Today is the big day.
Notre Dame is playing Dundee at PAETEC Park at Noon in the Class D finals while Le Roy plays Letchworth and Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke do battle in Class C semifinal action at Aquinas High School.
Keep checking in to The Batavian today for results, photos and video from these games.
It was in the late forties when Walt & Dean Briggs were looking for a place to hunt deer. The brothers happened into a southern tier farmer who was looking to hunt pheasants and a deal was struck. Six decades later, I’m sitting in a tree stand, overlooking what was once the deer hunting realm of Walt and Dean.
It’s the middle of the first week of bow season and on this day the woodland was damp and wet. It also made for silent footing. For that reason the doe was within twenty-five yards before I was aware of her presence. Trying not to make eye contact, I noticed her tongue was protruding from the side of her mouth. I also thought I heard her grunt. Then I heard a stick snap and the buck bounded from the foliage behind her. His antlers were unique, reaching upward rather than protruding around and outside the ears. I could see why the doe’s tongue was hanging out. Intent on breeding, he had obviously been dogging her for some time. She may have been approaching estrus but was neither ready nor willing at the time. The doe kept moving, the buck right on her tail. They exited the woods, entered a clover field and were soon out of sight.
The next day was almost balmy by comparison, and the deer activity had slowed considerably. The whitetails may have been absent, but the woodland floor was alive with small rodents. Gray squirrels, red squirrels and chipmunks were running about gathering and stashing hickory nuts. Though they are in the squirrel family, a red squirrel’s behavior is sometimes akin to that of a weasel in that they are small and feisty. This day, on two separate instances, I watched a red squirrel in close pursuit of its larger cousin, the gray squirrel.
In my fifty-eight years I had never seen so much squirrel activity in one location. It came as no surprise when I was told one of the locals keeps a pot of Brunswick stew simmering on the stove from October 1 to the end of deer season.
Nearly five hours after I first climbed into my stand, the coyotes began singing. I’ve heard coyotes before, but always at night. On this day they began their serenade before the sun touched the horizon - and it was in stereo. It sounded like there were at least three howling in unison, maybe more. And they weren’t far away.
That evening an owl made its presence known. And unlike the coyotes, he was on schedule. With stars illuminating the nighttime sky, the hooter called out from a tree just the other side of the narrow stream which flows past the camp. The owl’s call was always the same, a single note, deep and sonorous.
On my first overnight to the cabin thirty-eight years ago, I remember the sound of flying squirrels scurrying across the tin roof at night. Walt, Dean and a few friends built that first cabin way back when, working with the materials available. Since that time the cabin has been enlarged, a deck has been added and a new roof put on. You don’t hear the flying squirrels on the roof any more. I’m sure they are still around and I’d be willing to bet the owl knows where to find them.
Walt & Dean have both passed on, but the tradition continues.
The clearing where the cabin sits is now called Whitetail Hollow. As it was in Walt and Dean’s day it serves as a base camp and the numerous antlers and whitetail mounts adorning the cabins interior will attest to decades of memorable hunts.
I’ve enjoyed the times spent at the Hollow, but not for the hunting alone. The football tradition here is storied as its deer hunting history.
The five people who now own the property are also the core group of hunters at the Hollow. And they were, for me, the face of high school football in the sixties.
The Briggs brothers, Jim and Tom, captained two of Danny Van Detta’s Blue Devil juggernauts. Tom in ’64 and Jimmy in ’68.
Buddy Houseknect, who won’t be in camp until mid-November, was recently elected to the Blue Devil Athletic Hall of Fame. Bud captained the ’67 Batavia grid squad.
Playing our home games on Friday nights, we were able to watch Notre Dame High play on Saturday afternoons. On a Saturday afternoon in the autumn of ’66 I saw a halfback wearing number 23 sprint through defenders for a long touchdown. That is my earliest recollection of Jim “Gramps” Fanara. He captained the Little Irish the following year.
Bayne Johnson was both quarterback and captain for the Little Irish in 1959. Bayne went on to quarterback the LeRoy town team of the early sixties. Like Jimmy Briggs, Bayne went on to become a highly successful football coach. Both were elected to the Section V Football Hall of Fame.
