) and No. 7 Holland (2-14) at No. 2 Barker (10-1-1).
During the N-O season, Akron defeated Medina twice by scores of 6-0 and 13-0 while Wilson also bested rival Newfane twice by margins of 5-1 and 2-1.
Barker has won the Class C championship the last seven years in a row. The Lady Raiders downed Akron 2-1 in the finals last year. In fact, six of the Lady Raiders championship wins over the last seven years have been over the Lady Tigers.
Boys Soccer Sectionals
Section VI boys soccer competition gets underway at 3:30 this afternoon.
In Class B1 No. 9 Albion visits No. 8 Tonawanda, No. 6 Medina/Lyndonville hosts No. 11 Springville and No. 3 Newfane entertains No. 14 Depew.
The winners of the Medina/Lyndonville vs. Springville and Newfane vs. Depew contests will meet in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
In Class B2, No. 11 Roy-Hart visits No. 6 MST Prep and No. 5 Akron hosts No. 12 Fredonia.
Barker harriers post key win over R-H
Medina girls earn split
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Holly Heil, right, battles for second place with Akron’s Emma Chubb during the Mustangs home meet this afternoon.
Defending champion Barker downed Roy-Hart 21-37 in a key Niagara-Orleans League boys cross-country battle of the unbeatens this afternoon at Akron Falls Park.
Barker and Roy-Hart also both downed CSAT 15-50.
The victory keeps Barker undefeated at 7-0 to close out the dual meet portion of the season while Roy-Hart slips to 6-1.
Barker was sparked by the 2-3-4-5 finish of Jack Hopkins, Jake Arnold, Adam Wagner and Drew Jenks.
Roy-Hart’s Avery Green won the race in 17:38.
In the girls competition, Roy-Hart (4-3) downed Baker 27-29 and CSAT 15-50 and Barker (2-5) bested CSAT (0-7) 15-50.
Barker’s Gabby Baker won the race in 22:06 as her teammates Jessica Hasley and Alena Israel placed fourth and fifth. Roy-Hart had Kelsey Ciemny and Anna Rickard place 2-3.
Going to 3-4 on the season, the host Medina girls earned a split defeating Wilson 17-41 but losing to Akron 20-27.
Improving to 6-1, the Akron girls completed the sweep by downing Wilson (1-6) 15-47.
Akron’s Margo Henley and Emma Chubb finished 1-3 to lead the way for Akron as Medina’s Holly Heil placed second.
Medina’s Daniel Heil crosses the finish line first.
The Akron boys edged Wilson 25-30 and downed Medina 15-50 to go to 4-3. Wilson also bested Medina (0-7) 15-50 to improve to 3-4.
Medina’s Daniel Heil won the race in 18:45 as Akron’s Mike Swinarski placed second and Wilson’s Jordan Stoelting third.
The Newfane boys defeated visiting Albion (2-5) 26-33 to improve to 5-2.
Sam Auernhamer (17:17) and Tyler Arnett placed 1-3 to lead the Panthers as Evan Pappalardo took second for the Purple Eagles.
The Newfane girls stayed perfect at 7-0 by downing Albion 15-47 led by the 1-2-3 finish of Kim Goerss, Nina Burkhard and Vanessa Burkhard.
Albion slips to 5-2.
Mustang booters win sectional opener
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Greg Husung of Medina/Lyndonville takes a shot on goal as Nolan West readies to defend for Springville and Wyatt Cudney comes flying in for the Griffins. The action took place during the Mustangs sectional win this afternoon at Vets Park.
Clearing post season hurdle No. 1, sixth seeded Medina/Lyndonville blanked No. 11 Springville 3-0 at Vets Park this afternoon in the opening round of the Section VI Class B1 boys soccer playoffs.
Brian Anderson scored what proved to be the game winning goal on a header off a corner by Greg Husung midway through the first half.
