Yes, dreams can come true, and so far, they have for Brenden Mullen, who eight years after going to work in his father's restaurant, formerly Larry's Steakhouse, is now the owner of Carter's in the same location.
But the dream doesn't stop there. Carter is the name of his 9-year-old son
Zailen Griffen inched the ball over the goalline for one of his three touchdowns while senior lineman Alex Merica begins the celebration. Photo by Howard Owens.
Heartbreaking is the best way to describe the Batavia Blue Devil's 26-20 loss to the Honeoye Falls/Lima Cougars in the Class B football semifinal on Friday night.
The boys' varsity squad was by no means guaranteed the win when the defense made a costly mistake late in the fourth quarter.
But the mistake gave the Cougars' offense new life after the defense had snuffed an apparent scoring drive in the red zone.
First-year head coach Alex Veltz took responsibility for the mental error, saying he hadn't properly prepared his team for a rare circumstance in a high school football game: a blocked field goal attempt.
Just 10 years ago, Batavia was a city barely hanging on. Nobody could imagine, said City Manager Jason Molino, that things would have turned around enough by 2016 that Batavia could be a serious contender for a $10 million prize in a competition for downtown revitalization projects.