Stepping back even further in time, Walt Briggs was no stranger to the grid iron. He too played for Danny Van Detta before going on to excel for the Batavia Essos, a local semi-pro team.
I’ve barely scratched the surface here. But the next time I’m at the Hollow, We’ll throw another log in the wood burning stove, kick back and talk about one of our favorite topics - Pigskins & Whitetails.
This is a huge weekend for area high school football as five teams are still alive. The Batavian will have coverage at every game featured this weekend.
All of the previews are done, and all have video. Check them out.
Letchworth (6-2) vs. Le Roy (8-0)
1 p.m. Saturday, at Aquinas
Back in 1970, long before anybody that will be on the field Saturday was even thought of, Letchworth and Le Roy played a football game against each other for the first time.
The Indians won that contest, knocking off one of the most storied programs in Section 5. But that was the last time a Letchworth squad beat the Oatkan Knights and here we are in the 2008 Class C semifinals and coach Tim McMullen's boys are looking to shock the world.
These two teams both play in Livingston Conference Division II and Le Roy has without a doubt been the class of the division. The Oatkan Knights won this year's regular season game 41-25 because of big games by quarterback Travis Fenstermaker and receiver Mike Humphrey.
That duo has been playing some amazing football this season.
Fenstermaker has completed 59-of-98 attempts for 970 yards with 18 touchdowns compared to just two interceptions, while Humphrey has caught 36 passes for 593 yards and 11 scores.
Fenstermaker - who is 19-1 as a starter in his career - is also a powerful rusher, gaining 348 yards with three touchdowns on 72 attempts.
But the running game is typically left in the hands of Andrew Alexander.
The senior has so far gained 1,035 yards with 11 touchdowns on 138 carries. Fullback Jon Casper has scored 10 touchdowns with 219 yards and Tyrone Wyckoff has pitched in 246 yards.
Le Roy has a high powered offense, but is a great defensive team as well, led by John Scheuing's 42 tackles. Jordan Casper has 35 and Humphrey has made 30 stops with five interceptions.
That defense will be keeping an eye on Letchworth quarterback Travis Tones, who is the top weapon for the Indians.
Tones is a veteran player that can throw the ball, but is most effective as a runner.
He had three rushing touchdown and one passing in Letchworth's 43-7 thumping of Marcus Whitman in the opening round last week.
Freshman running back Chris Nevinger keeps getting better every week as the Indians keep getting better as well. Letchworth has not lost since Caledonia-Mumford beat them in Week 4.
Le Roy is third in the state while the Indians get an honorable mention.
(pictures borrowed from www.leroyfootball.com)
Barker (1-6) at Alexander (4-4)
2:30 p.m. Saturday
The Trojans are looking to end the year on a positive note. They lost to Canisteo-Greenwood in the opening round of the playoffs before beating Red Jacket 31-20 last weekend. Jay Schafer leads the squad with 779 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. The Raiders are led by Greg Brown.
Bolivar-Richburg (3-5) at Elba/Byron-Bergen (3-4)
1:30 p.m. Saturday
The Lancers won for the second consecutive week, beating Warsaw 19-12 in a Pool Play game. Zach Green has been putting up big numbers all year and they've gotten insane in recent weeks. He ran for 205 yards with three touchdowns last week.
Notre Dame (6-2) vs. Dundee (8-0)
Noon, Saturday, at PAETEC Park
The Notre Dame football team has been on a roll, cruising through the opening two rounds of the playoffs by a combined score of 111-6.
The Fighting Irish blasted DeSales 55-6 in the first round and then thrashed Perry 56-0 last week. Everything is clicking.
The defense has only allowed a total of 142 yards rushing in two games and the Yellowjackets only had one serious chance to score in the semifinals.
Craig Houseknecht, Rick Lair and the rest of the defense is playing near-perfect football; and they are going to have to keep that up to avenge last year's 18-13 loss in the semifinals at the hands of Dundee.
The Scotsmen have put 385 points on the scoreboard this season and have crushed some teams, even giving Red Jacket an 89-6 beat-down in Week 5.
