Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina quarterback Xander Payne breaks away from a trio of pursuing Lackawanna defenders to score a touchdown during the Mustangs sectional win over the Steelers at Vets Park this evening.

Pulling away with a pair of late second quarter scores, top seeded defending champion Medina went on to blank No. 5 Lackawanna 32-0 in the Section VI Class C semifinals this evening at Vets Park.

Leading by a narrow 6-0 margin, Medina got special team and defensive scores during that key stretch to open up a 17-0 half-time advantage.

First, Cole Callard booted a 26 yard field goal with 3:47 to go in the half and then two minutes later Iverson Poole returned a pass interception 25 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Xander Payne tacked on a two-point conversion pass to Greg Thompson for the 17-0 lead.

Medina’s Hayden Woodroe returns a pass interception.

Poole also scored Medina’s first touchdown of the evening on a 4 yard run with 3:32 to go in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.

A 22 yard pass completion from  Payne to Joe Cecchini highlighted the drive.

It remained 17-0 into the fourth quarter when the Mustangs put a lock on the victory on a pair of touchdown runs by Payne covering 32 and 1 yards.

Robert Arnold added the two-point conversion run after the first score and Callard tacked on the PAT kick after the second.

The shutout effort by the Mustangs defensive unit, their fourth of the season, also featured interceptions by Hayden Woodroe and Jarin Rhim along with sacks by Cecchini, Zach Oliver, Arnold, Chris Johnson and Roosevelt Mitchell.

Improving to 10-0, Medina will now face No. 3 seed Fredonia for the Section VI Class C championship next Saturday at noon at Highmark Stadium.

It will be Medina’s first appearance at the stadium since 1988 when the Mustangs edged rival Albion 14-7 for the title.

The Mustangs 10-0 record also ties the 1988 team’s mark for the best in school history.

Fredonia improved to 10-0 with a 28-21 semifinal win over No. 7 Southwestern.

Medina’s Joe Cecchini goes high to make a pass reception.

No. 2 seed Iroquois bested No. 3 Albion 35-20 in a Section VI Class B semifinal game this evening at East Aurora.

Albion stayed close in the opening quarter as a 24 yard touchdown run by Jahmeek Riley pulled the Purple Eagles to within 8-6.

However, Iroquois scored a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter, the second coming off a muffed Albion punt attempt, to open up a 21-6 advantage at the half.

In the second half Albion got a one yard touchdown run by Javon Jones in the third quarter and a 55 yard Tyler Gibson to Jones TD pass in the fourth quarter followed by a two-point conversion run by Riley but could not overcome the halftime deficit.

Iroquois will take a 10-0 record into next Saturday’s Class B title contest against the winner of Saturday’s No. 1 Maritime vs. No. 4 West Seneca East semifinal.

Albion finishes the season at 6-3.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina defenders Chris Johnson (52), Dominic Larabee (7) and Josh Wilson (41), shown here tackling Lackawanna quarterback William Gechell during the regular season meeting between the teams, and their Mustang teammates will host the Steelers in the Class C semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Vets Park.

A familiar foe will provide the opposition as No. 1 seed defending champion Medina hosts No. 5 Lackawanna in the semifinals of the Section VI Class C playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday at Vets Park.

It will be a rematch of a regular season game which saw Medina post a 34-16 win at Lackawanna, a contest which was tight into the third quarter.

Medina jumped out to a 20-0 lead but Lackawanna answered with a pair of quick second quarter touchdown passes to slice the lead to 20-16 at the half. The Mustangs opened up a little breathing room with a third period touchdown and then locked up the win with a TD in the final stanza.

“It’s always tough to play a team the second time especially a team that has the athletes they do. We learned that a few years ago,” said Medina Coach Eric Valley in referring to the two meetings between the Mustangs and Steelers just five years ago during the 2016 season.

Those were truly a tale of two very different games as Medina romped to a 48-6 win over Lackawanna during the regular season only to see the Steelers turn the tables and defeat the Mustangs 16-8 in the sectionals.

The Mustangs bring a 9-0 record into Friday’s contest while the Steelers, which have won three in a row, are 5-4.

“They have the ability to strike quick so we have to continue to play well,” said Valley. “Establishing the line of scrimmage and winning the turnover battle will be key.”

Offensively the Steelers are led by quarterback William Gechell (687 yards passing with 8 touchdowns), running back Amir Douglas (537 yards rushing with 5 TDs) and receiver Ashlin Alexander-Hall (18 receptions for 277 yards and 5 TDs).

Quarterback Xander Payne, who has passed for 1,274 yards and a school record 21 touchdowns leads the Medina attack.

