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Barker will face Eden Tuesday in rematch for Section VI Class C field hockey title
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Lena Fazzolari and her Lady Raider teammates will face Eden for the Section VI Class C field hockey title on Tuesday at Alden.
It will be a rematch of last year’s title contest when top seeded Barker faces No. 6 Eden for the Section VI Class C field hockey championship at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Alden.
Barker edged Eden 2-1 in last year’s final as the Lady Raiders claimed the sectional crown for the 13th time in the last 17 years.
Barker has advanced be blanking No. 8 Newfane 6-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Roy-Hart 2-0 in the semifinals.
Eden earned a spot in the title contest by downing No. 3 Akron 1-0 in the quarters and No. 7 Holland 2-1 in the semis.
Eden has been sparked offensively by sophomore Lydia Kobie who has 18 goals and 6 assists, junior Emma Cooper with 10 assists and seniors Rachel Wach and Sabrina Battleson both with 6 goals.
Barker’s attack has been led by senior Katrina Clare with 16 goals and 16 assists and Ciara Gregoire with 15 goals. Senior Rachel Hurtgam and sophomore Ginger Alexander both have 9 goals, senior Emily Wagner 6, juniors Natalie Bruning, Madison Gancasz and Ella Gooding 4 each and senior Serena Harris 3. Harris also has 9 assists and Hurtgam 7.
The victor will advance to the Far West Regional on Saturday at Williamsville North against Section V representative East Rochester.
Thunderwolves win to cap 3-0 road trip
The Niagara County Community College women’s basketball team completed a season opening 3-0 road trip by defeating Springfield Tech 96-58 on Sunday.
Newfane graduate Paige Emborsky led the Thunderwolves with 20 points.
Albion grads Caitlynn Snook and Sierra Newton each scored 4 points.
Medina grad scores winning TD for Brockport
Contributed Photo – Jason Hellwig
Medina High graduate and SUNY Brockport senior quarterback Jason Hellwig scored the game winning touchdown in the Golden Eagles come-from-behind 32-26 overtime win over Cortland Saturday.
Hellwig scored the game winning touchdown on an 11 yard run in the first overtime period for the Golden Eagles which rallied from as much as a 23-0 deficit.
With the victory defending champion Brockport improves to 4-0 in the Empire 8 Conference and 7-1 overall.
On the season Hellwig has rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown and passed for 496 yards and a touchdown.
Hellwig is majoring in Sports Management with a minor in Coaching.
Hawks quartet earns All-Star football honors
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Jacob Affronti, left, and Jacob Norman have earned All-Star honors.
Four Holley players have been named to the Section V 8 Man Football Division All-Star team.
The Hawks are represented by senior quarterback/linebacker Jacob Norman, junior running back Jacob Affronti, senior wide receiver/defensive back Jamel Hildreth and junior offensive/defensive lineman Triston McFadden.
Norman ran for 5 touchdowns and passed for another on offense. On defense, he made 67 tackles and had 4 sacks, 8 tackles for losses, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.
Affronti rushed for 840 yards and 10 touchdowns. He closed out the season with a big 242 yards rushing, 4 TD effort in the Hawks win over Maple Grove Saturday.
Hildreth made 29 tackles and had 1 punt return for a touchdown and 1 interception return for a TD. He also had 2 rushing touchdowns.
McFadden was in on 66 tackles including 8 for losses and registered 5 sacks. He made 3 sacks in the Hawks win over the Red Dragons Saturday.
Holley finished the season at 3-3 tying Maple Grove and Frewsburg for third place. However, the Hawks missed out on a spot in the playoffs losing a coin flip to Frewsburg. The semifinals of the playoffs next weekend will have Frewburg at Oakfield-Alabama/Elba (6-0) and Maple Grove at Pembroke (5-1).
Triston McFadden, left, and Jamel Hildreth also represent the Hawks on the All-Star team
Local players help NCCC to two opening wins
Getting good offensive contributions from a trio of local players, the Niagara Community College women’s basketball team is off to a 2-0 start to the season after defeating SUNY Adirondack 106-28 Friday and Davis-Word of Life 119-19 today.