The offense is led by junior running back Steve Webb, who earned Offensive Player of the Week in a 53-14 win over Marcus Whitman, when he rushed for 190 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Dundee will throw the ball a little and does have a few other options, but Webb is the go-to guy.
Notre Dame's offense has turned from good to great in recent weeks and will also face a stiff challenge because the Scotsmen have only given up 45 points this season. Marcus Whitman is the only team to score over 10 points in a game this season against them and Dundee is coming off a 49-0 blowout of Geneseo.
The Fighting Irish have a ton of team speed and last week it was Mike Pratt to take advantage of the East Rochester turf, picking up 109 yards with three touchdowns. He is now at 615 yards on the season.
Kevin Schildwaster is a speedster in the backfield and has 675 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The passing game will most likely be needed because of Dundee's stout defense, and Notre Dame has had little difficulties with that.
Nick Bochicchio threw two more touchdown passes last week, even though there was little need to throw the football. His top target is always going to be Kevin Francis.
Francis had a nice punt return last week but is the biggest threat on the turf. It is only a matter of time before he gets some space on a kick return, punt return or short reception and he's going to make a big play. There aren't many players as fast as Francis playing football in the smaller schools in Section 5.
Neither team lacks experience as Dundee has a bunch of players that return after going to the sectional finals last season and Notre Dame has plenty of talent that were sophomores on the 2006 sectional championship squad.
Dundee is sixth in the state in Class D and the Fighting Irish debut at No. 15 this week.
Attica (5-3) vs. Bath (7-1)
6 p.m. Sunday, at PAETEC Park
Not many people thought Attica stood a chance against East Rochester/Gananda last weekend in the opening round of the Class B playoffs.
After all, the Blue Devils have never had success in the playoffs.
But Jeff Cusmano and his coaching staff came up with the perfect plan to keep the ball out of Neil Dotterer's hands and shocked Section 5 with an 18-0 win over East Rochester/Gananda.
That game was the Andy Ruddock show as the senior pounded the ball 37 times for 164 yards and his Blue Devils easily won the time of possession battle.
Ruddock has carried the ball 141 times for 1,098 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and the GR all-star has defined the term featured back. He will get relief on occasion from Nate Berry, who has picked up 272 yards on 30 attempts. Luke Pariso (144 yards) and Dave Jennings (130) are both over 100 yards rushing as well.
The reason Ruddock had so many carries last week was because of the strategy to keep the ball away from the high-powered ER/Gananda passing offense.
The Blue Devils are facing a totally different type of squad this week.
Running back Andre McCloud has almost 4,000 career rushing yards and has so far gained 1,118 yards and scored 17 touchdowns this season. He gained 1,489 yards with an incredible 28 TDs as a junior.
A big-physical offensive line opens holes for a pair of other backs other than McCloud. Cody Hutcheson has 100 carries for 720 yards and nine scores with quarterback Jake Kuver adding 415 yards and three TDs.
Kuver is not a huge passer, but has hit on 31-of-64 attempts for 4-2 yards and three touchdowns. Two have gone to McCloud, who has seven receptions for 196 yards.
Oh yeah, and McCloud has also tossed a touchdown pass, going 1-for-1 passing for 62 yards. That halfback option play could be in the playbook.
Attica stresses defense first and has had two Defensive Players of the Week this season. Kevin Gallinger received the honor in Week 6 and Jennings won the award this past week. Gallinger has 54 tackles and Jennings has 48, with the squad being led by Pariso's 64 tackles and three fumble recoveries.
They will have their hands full this week.
Bath's defense is also pretty good as junior T.C. Carroll has 87 tackles and is second all-time in the school's history for career tackles.
That unit will obviously be looking to slow Ruddock so that quarterback Brandon Rollins is forced to beat them. Rollins has completed 57-of-89 attempts for 802 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
His main target is Shawn Dupuis, who has caught 28 balls for 553 yards and eight TDs.
Bath is ranked ninth in the state for Class B while Attica has not received any votes.
Pembroke (7-1) vs. Oakfield-Alabama (8-0)
4 p.m. Saturday, at Aquinas
Here we go again.
Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke is the best Genesee Region League rivalry and the buildup for the regular season game was huge, the game was even better than could be imagined and now the two powerhouse squads are matching up in the Section 5 Class C semifinals.
Tim Smith scored a late touchdown and Brad Riner ran in a two-point conversion as the Hornets won the regular season contest 25-24 in Week 6, giving fans the best show in the rivalry game's history.
O-A went on to beat Holley in the final week of the regular season and won the league title outright, going undefeated for the first time since 1986. Pembroke beat Attica in the final week of the season and finished one point away from the title and a perfect season.
The Hornets thumped Dansville 63-34 in the opening round of the playoffs and the Dragons had a big second half to beat Bishop Kearney 32-12. Now the scene shifts to Rochester, as the game will be played on the turf at Aquinas High School.
Smith and Riner were the stars in the first game and will be the focal point of the O-A offense yet again as the two GR all-stars are having monster seasons.
Smith has 112 rushing attempts for 971 yards and 15 touchdowns while Riner has tallied 817 yards and 12 scores on 108 rushes. Joe Natalizia, Jason Stanley and Josh Athoe will also see the ball.
The Hornets didn't have to throw the ball much in the regular season game, but if Pembroke is successful in stuffing the run, look for A.J. Kehlenbeck to put the ball in the air. The quarterback has a great arm but has had not had to use it much this year because of O-A's run-first approach.
Kehlenbeck has thrown to seven different receivers while completing 18-of-41 attempts for 271 yards and six touchdowns.
Some people might give Pembroke's offense the advantage because of the playing surface with speedster Andrew Wright and cutting-runner Mike Dibble.
Wright can do it all and has excelled on special teams, running the ball and catching it. He is looking forward to running on turf and adding to his 896 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns and 340-plus receiving yards with three scores.
Dibble is over 800 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns.
Quarterback David Kleckler and tight end Ken Babcock are a great passing duo, with Kleckler completing 33-of-62 attempts for 733 yards and 11 scores.
The Dragons are dealing with some injury issues, most notably starting center Josh Hanel, who is out for the game. O-A has some minor injury issues, but comes in mostly healthy.
Oakfield-Alabama is ranked eighth in the state while Pembroke comes in at No. 17.
You would expect a game between a fourth and fifth seeded team to be close. That was the case in the Section 5 Class B playoffs Wednesday.
Katie Boxler led No. 4 Attica to a 25-18, 23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19 victory over No. 5 Waterloo in quarterfinals action.
Boxler had 19 kills, nine aces and 16 assists in the marathon game as the Blue Devils improve to 15-5.
Margret Lefleur pitched in 11 kills and eight digs.
Waterloo ends up 10-10.
Le Roy and Byron-Bergen both cruised to easy three set victories while Batavia was knocked out of the Class BB playoffs by Aquinas 27-25, 22-25, 21-25, 25-16, 23-25.
You can see the results of all of today's sectional volleyball action here.
Four former Batavia Muckdogs just earned World Series rings.
The Philadelphia Phillies just beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 to win the World Series 4 games to 1, claiming the first team title in 28 years.
Philadelphia used to be the parent club of the Muckdogs before St. Louis took over two years ago and some players on the team got their professional baseball start in Batavia.
First baseman Ryan Howard hit six homers in Batavia, playing 48 games in 2001. Second baseman Chase Utley batted .307 while playing 40 games in 2000.
Starting pitcher J.A. Happ went 1-2 in 11 starts for Batavia in 2004 and reliever Ryan Madson had a 5-5 record in 15 starts in 1999.
If you follow football in Livingston County, or are paying attention to the Section 5 Class B playoffs, the name Dillen McCormick might have been one you would have seen.
The senior is on the Hornell roster where he is listed as a 5-foot-10, 180-pound tight end and linebacker. He wasn't a starting player, but he was a member of the Red Raiders.
McCormick registered two tackles as a junior, but had not played much this year as he was forced to miss time with a serious knee injury.
As his team prepares for its 3 p.m. Class B semifinal battle with Geneva this Sunday at PAETEC Park, it has been handed some of the most difficult news a team could ever expect.