Improving to 8-4-4, the Mustangs later broke away from the tight 1-0 contest by scoring twice within five minutes early in the second half.
Husung scored just six minutes into the second half off an assist from Ethan Leonard and Kristian Snyder followed up with the clincher five minutes later on a long line drive shot.
Colm Cooper, left, tries to head the ball toward the goal for the Mustangs as James Shearer defends for the Griffins.
The victory vaults the Mustangs into a quarterfinal round matchup at Niagara-Orleans League champion Newfane at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
No. 3 Newfane romped past No. 14 Depew 7-0 as Trevor Moreland had 2 goals and 3 assists and Chad Gilson 2 goals.
Newfane downed Medina/Lyndonville twice during the N-O season by scores of 1-0 in overtime and 3-1.
In another B1 contest, No. 9 Tonawanda scored a goal in each half to nip visiting No. 8 Albion 2-1.
Nick Reed scored late in the second half for Albion.
In Class B2, No. 6 MST Prep nipped visiting No. 11 Roy-Hart 2-1 on a goal in the final two minutes and No. 5 Akron blanked No. 12 Fredonia 6-0.
Alonzo Sager scored for Roy-Hart in the first half which ended tied at 1-1.
Bryan Whitbeck and Alex Lydell each scored 2 goals and Tristan Olszewski had 3 assists for Akron.
Albion spikers cap 12-0 N-O season; Kendall nips Lyndonville in G-R
Albion bested host Wilson in straight sets 25-8, 25-15, 25-11 this evening to complete a third straight undefeated (12-0) Niagara-Orleans volleyball league championship season.
Chanyce Powell had 7 spiking kills, 5 digs, 2 service aces and 4 blocks; Kelsee Soule 5 kills, 11 digs and 2 blocks and Meghan Hurley 5 kills, 8 digs, 2 aces and 13 assists to lead the way for Albion.
The Purple Eagles also had Aleah Foos with 4 kills and 5 blocks; Kaitlyn VanSkiver 4 kills, 4 digs and 3 aces; Kassidy Hastings 5 digs and 7 assists; Ashlee Bocach 5 digs and Emilie Barleben 1 kill and 2 aces.
“Earning that third straight undefeated league season was very important to them. Even after we clinched last week they said ‘we’re not done,'” said Albion Coach Ann Capacci. “I’m very proud of them. They are a very unselfish group. They are just a great bunch of kids who have been playing together for a long time.”
Kendall 25-26-25
Lyndonville 21-24-22
Kendall trimmed visiting Lyndonville 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 this evening in a Genesee Region League match.
Madison Rath had 8 kills, 3 aces and 3 digs; Chelsea Wright 7 kills, 4 aces and 2 digs and Sarah Pearson 12 assists, 9 digs and 3 kills for Kendall which improves to 10-9.
Cierra Riley had 3 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks and 3 digs for Lyndonville.
Roy-Hart 24-25-25-25
Newfane 26-16-14-10
Celebrating Senior Night, Roy-Hart bested visiting Newfane 24-26, 25-16, 25-14, 25-10 to improve to 6-5 in N-O competition.
Bea Bacon had 13 service points, 8 kills and 2 blocks; Brianna Brewer 9 points, 5 aces, 2 kills and 2 blocks; Savoy Laubacker 8 points and 5 kills; Becca Albrecht 4 kills an 3 blocks and Skyler Christopher 6 points, 3 aces, 5 kills and 1 block for the Lady Rams.
The loss drops Newfane to 3-9.
Legion takes over Euchre League lead
Legion took over first place atop the Medina Euchre League standings by downing former front-runner Sacred Heart 44-26 Monday.
JR Wilson defeated Vets Club 40-30 in the other game.
Legion now leads the league with a point total of 118-92 followed by Sacred Heart 106-104, JR Wilson 106-104 and Vets Club 90-120.
League action continues on October 26 with Legion at Sacred Heart and JR Wilson at Vets Club.
