The opening week of the 2022 Section V football season is upon us and a nearly full slate of games await on Friday to kick it off, save for the majority of Class C, where most of the teams will wait until next week to begin.
While O-A/Elba will meet St. Mary’s from Section VI on Saturday, the Friday slate is stacked with big games, led by rivals Alexander and Avon meeting in Avon LIVE on the Batavia Daily News YouTube Channel.
Alex Brasky and Nate Rider of the Batavia Daily News are joined by players and coaches from Batavia, Le Roy, Letchworth/Warsaw/Perry, Attica, Oakfield-Alabama/Elba, Avon, Alexander and Notre Dame as they provide expectations for various local teams, while also giving their predictions for the upcoming season. (Brought to you by: Genesee Community College)
Here is a look at the Week 1 Friday contests:
Class B
Batavia at Wayne
7 p.m.
This will be a rematch of last season’s Class B semifinals in which the Blue Devils rolled to a 60-21 win and should be a solid opening test for each team to begin the campaign.
Batavia would capture the Section V Class B title last fall with a 22-14 win over Honeoye Falls-Lima in the championship game, winning its first sectional block since 2018. For head coach Brennan Briggs, it was his fifth sectional title, with all five coming since 2014. The win over the Cougars avenged a one-point loss for the Blue Devils in the regular season, while they would eventually drop a 22-14 heartbreaker to WNY Maritime/Health Sciences in the Class B Far West Regional title game.
From a team that outscored its opponents 443-145 in 2021, Batavia will be returning nine seniors with vast varsity experience, including leading rusher Aidan Anderson, while the Blue Devils will also be bringing back a trio of starting offensive linemen.
Anderson rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns, while he also had over 200 yards receiving and another score. Meanwhile, Ja’Vin McFollins will step into the QB roll after three-year starter Jesse Reinhart graduated, with the versatile Cam McClinic also returning to help pace what should be another explosive offense.
The Batavia defense was outstanding to begin the 2021 campaign but struggled at times down the stretch and will need to find a replacement for linebacker Kaden Marucci. However, the Blue Devils continue to reload instead of rebuild and this year looks to be no different.
Wayne comes off a 7-3 season, with its lone losses a one-point loss to HFL and a 28-15 loss to ER/Gananda during the regular season before the loss to Batavia in sectional play.
The Eagles outscored their opponents 299-204 last season and finished 4-1 at home, which will be to their advantage this Friday.
Wayne will be bringing plenty of talent back this season, led by senior running back Dylan Vance, who put together a spectacular junior season, including a 282-yard, four TD performance against Wilson. Junior defensive back Michael Prentice and junior linebacker Alexander Garrow, along with Vance at the linebacking spot, will lead the Wayne defensive effort.
The Eagles will have plenty to replace, including QB Mason Blankenberg, WR/DB Devon Forrest and key defensive standouts Nathan Michael, Joshua Harrison and William Seymour.
Non-League
Notre Dame at Attica
7 p.m.
Both the Fighting Irish and the Blue Devils will be looking for bounceback seasons in 2022.
Jim Fanara takes over the program after the Fighting Irish finished at 3-6 last fall and he will have a solid core of experienced players coming back as they look to get back to the form that had them winning a sectional title just a few years back.
Bryceton Berry (Sr.) TE/LB, Jimmy Fanara (Sr.) QB, Hayden Groff (Sr.) RB/LB, Ryan Fitzpatrick (Jr.) WR, George Woodruff (Jr.) LB, and Joe Trewer (Jr.) OL/DL will all return with vast varsity experience under their belts.
Because of injuries in incumbent starter Colin McCulley, Fanara is entering his third season as the varsity starter and while he’s shown flashes of what he can do — including a four-TD performance last season — but he will need to take the next step for a team that struggled often on offense, scoring just 108 points last year.
The key for Notre Dame will be the play of its line, with Trewer the lone starter returning with varsity experience.
Notre Dame will also be looking at junior WR Jay Antinore, Jr. WR/DB Jayden Sherwood and junior OL/DL Mavrik Hall to have a big impact this fall.