The young man passed away Monday afternoon The reasons are unclear, and nothing has been announced to the press, but it is a sad time for the Hornell community, the football team and all of Section 5.
Here is the lone report coming out in the Hornell Tribune about the situation.
As fans settle in to watch the great semifinal and finals action this weekend on the field, many will be putting these games into proper perspective as the tragic death of a young athlete will cast a shadow over the Class B tournament.
Hornell coach Gene Mastin asked his team if they wanted to forfeit the game this week or play, and all of his players decided to keep going and honor his memory playing the game they played with McCormick since they were probably children.
The winner of the Hornell/Geneva game will be playing the winner of the Bath/Attica game (Sunday, 6 p.m. at PAETEC Park) the following weekend.
The Wheatland-Chili boys soccer team dominated the Genesee Region League, going 9-1, and also finished 16-3 overall and captured the league title.
For that, the Wildcats were rewarded with the Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and three first-team Genesee Region League all-star selections.
Coach of the Year Mike Skivington's squad finished three games ahead of Byron-Bergen in the GR standings.
Senior Garhett Varin easily won the league scoring title with 24 goals, he was tied for tops in assists with 10 and had a combined 58 points. He was an easy choice for the all-star team and Player of the Year.
Keeper Tony Pipitone had a goals against average of just .744 and gave up just 14 goals in 1,525 minutes played
Defender Steve Abbey also is an all-star from Wheatland-Chili.
Byron-Bergen also had three all-stars, led by senior Jordan Kiessling. Kiessling had a goal and an assist as a midfielder.
Junior Casey Longhini led the Bees in scoring with 10 goals and seven helpers for 27 total points.
Junior Dakota Longhini was recognized after scoring twice and dishing out eight assists.
Senior Jason Gaylord had five goals with two assists, for 12 points to lead the contingent of three Kendall players on the all-star squad.
Sophomore Brandon Moore had an assist and makes the team as well as junior Paul Brightly, who scored three goals and dished out three assists.
Lyndonville junior Joe Ianni was fourth in the league in scoring with 12 goals, four assists and 28 points and leads the group of three Tiger all-stars.
Aaron O'Connor had five goals and three helpers with Tyler Silversmith handing out two assists as a defender.
Four Holley players are all-stars.
Sophomore Nick Troup is going to have a great career as he already finished third in the GR in scoring with 11 goals, nine helpers and 31 total points.
Fellow sophomore Brandon Comden had 12 goals, three assists and 27 points with seniors Colton Orbaker scoring four goals with four assists and defender Eric Spychalski scoring once while passing off for three assists.
Senior forward Andy Hagen wound up second in the league in scoring with 16 goals, seven assists and 39 points to lead a pair of Attica players on the squad.
Brandon Reiner - a junior - had eight goals and four assists and is the other Blue Devil.
The second-team selections are:
Lyndonville - Jesse Follman, Aaron O'Connor.
Attica - Joe Wolak, Brandon Storch.
Kendall - Colt Tooley, Joel Mendoza.
Wheatland-Chili - Vince Rubert, Schuyler Johnston, Alex Stryker.
Byron-Bergen - Kody Weinert, Justin Barrett, Tyler Sass, Kevin Rickard.
Holley - Greg Knapp, Eddie Bower, Tim Pratt, Caleb Orbaker.
The Genesee Region League is typically very strong in volleyball, with Byron-Bergen, Notre Dame and Attica as top squads almost every year.
Those teams, a couple of others in the GR as well as Le Roy and Batavia are all kicking off the playoffs on Wednesday.
Byron-Bergen is 19-1, has won six consecutive sectional championships and will get the top seed in Class C, hosting No. 8 Marion in the first round at 6:30 p.m.
Le Roy earned the top seed in Class CC with a 9-7 record and will host No 8 Sodus at 5 p.m.
Pembroke is a seventh seed and will be playing Mynderse at Victor at 5.
Batavia is a fourth seed and hosting No. 5 Aquinas at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Class BB with No. 4 Attica will host No. 5 Waterloo at 7 in Class B.
Notre Dame is a third seed - earning a bye - in Class D and is hosting either Houghton or Romulus at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Alexander was a ninth seed in Class DD and was at Perry Tuesday night, but got knocked out in the first round, 20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 26-16.
