Mustangs begin new era as a tri school team

Photo by Mike Wertman – The contingent of returning regulars for the Medina/Lyndonville/Barker football team includes, in front, Chaise Prest, Justice Hughes, Tim Roy and Brian Fry. In back are William Braswell, Blair Prest, Izaiah Rhim and Rickie Pitts.

Anchored by a nucleus of eight returning regulars, the Mustangs are prepping to begin their first varsity season as the Medina/Lyndonville/Barker tri school football team.

Quarterback/safety Izaiah Rhim and running back/linebacker William Braswell, both seniors, head that veteran contingent which also includes sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Brian Fry, senior wide receiver/linebacker Rickie Pitts and senior running back/linebacker Chaise Prest along with the senior linemen trio of Justice Hughes, Tim Roy and Blair Prest.

Rhim passed for 13 touchdowns and ran for 9 more last fall while Braswell had 6 rushing TDs.

Rhim, Braswell, Hughes and Fry all earned second team division All-Star honors.

The Mustangs also return varsity experience in juniors Bobby Geiger (RB/LB), Colby Petrie (WR/DB), Jacob Golding (RH/LB) and Lincoln Pace (OL/DE) along with sophomore Tyler Chinn (WR/DB) and freshman Emmanual Taylor (WR/LB).

Newcomers include seniors Matt Hess (K/WR) who is switching over from soccer, and Zach Johnson (WR/DB); juniors Michael Kleinhans (OL/DL), Riley Black (OL/DL), Donovan Alexander (RG/LB), Wes Hughes (OL/LB), Isaiah Marsh (WR). Stephen Tagg (WR/DB) and David Wiley (WR/DB) along with the Barker quintet of Cam Babcock, Hunter Callen, David Class, Pat Dwyer and David Newton.

The Mustangs key losses to graduation include the wide receiver trio of Jalin Cooper, Brendan Luthart and Mason Lewis along with linemen Ian Joseph, Cody Crane and Elijah Sones.

“We’ve got a lot of new working parts but we’ve got great athletes and we have really good depth on the line,” said Coach Eric Valley. “On defense our front seven is pretty experienced but we’re relatively young in the secondary. Our division is pretty tough but we’re looking to be competitive week in and week out. ”

The Mustangs, which went 3-2 in the division and 5-4 overall last fall, will open Class B2 Division competition at home on August 31 against Depew. The team will tuneup for the opener by hosting a five-way scrimmage this Saturday which will include Roy-Hart, Newfane, Wilson and Pembroke.

Schedule
August: 31 – Depew, 7:30 p.m.
September: 7 – at Springville, 7 p.m.; 15 – Lew-Port, 7:30 p.m.; 21 – Olean, 7:30 p.m.; 29 at Maritime/Health Sciences, 2 p.m.
October: 6 – at Lackawanna, 1 p.m.; 12 – Albion, 7:30 p.m.