Newfane graduate Paige Emborsky scored 18 to lead NCCC in the opener.
Albion grads Caitlynn Snook had 12 points and 5 rebounds and Sierra Newton 10 points and 5 rebounds in today’s win.
NCCC was led offensively today by Alaina Forbes with 25 points and Molly Mahony 14.
Fillmore tops Kendall for Class D1 soccer title
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Madison Jacob advances the ball up field against Fillmore’s Morgan Byer and Hannah Roeske during the Lady Eagles Class D1 title loss at Warsaw this evening.
Avenging a 2-1 loss in last year’s title contest, top seeded Fillmore downed No. 2 Kendall 3-0 this evening in the Section V Class D1 girls soccer playoff championship game at Warsaw.
Breaking away from a scoreless deadlock, Fillmore took charge by scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Ada Sylvester opened the scoring for Fillmore with a goal just 3:40 into the second half off a corner kick opportunity.
Fillmore quickly made it 2-0 when Rachel Hatch soared at 30:11.
Fillmore later netted the clincher when Carlee Miller scored on a header off a corner kick with just 13:12 to go.
Kendall had a 5-2 edge in corner opportunities in the second half but couldn’t capitalize.
The shutout was the ninth straight and the 14th in 19 games this season for Fillmore which advances to the Section V Class D state qualifier game with an 18-0-1 record. In fact, Fillmore goalie Riley Voss and her defensive mates have allowed a total of only 5 goals this season.
Kendall finishes the season at 15-4.
Section VI Class B2 Final
Top seeded Allegany-Limestone blanked No. 6 Wilson 7-0 in the Section VI Class B2 championship game.
Kendall’s Lizzy Woodams sends the ball toward the net as Ada Sylvester defends for Fillmore.
Hawks edge Red Dragons in thriller
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Jacob Affronti breaks through the line in route to his second touchdown in this afternoon’s dramatic win over visiting Maple Grove as Kynan Egan moves in to make the tackle for the Red Dragons.
Two huge fourth quarter defensive stands in the shadow of their own goal line earned the Holley Hawks a thrilling 34-28 victory over the visiting Maple Grove Red Dragons this afternoon in a regular season ending 8 Man Football Division game.
Clinging to a slender 34-28 lead, the Hawks defense first stopped Maple Grove on downs at the Holley 12 yard line.
Then, after Maple Grove took over at the Holley 23 following a long 40 yard punt return, the Hawks defense weathered the storm stopping the Red Dragons at the 1 yard line as time expired.
“Unbelievable! Amazing!” said Holley Coach Wil Prince. “Our motto all week at practice was to ‘make this our finest hour’. And we certainly lived by that. They played hard and they really lived their finest hour.”
The dramatic finish of those two defensive stands was in sharp contrast to the game’s first half which saw the two teams combine for a whopping 56 points finishing the half deadlocked at 28-28.
Holley’s Triston McFadden registers one of his three sacks on Maple Grove quarterback Jackson Gowan.
Maple Grove jumped out to an early 8-0 lead as Ayden Reagle scored on a 4 yard run.
Holley though answered back with a pair of long touchdown runs by Jacob Affronti of 49 yards with 6:54 to go in the first quarter and of 44 yards on the first play of the second quarter. Those tallies rallied the Hawks in to a 14-8 lead as quarterback Jacob Norman added the two-point conversion run after the second tally.
That second TD set off a scoring frenzy of a total of 6 touchdowns in the wild second quarter.
In fact the teams traded five scores in a span of just four minutes.
Maple Grove went back up 16-14 on a 4 yard touchdown run by Jackson Gowan and a two-point conversion run by Reagle with 6:04 to go.
Holley answered back with 7 yard TD run by Norman at the 4:20 mark to go back up 20-16. Norman also had a pair of 18 yard pickups and Affronti a 10 yard gain to highlight that drive.
The Dragons wasted no time in regaining the lead at 22-20 just 14 seconds later as Reagle returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown.
However, that lead lasted a mere 16 seconds as on the first play after the ensuing kickoff Affronti broke loose for a 61 yard touchdown run at the 3:50 mark and Norman added the two-point conversion run for a 28-22 Hawks lead.