Chelsea Turcer had seven kills and seven aces for Alexander.
I'll be visiting the five teams that are still playing in the Section 5 playoffs this week, doing video previews as well as my written ones. They will all be on The Batavian on Thursday to help fans get ready for the games.
Notre Dame will be playing Dundee on Saturday at noon at PAETEC Park in the Class D finals.
Le Roy will play Letchworth at 1 p.m. with Pembroke vs. Oakfield-Alabama to follow at Aquinas in the Class C semifinals on Saturday.
Then Attica will play Bath at 6 p.m. Sunday at PAETEC in a Class B semifinal game.
I attended two practices today and will visit the other three teams on Wednesday and Thursday. You will get the most in-depth previews for local teams as we go deeper into the playoffs here at The Batavian.
I will also be covering games this weekend as well as doing a radio preview and guest appearance during the game on WVIN for the Attica/Bath game on Sunday. You will be able to hear the broadcast locally at www.localsportsedge.com.
WBTA will also be broadcasting local games this weekend. The Notre Dame/Dundee game can be heard on 1490 AM or at www.wbta1490.com, and then at the conclusion of that game, Le Roy/Letchworth will be picked up. WBTA will stay on the air to cover the Oakfield-Alabama/Pembroke contest.
You will be able to see video highlights, a game story and photos of each game as soon as possible on The Batavian as well.
With four teams still alive in the Section 5 playoffs, the Genesee Region League is having a heck of a postseason.
That was shown this week as four league players earned Player of the Week honors.
Notre Dame thumped Perry 56-0 in the Class D semifinals and got both the offensive and defensive POY.
Running back Mike Pratt rushed the ball nine times for 109 yards and three touchdowns and gets the offensive honor. Pratt is a 5-foot-9, 180-pound sophomore that led the Fighting Irish as the team rushed for 259 yards in the contest.
6-foot-1, 225-pound senior linebacker Craig Houseknecht had a sack on the opening Perry possession and finished the game with six solo tackles, six assists, the sack, a forced fumble and 1 1/2 tackles for losses of 26 yards to earn the defensive honor.
Pembroke beat Bishop Kearney 32-12 and 6-foot-5, 220-pound defensive end Ken Babcock was named the defensive POY. He had eight solo tackles, seven assists and knocked down a pass in the victory. Babcock also caught a touchdown pass in the win.
Attica's Dave Jennings was key in a historic 18-0 victory over East Rochester/Gananda this past weekend.
The 5-foot-10, 205-pound linebacker had nine tackles, a sack and an interception in the victory as the Blue Devils won a sectional football game for the second time ever.
Attica will be playing Bath in a semifinal game on Sunday while Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke play each other in the semifinals on Saturday. Notre Dame gets to try to avenge last season's loss to Dundee in the finals on Saturday as well.
Snub alert: Oakfield-Alabama's Tim Smith rushed for 196 yards, had 331 all-purpose yards and scored six touchdowns in a 63-34 win over Dansville in a Class C game. How did he not get recognized?
The Pembroke Dragons are just waiting eagerly for the rematch with O-A. They are pumped and ready to roll from the get-go. It's going to be a nail grinder, but Pembroke has the where-with-all to pull this one off. There are no surprises from O-A this time - the Dragons are ready to win!
For several minutes we sat in brushy overgrowth, listening to ducks calling in the distance and the whistling of wings as waterfowl passed overhead. With the crescent moon still in the eastern sky, the horizon below grew brighter. Soon Andy Webster, Aaron Green, John Lawrence and I were able to see myriad waterfowl passing overhead. Legal shooting time, however, was yet minutes away.
When our watches read 7: 10 a.m. John and Aaron touched off the morning’s initial burst and three ducks fell from the sky.
John had placed us in a waterfowler’s dream. Our location couldn’t have been better. We were hunkered down on a narrow spit of land with open water to the north and south. The ducks, consisting mainly of northern shovelers and a few mallards, approached from all directions.
As a small flock of geese came into view, John began calling. Moments later the flock flew off in disarray, minus one goose.
