Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Anchoring the Medina lineup is this group of veteran upper classmen. In front are Jayzon Wills, Hadrian Batista, Kolton Fletcher and Avion Johnson. In back are Matthew Jacobs, Frankie Stephens, Preston Woodworth, Christian Moss and Jerrell Nealy.

A talented veteran group of skill position players is the strong point but low squad numbers is the big concern as Medina preps for the September 5 football opener at Silver Creek/Forestville.

“I’m very pleased with our skill positions but we have some holes to fill on the line,” said Coach Eric Valley. “We just don’t have a lot of depth so staying healthy will be the key to our success. We have to make the most of what we have and hopefully our skill players will carry us early on.”

The Mustangs veteran skill positions group includes junior quarterback Preston Woodworth, senior running back Christian Moss, junior running back Jayzon Wills, senior wide receivers Kolton Fletcher and Jerrell Nealy, senior tight end Avion Johnson and junior wide receiver/quarterback Hadrian Batista.

The receiving corps has been bolstered by the addition of senior Vinny Gray who is also playing soccer.

Woodworth passed for 900 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall while Moss rushed for 1,860 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Senior Frankie Stephens and junior Matthew Jacobs provide some veteran experience on the line.

The Mustangs linemen also includes sophomores Ryan Frentz, Cole Herman, Nate Surdel and Zahkias Chinn.

The squads’ other returners include sophomore linebackers Jackson McGrath and Harriosn Farley along with freshmen Jude Lacy (wide receiver) and Kendrick Russaw (running back).

The Mustangs graduation losses included linebacker/offensive lineman Brody Fry, place kicker Cole Callard, tight ends Carter Woodworth and Braydin McEwen-Miler and lineman Ethan Carson.

Medina will also visit Alden on Sept. 12 before hosting Barker/Roy-Hart in the home opener on Thursday Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

However, the Mustangs schedule does not include a regular season ending rivalry weekend game against rival Albion.

Section VI schedule makers were unable to include that contest on the schedule because Medina’s decision to return to 11 man football (after briefly opting to go to 8 man because of low numbers) came after the sectional schedule had been put together. In order to include the Medina vs. Albion game both the Class C and Class B schedules would have had to be redone as Albion is in Class B, a task which schedule makers were unwilling to do.

Instead of Albion, Medina will close out the regular season with a non league home game against Batavia.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Ryleigh Denning lets loose with a shot for the first of her three goals in Kendall’s semifinal tournament win over HAC/Bishop Kearney this afternoon.

Scoring twice in each half, Kendall blanked visiting HAC/Bishop Kearney 4-0 this afternoon in the semifinals of the Lady Eagles season opening soccer tournament.

Ryleigh Denning scored a pair of first half goals to give Kendall a 2-0 lead at the break.

Denning then completed her hat-trick with a second half goal and Sophia Picardo followed up with a goal to round out the Lady Eagles scoring.

Brooke Rodas earned the shutout in goal.

Kendall will now face St. Mary’s of Lancaster in the championship game at 5 p.m. Friday.

Sophia Picardo leads a Kendall rush up field.

Kendall goalie Brooke Rodas makes a save.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Shayla Higgins works through traffic to advance the ball during this evening’s tournament win over visiting Alexander.

Albion blanked visiting Alexander 2-0 this evening in the semifinals of the Purple Eagles season opening girls soccer tournament.

Lena Grillo and Julia Button each scored a goal and Dulce Sanchez had an assist to provide all the offense Albion would need.

Aaliyah Jones earned the shutout in goal.

Albion will now face Oakfield-Alabama in the championship game at 6:45 p.m. Friday. Oakfield-Alabama downed Newfane 3-2 in the other semifinal.

Boys Soccer
Albion bowed 6-0 to NorthStar this evening in the semifinals of the Wheatland-Chili boys soccer tournament.

Albion’s Dulce Sanchez works to maintain control of the ball.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Ava Blount battles for control of the ball with Akron’s Alexis Salmon during this evening’s Niagara-Orleans League field hockey opener at Vets Park.

Akron opened defense of its Niagara-Orleans League field hockey title with a 6-0 win over Medina this evening at Vets Park.