Once again though the lead was very short lived as Reagle scored on a 53 yard run with 2:48 remaining to retie the contest at 28-28.
After that explosive quarter the second half was dominated by turnovers and defense as only one touchdown was scored.
That lone touchdown, on a 1 yard run by Affronti with 2:28 remaining in the third period, which put the Hawks back on top at 34-28, proved to be the game winner. Norman had a 15 yard run and a 20 yard pass completion to Tony Farruggia highlighted that drive.
(Click here to see Antonio Farruggia catch a pass from Jacob Norman and go to the 1 yard line, setting up Jacob Affronti’s winning TD.)
(Click here to see Affronti score his 4th TD, which was the game winner.)
The Holley defense came up big forcing turnovers to halt all three third quarter Maple Grove possessions.
A big fourth down sack by Triston McFadden, his third of the afternoon, gave Holley excellent field position at the Maple Grove 31 to start the decisive scoring drive.
Cody Tanis also had a fumble recovery and an interception to stop the Red Dragons other two drives.
That set the stage for the two dramatic stands by the Holley defense which, with their backs to the wall, stopped Maple Grove first at the 12 and then at the 1 to preserve the win.
(Click here to see the final last defensive stand by Holley, preventing Maple Grove from the end zone.)
With the victory Holley finishes the season deadlocked for third place at 3-3 with both Maple Grove and Frewsburg, which nipped CG Finney 48-42 on a last second touchdown. Those results set up a coin flip on Sunday between the three deadlocked teams to determine which two will advance to the playoffs.
Oakfield-Alabama/Elba at 6-0 and Pembroke at 5-1 have already locked up the top two playoff berths.
Holley’s Cody Tanis returns an interception as Jamel Hildreth looks to block Maple Grove’s Justin Millet.
Tough night for N-O spikers in sectionals
Niagara-Orleans League teams won only one of six matches this evening in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI volleyball playoffs.
The lone N-O victor was Akron as the top seeded Lady Tigers defeated No. 8 Olmsted 25-5, 25-3, 25-9 in a Class C1 quarterfinal as Jessee Jonathan had 17 aces and Ella Hill and Elsie Logan 5 kills each.
In Class B2, No. 2 Springville defeated No. 7 Albion 25-12, 25-21, 25-16 and No. 3 Depew downed No. 6 Medina 25-20, 25-23, 25-21.
Devin Griffin had 4 kills and 3 blocks, Elle Gross 2 kills, Evie Schultz 9 assists and Kimani Poole 3 aces for Medina.
In Class C1, No. 5 Fredonia outlasted No. 4 Roy-Hart 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21 and No. 2 Eden downed No. 7 Newfane 25-6, 25-7, 25-8.
In Class C2, No. 7 Falconer defeated No. 2 Wilson 25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 18-25, 25-19.
Boys Soccer
Two Medina/Lyndonville players, Nate Sherman and Evan Horn, have been selected to play in the Section VI Senior All-Star game which will be played at the Salhen’s Indoor Soccer Complex at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
Purple Eagles down Huskies in Class B semi
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Brillance Johnson races up the sideline for a big gain during the Purple Eagles semifinal win over visiting Olean this evening as Ryan Byrne and Railey Silvis move in to make the tackle for the Huskies.
Ending a 17 year drought, No. 3 seed Albion scored a 21-14 Class B semifinal win over visiting No. 7 Olean this evening to advance to the Section VI championships at New Era Field for the first time since 2002.
Ironically Olean spoiled Albion’s last trip to the stadium by claiming a 14-6 win in that 2002 title contest.
Albion will now face top seeded Maritime for the Class B title at 5 p.m. next Friday at New Era Field. Top seeded Maritime defeated No. 5 Pioneer 42-7 in the other semifinal.
“It’s huge for our program and for our community,” said Albion Coach Adam Krenning of the win which sends the Purple Eagles to the title game at the stadium. “This is a special group of kids. They’ve really played hard and worked hard all season.”
Albion jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first seven minutes on a 2 yard touchdown run by Brillance Johnson and a 36 yard scoring pass from quarterback Thomas Furmanski to Chris Shabazz as Tyray White tacked on the two-point conversion.