Despite what turned out to be a blue bird morning, the action never slowed down. As the sun climbed above the horizon, many made aerial maneuvers, tilting and veering as the shotguns discharged. Others seemed to make a sudden upward surge in an attempting to gain altitude. It was a tactic that worked for some, but not all.
All too soon it was time to go. By then the ducks were no longer silhouettes. The sun was high enough to detail entire flocks of waterfowl, their breast feathers shining white against the blue morning sky.
The Elba/Byron-Bergen football won for the second consecutive time, downing Warsaw in a Pool Play game, 19-12.
The Lancers were down 12-0 midway through the third quarter but stormed back with two third quarter scores and another in the fourth.
Zack Green had another monster game with 26 carries for 205 yards and three TDS and Cody Torpey completed 2-of-2 pass attempts for 34 yards. He also made 10 tackles.
Brent Crawford had 14.
Warsaw falls to 0-8 while Elba/Byron-Bergen improves to 3-5.
Sloppy playing conditions held Pembroke down early, but the Dragons got rolling late in the game and topped Bishop Kearney 32-12 Saturday.
The win sets up a semifinal game against league-rival Oakfield-Alabama at Aquinas next Saturday.
"It was a great game the first time around and I'm glad both teams won and we get to play again," said Pembroke coach Chip Foster. "We are going to be playing on a great turf surface; it's going to be a great game."
Andrew Wright and David Kleckler both had huge games, with Wright rushing the ball 20 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns and Kleckler rushing six times for 77 yards and a score. He also completed 3-of-6 pass attempts for 82 yards and a TD.
Kearny took the lead in the second quarter when Quentin Gause picked up a fumble and took it 38 yards into the end zone.
Late in the second quarter, Pembroke took the lead when Wright broke a 48-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-2 and Matt Phelps hit the extra point.
Kearney took a third quarter lead when Jake Meek hooked up with Blaine Roberts on a 46-yard touchdown pass, but that was it for the Kings scoring.
Wright scored the game-winning points on a 66-yard touchdown run later in the third.
Kleckler hooked up with Ken Babcock on a 23-yard TD pass, Wright had a 1-yard touchdown run and Kleckler scored on a 53-yard keeper late in the game for the final score.
Kearney drops to 4-4 while the third-seeded Dragons improve to 7-1 and will be playing No. 2 O-A in the semifinals.
Notre Dame is going to get another crack at Dundee, this time in the Section 5 Class D finals, after thumping Perry 56-0 Saturday at Don Quinn Field in East Rochester.
Dundee beat the Fighting Irish 18-13 last year and the two squads will be facing each other next Saturday at PAETEC Park.
This Saturday's game was never a contest as the Yellowjackets couldn't move the ball or stop Notre Dame from getting into the end zone.
A Craig Houseknecht sack on the first offensive possession for Perry wound up forcing a three-and-out. Kevin Francis returned the punt 36 yards to the Perry 21 and just a couple of plays later, Mike Pratt ran it in from 15 yards out for the first score of the game.
Pratt then recovered a Perry fumble and a facemask penalty moved the ball deep into Yellowjacket territory. Nick Bochicchio tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Francis to finish off that drive.
Francis intercepted Perry quarterback James Devitt and the Fighting Irish were back at it again after the 25-yard return. Pratt scored from 14 yards out this time.
After the teams exchanged turnovers, Pratt broke a 40-yard run for a score to make it 28-0 near the end of the first quarter. He also had an interception in the final seconds of the first period.
Kevin Schildwaster had a 6-yard TD, Bochicchio tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Rick Lair and R.J. Marchese dove in from 1-yard out and the score was 49-0 at halftime.
Notre Dame called off the dogs in the second half and everybody got into the game. The only score after the break was a Schildwaster 12-yard run.
The Fighting Irish out-rushed the Yellowjackets 259-31 and were led by Pratt, who gained 109 yards with the three scores on just nine carries.
Schildwaster ran the ball 11 times for 58 yards and two TDs and Marchese had three touches for 25 yards and a score.
Perry ends up 4-4 while the Fighting Irish improve to 6-2 and advance to the finals.
Copyright © 2008-2022 The Batavian. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