The Mustangs receiving corps is led by Jarin Rhim (30 receptions for 391 yards and 7 TDs), Greg Thompson (15 for 364 yards and 5 TD), Joe Cecchini (16 for 254 yards and 4 TD) and Iverson Poole (9 for 164 yards and 4 TD).

On the ground, Poole has rushed for 558 yards and 9 TDs and Noah Skinner 526 yards and 7TDs.

In the earlier win over the Steelers, Payne ran for one touchdown and completed TD passes to Cecchini and Poole to give Medina the early 20-0 lead. He later hooked up with Rhim for a third quarter TD pass giving the Mustangs some breathing room and Skinner put a lock on the win by bulldozing his way for a 45 yard TD run in the final quarter.

Defensively for the Mustangs Skinner has been in on 53 tackles, Hayden Woodroe 47, Cecchini 41, Chris Johnson 37, Poole 35, Dominic Larabee 32 and Josh Wilson 28. Cecchini also has 9 sacks, Robert Arnold 5 and Larabee 3.

The other Class C semifinal will have No. 7 Southwestern facing No. 3 Fredonia at 7 p.m. Friday at Dunkirk.

That will also be a rematch of a regular season game which saw Fredonia edge Southwestern 27-25. Fredonia built up a 27-7 lead only to see Southwestern rally for 18 fourth quarter points to make the finish close.

Fredonia is 9-0 and Southwestern 6-3 with the Trojans three losses coming by a total of only four points.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Albion running back Jacob Hughson and his Purple Eagle teammates will take on Iroquois in the Class B semifinals on Friday.

Fresh from snapping a two game losing streak by scoring a muddy 8-7 win over visiting No. 6 seed Olean last week in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B football playoffs, No. 3 seed Albion now faces a much bigger challenge this weekend.

The Purple Eagles will take on undefeated (9-0) No. 2 seed Iroquois in the Class B semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at East Aurora.

Iroquois, which advanced with a 49-0 quarterfinal romp over No. 7 Cheektowaga, is led by quarterback Trey Kleitz who has passed for 2,030 yards and 33 touchdowns. His leading receivers have been Nate McGoldrick (38 receptions for 754 yards and 15 touchdowns), Trevor Barry (39 for 483 yards and 6 TDs) and Kendall Mariacher (16 for 182 yards and 5 TDs). Barry also leads the Chiefs ground attack with 1,128 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.

Albion, which is 6-2, is paced by Javon Jones who has 428 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns and 147 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns and Jacob Hughson with 265 yards rushing and 5 TDs.

The other Class B semifinal will have No. 1 Maritime (7-2) vs. No. 4 West Seneca East (7-2) on Saturday. Maritime blanked No. 8 Pioneer 36-0 and West Seneca East downed No. 5 Maryvale 38-6 in the quarterfinals.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Kara Choate (1) and Grace Trombley battle for control of the ball with Lew-Port’s Margaret Johnson during the Class B state qualifier game this evening at Williamsville East.

Jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, Lew-Port went on to defeat Roy-Hart 5-1 in the Section VI Class B girls soccer state qualifier game this evening at Williamsville East.

Sarah Woods and Natalie Schuey each scored two goals in the first half which ended with Lew-Port up 4-0. Sophie Auer, who assisted on all of the first half goals, scored herself in the second half to put Lew-Port up 5-0.

Kaitlyn Mettler scored Roy-Hart’s goal with 15 minutes to go in the second half.

Lew-Port advanced to the contest by capturing the Class B1 championship with a 5-0 win over City Honors.

Roy-Hart gained a berth by outlasting Fredonia 4-2 in a shootout in the Class B2 final.

Lew-Port advances to the regionals with a 15-1-1 record while Roy-Hart finishes the season at 12-2-2.

Roy-Hart’s Grace Parker drives the ball up field against Lew-Port’s Jordan Niccola.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Mia Herman works to keep the ball away from Akron’s Jenelle Kieffer during this evening’s Section VI Class C championship game at Williamsville North.

Making a successful title defense top seeded Akron downed No. 2 Barker 2-0 in the Section VI Class C field hockey championship game this evening at Williamsville North.

Olivia McClaine scored what proved to be the game winning goal for Akron at 9:19 of the second quarter. She later added a big insurance goal with 14:22 to go in the fourth quarter.

Barker’s best scoring opportunity came in the second quarter on a shot which went just wide off the Lady Raiders lone corner kick opportunity.

Akron advanced to the final by downing No. 4 Roy-Hart 7-0 while Barker nipped No. 3 Medina.

Akron advances to Saturday’s regional competition.

Olivia McClaine, who scored both Akron goals, here works to advance the ball against Barker’s Kaedynce Schumacher.