This is a big opening game for both teams, as with a win Notre Dame could possibly be looking at a 3-0 start with South Seneca and Cuba-Rushford/Hinsdale to follow.
In head coach Jeff Cusmano’s second season in his return to the sidelines, the Blue Devils were also 3-6 last season, with a tough, 7-3 loss to Le Roy in the opening round of the Class C tournament.
Like everyone else, Attica will have plenty to replace, including Jeremiah Donohue, but will have two of the leaders back offensively in Wyatt Kauffman and Landyn Thomas. Kauffman finished with 360 yards rushing and three TDs last season, while Thomas did a little bit of everything and rushed for 206 yards, while he caught 18 passes for another 297 yards. Kauffman led the defense with 74 tackles. Attica will also have to replace longtime starting QB Jake Dressel as well.
Nick Kurowski and Case Hill (33 tackles last season) will be key figures coming back, while Clayton Bezon will be a big factor as he has joined the team from Alexander.
Another team that scuffled at times on offense last year, Attica was outscored 120-176, though it did play well in four of its six setbacks.
Class D
South Seneca at Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen
7 p.m.
The Raiders finished .500 a year ago and will need to replace 10 graduates.
South Seneca, meanwhile, went 0-7 a year ago — in eight-man football — while being outscored 244-76.
CMBB head coach Mike Yokopovich says his guys are ready after a tremendous summer of preparation.
“The team has been very focused and we have had a great week of practice,” coach Yokopovich said. “There is a lot of anticipation and excitement to go against another team after facing each other all summer and preseason. We will look to establish the run and will rely on our linemen to control the trenches.”
York/Pavilion at Clyde-Savannah
7 p.m.
York/Pavilion’s offense is going to be led by quarterback Maddox Timothy, running back Kadin Peete and wide receiver Tyler Brady as they take on a Clyde-Savannah program with a new head coach this season.
“Clyde is a bit of a mystery game as they have a new head coach and without a scrimmage there just isn’t a ton of info on them,” Y/P head coach Kurt Schneider. “That being said we are focusing on our controllables. We talk about controlling our effort and attention to details and not sweating the things outside our control. We had a very good summer program and a great camp thus far, and we are excited to see where we stand. We know Clyde will be a well coached team that usually has some good athletes. At the end of the day we have a great group of returning players from a very young team from last season and we expect to be competitive week in and week out.”
Y/P has to play on the road at Clyde, at South Seneca and at Waterloo this season.
The Golden Knights finished 0-7 last year but with most of their top players returning, along with some talented newcomers, expect them to make a huge improvement this season. The offensive coordinator will be longtime HF-L and C-M/BB coach Billy Donegan, who loves to be creative.
Alexander at Avon
7 p.m.
These two Class D powerhouses have become extremely familiar with each other, not only meeting in the regular season but in the last two sectional tournaments — with Avon winning in the finals in the spring 2020 season and in the semifinals last season. And both squads are going to be looking to rebuild this fall.
The main difference with these two groups is their sizes — where Alexander will be a small, but always tough roster, Avon has a huge program in terms of Class D, though both will be replacing a lot.
The Trojans’ run of consecutive trips to the sectional title game ended last season but they still finished at 8-2 overall and have gone 39-8 over the past five seasons. Alexander will have six returners coming back on offense and four on defense but will have plenty to replace, including longtime QB and linebacker Nick Kramer and running back and linebacker Brayden Woods, to name two. Defensive stalwart Clayton Bezon also transferred into the Attica district, so he will be another key loss.
Last season, as they do most seasons, Alexander had one of the top defenses in all of Section V, allowing just 45 total points and posting a whopping six shutouts. The most points they allowed in a game was in a 63-14 win over Geneseo.
A number of seniors will be back to lead the Trojans this season, including Christian Kissell (TE/LB), Cole Dean (DE/OL), Benny Merrill (DB/WR), Connor Thompson (NT/OL) and Ricky Townley (Safety/RB).
Longtime head coach Tim Sawyer will also have a pair of solid newcomers to the team in junior QB/DB Trent Woods and junior RB/DB Tyler Marino as they look to remain in the hunt for a sectional block.
