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Mustangs roar past Cleve Hill for third win
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Corey Saj goes up the middle for good yardage during the Mustangs win over Cleveland Hill at Vets Park this evening.
A big four touchdown first quarter scoring explosion ignited undefeated (3-0) Medina to a 48-0 victory over Cleveland Hill in a C North Division game this evening at Vets Park.
The shutout was the seond for the Medina defensive unit which has now allowed just one touchdown in three games.
The Mustangs decisive four touchdown scoring burst came within a span of just six minutes in the opening stanza.
Medina’s Lennon Meacham tries to cut to the outside.
During that key stretch quarterback Xander Payne completed touchdown passes of 17 yards to Corey Saj at the 8:39 mark, of 59 yards to Tyler Chinn at 6:27 and of 75 yards to Brian Fry at 2:41. Iverson Poole also chipped in with a 13 yard TD run at the 5:20 mark.
A pair of two-point conversions on a Payne to Fry pass after the second TD and a Poole run after the fourth score gave the Mustangs a commanding 28-0 first quarter lead.
The Medina advantage jumped to 40-0 at the half as Payne hooked up with Joe Cecchini on a 16 yard scoring strike and Fry returned a punt 58 yards for a TD in the second quarter.
The Mustangs final score came in the third quarter on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Payne to Poole. Fry added the two-point conversion run to make it 48-0. Payne now has 12 TD passes in three games.
Medina next hosts Wilson next Friday. Wilson (1-2) defeated rival Newfane (0-2) 21-0 on Thursday.
Purple Eagles top Marauders for first win
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Sh’kwe Riley breaks loose for a long gain during the Purple Eagles win over visiting Dunkirk this evening as Chris Shabazz blocks Dunkirk’s Davon McCall.
Snapping a brief two game season opening losing streak, Albion posted a 26-12 victory over visiting Dunkirk this evening in a B2 Division game.
Albion jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a 7 yard touchdown run by Sh’kwe Riley with 5:41 to go in the first quarter, a tally he set up himself with a big 53 yard run.
Albion quarterback Amari Jones gets loose around the end for a good gain as Christian Ortiz tries to make the tackle for Dunkirk.
Dunkirk tied the game at 6-6 on a 5 yard TD run by Christian Ortiz three minutes into the second quarter.
The Purple Eagles though regained a 12-6 lead at the half as Amari Joens completed a 34 yard touchdown pass play to Bailey Blanchard who made a nifty over the shoulder catch in the end zone.
The Albion defense then came up with a big interception by Javon Jones deep in Purple Eagles territory late in the quarter to preserve the lead.
The Marauders did retie the game one more time at 12-12 early in the third quarter on a 1 yard TD run by Jayden Rodriguez.
However, the final two touchdowns of the game and the win belonged to the Purple Eagles.
Albion quickly regained the lead for good at 20-12 just two minutes later on a 28 yard TD run by Amari Jones as Riley added the two-point conversion.
Riley, who had 135 yards rushing on the evening, then scored the clincher three minutes later on a 13 yard TD run for a 26-12 Purple Eagles lead.
Albion next visits Olean next Friday while Dunkirk, which slips to 0-3, visits West Seneca East also on Friday.
Tyler Gibson hauls in a catch for Albion as Chris Torres defends for Dunkirk.
Axe League season gets underway
The 16 team Meadworks Axe League held its first round of matches for the season this past week.
The league will have 10 weeks of competition followed by a championship round. The opening week’s results are as follows.
The total team scores (both partners, individual scores added together): 1. Mother Chuckers 186, 2. Celtic Bastards 163, 3. Great Axpectations 149, 4. Axes and Ohs Axe Throwing 146, 5. Wenches 141, 6. Bustin Axes 138, 7. Falco’s Mercenaries 137, 8. Hack Job Moo Cows 135, 9. Davis & Lisa Gnome 123, 10. Bad Axes 120, 11. Lizzie Bordens 99, 12. Axelorians 97, 13. Miskatonic ReCreators 86, 14. Swoosh 80, 15. Pain in the Axe, bye, 16. We like Big Axes bye.
Duals scores (teammates throwing on the same target, same time): 1. Mother Chuckers 81, 2. Celtic Bastards 76, 3. Falco’s Mercenaries 73, 4. Hack Job Moo Cows 67, 5. Great Axpectations 60, 6. Davis & Lisa Gnome 59, 7. Axes and Ohs Axe Throwing 58, 8. Wenches 54, 9. Bustin Axes 52, 10. Lizzie Bordens 47, 11. Miskatonic ReCreators 47, 12. Axelorians 46, 13. Bad Axes 38, 14. Swoosh 17, 15. Pain in the Axe bye, 16. We Like Big Axes bye.