Morgan Tomporowski scored the three goal hat-trick to lead the way for Akron as Madison Gates, Alexis Salmon and Madigan Regan each scored one.

Akron jumped out to a 2-0 first quarter lead on a pair of goals by Tomporowski and went on to hold advantages of 4-0 at the half and 5-0 at the three-quarter mark.

Barker 2, Wilson 1
Hailey Dodge scored from Kaylee Stoll and Madelina Pavlock from Dodge, both on penalty corners, to earn Barker the narrow 2-1 win at Wilson.

Kenmore 3, Roy-Hart 2
Adella Dukes had a goal and an assist and Violette Streckwald a goal for Roy-Hart in the Lady Rams 3-2 home field loss to Kenmore.

Albion downed Medina 240-247 in a Niagara-Orleans League golf match this morning at Hickory Ridge.

Drew Pritchard shot 42 and Viktor Snyder 45 to lead Albion.

Cam Fike took medalist honors with a 40 for Medina as Tyler Draper had a 47.

Both teams are now 1-1 in N-O action.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Leading Albion into the upcoming football season is this group of veterans. In front are Logan Kast and Jackson Snook. In back are Kaiden Froman, Jaxon Lynch and Devante Jones.

Looking to put last fall’s 0-8 campaign in the rearview mirror, Albion is prepping to open the football season at Lew-Port on September 5.

“We’re excited to play,” said Coach David Skryp. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement and I think they’ve gained their confidence back. Offensively we have to be efficient and the running game will be big for us. Defensively we have to play with energy and be physical.”

Sophomore Bo Preston is taking over the key quarterback position for the Purple Eagles which return experience in senior running backs Hunter Huscher and Chastin Styer, senior wide receivers Kaiden Froman and Devante Jones, junior running back Jaxon Lynch, junior linemen Logan Kast, Chrisjen Winters and Jackson Snook along with sophomore lineman Levi Coughlin.

The Purple Eagles graduation losses included running back Cencere Lowe, receivers Peyton Robinson, Kyle Radder and Seth Krenning and lineman Luke Bell.

In addition, the Purple Eagles are without junior wide receiver Noah Harrison who has transferred to Canisius, sophomore quarterback Jonah Elsenheimer who has transferred to St. Joe’s and senior running back/wide receiver Nate Gibson who is playing golf and concentrating on baseball.

Following the opener at Lew-Port, Albion will visit Dunkirk on Sept. 12 before the home opener on Sept. 19 against Lackawanna.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Vinny D’Agostino goes up for a header with CJ D’Agostino during the host Eagles tournament win over Bishop Kearney this afternoon.

Opening the season on a high note, Kendall downed visiting Bishop Kearney 4-1 in the semifinals of the Eagles boy soccer tournament this afternoon.

Kendall, which will now face St. Mary’s of Lancaster in the title contest at 5 p.m. Thursday, built up a commanding 3-0 first half advantage,

Brandon Barrett opened the scoring for Kendall with a goal at the 26 minute mark of the opening half.

Jonathan Esposito followed up with a goal at the 14 minute mark and Pablo Rosario-Reyes tallied with 9 minutes to go putting the Eagles in command at the half.

Brenden Eichas capped off the Eagles scoring with a second half goal.

Kendall’s Jonathan Esposito drives the ball across the field.

Kendall goalie Jonny Conte goes high to make a save.

Barker opened Niagara-Orleans League golf competition with a narrow 266-269 win over defending champion Akron at DanDee Farms this afternoon.

JJ Prynn led Barker with a 49.

Akron’s Brodie Hill took medalist honors with a 47.

Akron is now 0-2.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Leading the Barker/Roy-Hart football team this season will be this group of veterans. In front are Anthony Adinolfe, RJ Townsend and Carson Schwab. In back are Tysen McCaa, Carter DerSarkissian and Jakob West.

Barker is serving as the lead school for the now Barker/Roy-Hart varsity football team this season with new Head Coach Bill Bruning at the helm.

Roy-Hart had served as the lead school for the past couple of years for the then Roy-Hart/Barker team.

We’ve got good experience but we’re still young,” said Bruning. “As long as we keep progressing and showing improvement I think we will be a very good team. We have good numbers and if we can stay healthy I think we will be a tough team to beat.”