Avon was a solid 9-2 last fall, losing to O-A/Elba in the title game after winning in 2020 and longtime head coach Andy Englert — the longest tenured coach in the LCAA — will have a lot of work to do this season after losing a number of longtime starters to graduation. Gone are QB Michael Rowland, RB Thomas Welch, WR Dylan Smith, linemen Carter Fronk, Nick Antkowiak and Shane Ellsworth and senior defensive standouts Will Greenwood, Adam Mariani and Logan Austen, among others.
Key returners for Avon this season include senior Nolan Clar, who will play sides of the interior line and is one of the top two-way lineman in the area.
QB Rich Brice also returns after leading the Braves to the sectional title two years ago with the victory over Alexander following an injury to the aforementioned Rowland. The younger Rowland, junior Andrew, will also be back and will be a versatile threat on both sides of the ball.
This is just the beginning of a tough start the schedule as the Braves will also meet sectional champion O-A/Elba and Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen in the first four weeks of the season.
And there is no reason to think that these two teams won’t meet again with a sectional title on the line, or close to it, in the postseason.
SECTION VI
Falconer/Cass/Maple Grove at Albion
7 p.m.
The Purple Eagles were a solid 6-3 last fall with a trip to the Class B semifinals under first year head coach David Skrip and will have plenty coming back this season to make a return deep into the postseason.
Albion started the 2021 campaign at 5-1 but struggled down the stretch with losses at the hands of sectional champion WNY Maritime, Medina and then Iroquois in the Class B tournament. However, the only game that Albion really wasn’t in was the loss to Maritime and they took two-time sectional champion Medina to the brink in a 30-28 setback.
Albion will be returning its top four rushers from last season (Jacob Hughson, Sh’Kwe Riley, Amari Jones and Javon Jones), its starting QB in Amari Jones and top receiver in Javon Jones, along with plenty of experienced linemen on both sides of the ball.
Albion, though, will have to replace its top three tacklers in Brendan LeBaron, Bryce Froman and Jahmeek Riley from a defense that was stout for most of the 2021 season.
The Purple Eagles will look to start strong with games against Maryvale, Olean and Pioneer up next — those three teams combined to go just 14-13 last fall.
Albion will get a Falconer team that finished at 5-6 last season when combined with Cassadaga Valley.
Newfane at Medina
7 p.m.
It will be a new look for the two-time defending Section VI Class C champion Mustangs, as plenty of what led them to those two impressive titles has graduated.
Medina outscored its opponents 500-115 last season, while it fell to East Rochester/Gananda in the Far West Regional final. This year, however, the Mustangs will have to get it done without the likes of record-setting QB Xander Payne, three of their top four rushers in Iverson Poole, Greg Thompson and Payne, its four top receivers in Jarin Rhim, Thompson, Joe Cecchini and Poole and two of its top three leading tacklers in Hayden Woodroe and Cecchini.
The Mustangs will be bringing back their 2021 leading rusher in senior Noah Skinner, who finished with 740 yards and 11 scores on just 84 carries as a junior, while he also caught eight passes for 76 yards. Skinner will be running behind a big and experienced line which should be the strong suit for the team, which includes seniors Roosevelt Mitchell (T, 6-4, 320 lbs.) and Ollie Wilson (G, 6-3, 205) who will once again be joined by juniors Chris Johnson (T, 6-0, 255) and Xavier King (G, 6-2, 200).
Skinner will also be the leading returning tackler from his linebacking position after he finished with 73 tackles, while Johnson was a force on the D-line as a junior with 55 tackles, including nine for a loss, and 12 sacks.
Newfane was just 4-5 last fall, including a 40-0 setback at the hands of Medina and like the Mustangs it will have plenty to replace.
Gone are QB Ryan Kramp, its top seven rushers in Chase Braman, Charles Larose, Kramp, Cam Rowles, Brett Bucolo, Chase Harrington and Matt Quattrini and four of its top five wide receivers in Scottie Penwright, Rowles, Harrington and Bucolo. In all, Newfane lost 12 experienced seniors to graduation so it could be looking at a rebuilding season.
This could be a solid starting point for an inexperienced Medina group which will then get Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville in Week 2 before potentially tough games with Cleveland Hill and Tonawanda up next.