Albion defenders Will Feeeman and Michael DiCureia stop Olean quarterback Railey Silvis for no gain.
A big 33 yard run by Johnson ignited the opening scoring drive which also featured a key 12 yard pickup by Furmanski.
The Purple Eagles defense set up the second score as Deyonci Farley recovered an Olean fumble at the Huskies 43 yard line.
“You always like to get out quick and get the jump on any team,” said Krenning. “However, we knew Olean would make some adjustments and they did and they kept right with us the rest of the way.”
Olean battled back to cut the deficit to 14-7 on a 10 yard touchdown run by Nick Pantuso and an extra point kick by Max Linderman on the first play of the second quarter.
The Albion defense again came up with a big turnover via a fumble recovery by Shabazz at the Huskies 41. The Purple Eagles offense though couldn’t capitalize as a lost fumble at the Huskies 10 wiped out the opportunity.
The Purple Eagles though did capitalize on their next drive into Olean territory as Furmanski scored on a 1 yard touchdown run with just 1.6 seconds to go in the half and his extra point kick upped the Albion lead to 21-7.
A 19 yard run by White along with Furmanski pass completions of 13 yards to Johnson and 14 to Anthony Freeman highlighted what turned out to be the game winning scoring drive.
(Click here to see Anthony Freeman catch a pass from Thomas Furmanski to get close to the goal line.)
Olean closed the gap to 21-14 with a bizarre touchdown play three minutes into the third quarter. The Huskies completed a 15 yard pass down to the Albion 4 but fumbled the ball only to have another Olean player recover it in the end zone for a touchdown.
However, the Huskies could not cross into Albion territory the rest of the way against the stingy Purple Eagles defense.
Albion did answer back with a long drive highlighted by pass completions of 27 yards to Farley and 15 yards to Bailey Blanchard only the have the march stall out on downs at the Olean 9.
Once again the Albion defense got the ball right back on an interception by Kevin Hillman at the Olean 31. A 24 yard Furmanski to Hillman pass competition quickly moved the ball to the 7 but the Huskies defense stiffened and a 23 yard field goal attempt missed as the fourth quarter got underway.
The Albion defense once again came up with a big turnover as Cameron Bell recovered a Huskies fumble at the Olean 27. However, four plays later the Olean defense came up with an interception to end that threat.
“Our defense did a great job,” said Krenning.
The rest of the game was played in the Olean end of the field.
The Albion defense first stopped the Huskies at the 16 forcing a punt and later stopped another Huskies drive on downs at the 17 with just 1:27 remaining to lock up the win.
After those two defensive stops the Albion offense used up most of the remaining time on two drives that were stopped on downs first at the Huskies 26 and then at the 14.
Albion, which also defeated Olean 49-26 during the regular season, improves to 8-1 while the Huskies finish the season at 5-4.
Class C
Wilson defeated visiting Portville 26-21 in a Class C semifinal.
(Click here to see Olean QB Silvis’s pass attempt be batted down on 4th down with less than 2 minutes to go in the game.)
Albion’s Deyonci Farley picks up yardage as Olean defenders Julius Childs and Jamison Pittman pursue.
Youth football coaching honors for Callicutt
Contributed Photo – Albion youth football Coach Shawn Callicutt, second from left, who this past weekend was honored as Niagara Orleans Football Association (NPOFA) Coach of the Year, is shown here with his brothers, from left, Ronald, Rayford and Joe.
Anyone that has been around football in Albion over the past 30 years has probably seen Shawn Callicutt on the field or the sidelines first as a ball boy then as a high school All-State wide receiver and most recently as a youth football coach.
This past Saturday he was rewarded for his hard work and dedication to Youth Football in Albion by being named the 2019 Niagara Orleans Football Association (NOFA) Coach of the Year.
A well deserved honor for him but in addition he was also selected for the first ever Project Play of Western New York Coaches Honor Roll. He will be recognized Sunday at New Era Field when the Buffalo Bills take on the Washington Redskins.
“Shawn has had a great impact on our youth program for over 10 years,” said Albion Youth Football Commissioner Geno Allport. “He really gives his all to these kids. He creates a bond with them and is a true role model.”