Senior quarterback Tysen McCaa heads the Bulls veteran group which also includes senior running backs Anthony Adinolfe and Vinny Fazzio, senior wide receiver Carson Schwab, senior linemen Sal Gullo and Ben Hess, junior linemen RJ Townsend and Dylan Ames, junior wide receivers Carter DerSarkissian and Ashton Ark and freshman linemen Jakob West and John Brigham.

Barker/Roy-Hart will host a multi team scrimmage this coming Saturday which will include Albion and Medina. The Bulls will then open the season at Newfane on September 5 at 7 p.m.

Last year the Bulls went 2-5 in the C North Division and 2-7 overall.

Medina downed defending champion Akron 261-274 at Shelridge and Roy-Hart bested Albion 229-249 at Hickory Ridge in season opening Niagara-Orleans League golf matches this morning.

Cam Fike earned medalist honors for Medina with a 43 as Max Pilon added a 47 and Tyler Draper a 48.

Brodie Hill shot 46 and Hilton Scrogg 47 for Akron.

Gavin Heideman took medalist honors for Roy-Hart with a 43. Judson Heck added a 45 and Evan Poeller a 46 for the Rams.

Drew Pritchard shot 45 and Viktor Snyder 46 for Albion which next hosts Medina on Wednesday.

This will be a busy opening week for high school soccer competition as Kendall and Albion will both be hosting tournaments.

The tournament action will begin on Tuesday as the Kendall boys team hosts Bishop Kearney at 5 p.m. with the consolation and championship games on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Kendall girls will also host Bishop Kearney at 5 p.m. with the consolation and championship games on Friday.

The Albion girls will host Alexander on Wednesday at 6:45 with the consolation and championship games on Friday.

The Albion boys will also be competing in the Wheatland-Chili Tournament on Wednesday and Friday.

The Holley girls and boys soccer teams will host s doubleheader on Wednesday at 5 and 7  p.m. against Cardinal O’Hara in a special event to mark the opening of the renovated Woodlands soccer facility with new lights, bleachers and scoreboard and renovated  concession stand.

The Holley boys will also host Batavia in a non league game on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Field Hockey
The Niagara-Orleans League field hockey season will get underway on Wednesday with defending champion Akron at Medina (7 p.m.), Kenmore at Roy-Hart (5 p.m.) and Barker at Wilson (4:30 p.m.)

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Leading Barker into the upcoming field hockey season are seniors Jordyn Kinne, Sophia Gerhardt, Hailey Dodge, Sara Meza Ray and Madelina Pavlock. Missing are Kaylee Stoll and Peyton Bradley.

Having finished in the runner-up spot each of the last four years Barker returns a large veteran group with which to again challenge for top Niagara-Orleans League field hockey honors.

Leading that veteran group are seniors Kaylee Stoll, Jordyn Kinne, Peyton Bradley, Sara Meza Ray, Sophia Gerhardt, Hailey Dodge and Madelina Pavlock.

Pavlock, who had 15 goals and 9 assists, earned first team N-O All-League honors last fall while Stoll and Kinne were second team honorees and Dodge an Honorable Mention selection.

The veteran contingent also includes juniors Brooke Weber, Ella Gancasz, Faith Bowerman, Lauren Zglinicki and Naomi Bish along with sophomores Elise Monaco, Adeline Atwater, Sophia Pavlock, Addisyn Weller, Jillian Maines and Milayna May.

“We do have a large group back with good experience so we’re hoping for a good season,” said Coach Karen Menz.

Barker, which went 9-3 in the league and 11-5 overall last fall, will open N-O competition at Wilson on Wednesday.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – The Medina volleyball squad’s veteran group includes, in front, Madison Watts, Sam Hechke and Maddy Sanders. In back are Karlee Cau, Natalie Herbert, Allie Frentz and Maya Anderson.

Looking to improve upon last fall’s 2-8 league record, Medina is prepping for the Niagara-Orleans volleyball season led by a group of seven returnees.

That veteran group includes seniors Maddy Sanders, Karlee Cau, Natalie Herbert and Allie Frentz along with juniors Sam Heschke, Madison Watts and Maya Anderson.

Medina will host Lyndonville in a non league match on Friday before beginning N-O competition at Newfane on September 4.