Akron tops Medina in N-O volleyball
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Sydney Watts, left, and Ki’Mani Poole ready to return service for Medina during this evening’s home match against Akron.
Defending co-champion Akron scored a straight set 25-16, 25-13, 25-17 victory over host Medina this evening to improve to 4-0 in Niagara-Orleans League volleyball competition.
Ella Hill had 9 spiking kills, Jayni Sundown 4 kills and 3 service aces and Sydney Hall 3 kills and 2 aces to lead the way for Akron.
Evie Schultz had 5 kills, Ianah Drisdom and Sydney Watts 4 and Ki’Mani Poole 3 and Lorelei Sanders 4 aces and Anya Bloom 2 for Medina which is now 0-2.
Hall had 2 kills and 2 aces and Hill 2 kills and an ace for Akron in the opening set.
Mya Thomas had a big run of seven straight service points (12-18), including two aces, for the Lady Tigers in the second set as Hill had four kills.
Thomas also had another big seven point run of service points (9-15) in the third set which also included three hills by Hill and two kills and two aces by Sundown.
Medina next hosts Albion in a make-up match at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Wilson downed host Albion 25-11, 25-18, 25-16 this evening.
Mya Thomas makes a return for Akron as Hope Cummings backs up the play.
Mustangs look to keep rolling; Purple Eagles look to halt skid
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – The offense and defensive units have both come up big to open the season for Medina which next hosts Cleveland Hill on Friday. Quarterback Xander Payne, shown at left passing behind the blocks of Mitchell Silversmith (76) and Zach Oliver (51) has led the offense. At right Chris Johnson (52) and Oliver team up to make a tackle on Akron quarterback Adam Mietz during last week’s game for the defense which has allowed only one score.
Medina will be looking to extend a winning streak and Albion to halt a losing skid as the Mustangs and Purple Eagles both host divisional foes at 7 p.m. Friday.
Medina, which is off to a 2-0 start in its C North Division debut season, will host Cleveland Hill while Albion, which is 0-2 in Class B competition, will entertain Dunkirk.
Normally by the third game of the season teams have a good scouting report on the opposition but that is not the case this weekend for Medina as Cleve Hill will be playing its first game. The Eagles had to sit out the first two weeks of the season on a Covid-19 related pause.
This will be just the second meeting between the teams as the Eagles nipped the Mustangs 8-6 in that earlier encounter in 2016.
Quarterback Xander Payne has led the Mustangs offense in the early going throwing seven touchdown passes including four to Tyler Chinn, two to Brian Fry and one to Joe Cecchini. Fry leads the team in both rushing with 213 yards and receiving with 13 catch s for 179 yards.
The Mustangs defensive unit has been equally productive allowing just one touchdown to date. Noah Skinner has 11 tackles, Fry 10, Cecchini 6 and Robert Arnold 5 to lead that balanced unit.
Albion will be hosting a Dunkirk squad which is likewise off to an 0-2 start as the Marauders have dropped narrow decisions of 20-14 to Maryvale and 14-8 to Olean.
The Marauders hold a 4-0 lead in the all time series with the Purple Eagles. The most recent were a pair of 2017 meetings when Dunkirk won 18-15 during the regular season and 25-7 in the playoffs.
The other C North Division games this week will have Wilson hosting rival Newfane this evening and Akron hosting Tonawanda on Friday. Newfane is also scheduled to makeup its game against Tonawanda next Tuesday.
The other B2 Division games Friday will have Maryvale at Lake Shore and Olean at Depew.
Standings
C North Division: Medina 2-0, 2-0; Tonawanda 1-0, 2-0; Cleve Hill 0-0, 0-0; Akron 0-1, 1-1; Newfane 0-1, 0-1; Wilson 0-1, 0-2.
B2 Division: Depew 2-0, 2-0; Maritime 2-0, 2-0; Olean 1-1, 1-1; Maryvale 1-1, 1-1; Lake Shore 0-1, 1-1; Albion 0-1, 0-2; Dunkirk 0-2, 0-2.
Falcons rally for win over Silverbacks
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville’s Rodney Davis drags CG Finney defender Jon Bovee as he tries to advance the ball up field during the host Silverbacks loss to the Falcons this evening.
Unable to build on an early lead the Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville Silverbacks dropped a 30-8 decision to the visiting CG Finney Falcons in an 8 Man Division football game this evening at Roy-Hart.
The Silverbacks jumped out to an early 8-0 lead as Rodney Davis ran 5 yards for a touchdown and also had the two-point conversion carry.
However, the Falcons came battling back to take a 22-8 lead at the half as quarterback Jon Bovee completed a pair of touchdown passes to Adian Guardelben on plays covering 20 and 16 yards.
The Falcons later put a lock on the win as Dorian Vanshudt broke loose for a 60 yard touchdown run in the third quarter for a 30-8 lead.
The Falcons improve to 2-2 while the Silverbacks slip to 0-4.
The regular season will come to a close next Tuesday as the Falcons host Holley and the Silverbacks visit South Seneca.
Ethan Creig of the Silverbacks tries to get away from the tackle of a Finney defender.
Quick TD burst sparks Dragons past Hawks
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Pembroke’s Garrett Totten gets away from Holley defender David Farruggia to score a touchdown during the Dragons win over the host Hawks this afternoon.
A quick two touchdown scoring burst early in the second quarter keyed Pembroke to a 40-14 win over host Holley this afternoon in an 8 Man Division football game.
Breaking way from a 6-6 deadlock, Pembroke capitalized on two very short Holley punts deep in Hawks territory to score on two short TD drives covering just 28 and 20 yards. Garrett Totten caught a 27 yard pass from quarterback Connor Peterson for the first score and then ran 16 yards for the second.
Later in the second quarter, Brandon Florian returned a fumble recovery 20 yards for a touchdown and a 26-6 Dragons half-time lead. Florian also returned another fumble 35 yards for touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Dragons final score.
Garrett Totten scored on a 9 yard run in the first quarer and Tyson Totten tallied on a 1 yard run in the third quarter.for the Dragons other touchdowns.
Holley tied the game at 6-6 late in the first quarter on a 4 yard touchdown run by Jacob Affronti.
A fumble recovery by Jakob Silpoch at the Pembroke 38 set up the score.
The Hawks defense also came up with an interception by Michael Jacobs-Fallato to stop another first quarter Pembroke drive.
Affronti also scored the Hawks other touchdown on a 14 yard run late in the fourth quarter. He added the two-point conversion pass to Mason Neale. Charlie Turpyn had a big 37 yard run to highlight the scoring drive.
Holley, which is now 1-3, will close out the regular season at CG Finney next Tuesday while Pembroke, which is 4-1, will face Perry (3-1).
Holley’s Jacob Affronti breaks loose for good yardage.
Akron tops Albion in N-O volleyball
Defending champion Akron posted a straight set 25-12, 25-16, 25-15 victory over visiting Albion this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League volleyball match.
Jessee Jonathan had 5 aces and 15 assists, Marisa Maggiore 4 kills and Jayni Sundown had 6 kills and 4 aces to lead the way for Akron.
Akron, which next visits Medina on Thursday improves to 3-0.
Albion, which next hosts Wilson Thursday, slips to 0-2.
The Roy-Hart at Medina match was postponed as the Roy-Hart team is on a Covid-19 related pause.
In the other N-O match, Wilson rallied from a two sets to one deficit to defeat rival Newfane in five sets 25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19.
Wilson is now 2-1 and Newfane 1-2.
Bluefield College diamond squad has local trio
Contributed Photos – Local players on the Bluefield College baseball squad include, from left, Jason Downs, Andy Xapsos and Ryan Voss.
The Niagara-Orleans League is well represented on the Bluefield West Virginia College baseball squad this spring as the Rams roster includes a trio of local players.
That trio includes Roy-Hart graduate Andy Xapsos, Barker grad Ryan Voss and Albion grad Jason Downs.
Xapsos, a senior infielder, has a .264 batting average with 21 hits and 8 RBI to date.
Voss, a sophomore pitcher, has posted a 2-3 record on the mound with 44 strikeouts.
Downs, who is also a sophomore pitcher, has picked up a win and notched 28 strikeouts.
Voss and Downs both began their collegiate baseball careers at Genesee Community College.
B-B and Holley score G-R volleyball wins
Byron-Bergen defeated Wheatland-Chili 25-21, 25-8, 25-22 and Holley downed Elba 25-15, 25-22, 25-17 in Genesee Region League volleyball action this evening.
Improving to 9-1, Byron-Bergen was led by Lexi Vurraro with 16 assists, 8 aces and 3 digs; Jorie Strzelecki 7 kills, 8 digs and 4 aces; Julia Pangrazio 6 kills, 5 digs and 3 aces and Grace Huhn had 6 kills, 6 digs and 2 aces.
Holley improves to 4-5.
The Kendall at Lyndonville match was postponed as the Lyndonville team is on a Covid-19 related pause. The pause will also cancel the Lady Tigers other three scheduled matches this week including vs. Byron-Bergen on Wednesday, Attica on Friday and Holley on Saturday.
