Le Roy

 Oakfield-Alabama (9-0) vs. Le Roy (9-0)

6 p.m. Friday, PAETEC Park

Oakfield-Alabama coach John Dowd has been saying for years that he wants to see his program have the wins, the respect and titles that Le Roy has.

There have been a couple Section 5 titles in there, and a couple of trips beyond sectionals, into the state tournament. But there is still a bunch of work to be done to catch up to Le Roy's 13 sectional championships.

Dowd's team, with its powerful double-wing offensive system that drives defenses crazy, will have to beat the Oatkan Knights Friday night to claim a Class C championship and get closer to the level he's looking to reach.

O-A does not have the numbers Le Roy does and that will be evident when you take a look on the sidelines. The Hornets have a small coaching staff, and about 25 players on the squad. The Oatkan Knights will have over 40 players dressed and a larger coaching staff than some Division III college teams.

It is tough to call a team that is 9-0 and ranked sixth in the state an underdog, but you kind of have to when they are playing another 9-0 squad that is ranked second in the state and has one of the most storied histories of any program in the state.

The Hornets have been great in recent years, making the Class D finals in 2003 while winning the title in 2004 and 2006.

But the Oatkan Knights have 13 sectional championships, including 12 under the direction of coach Brian Moran.

The game features two big, physical offensive lines and that might be the biggest advantage Oakfield-Alabama has as Chris Williams and Craig Campbell were all-state linemen two years ago.

The Hornets will attempt to pound the ball with the double-wing, take time off the clock and capitalize with touchdowns. Eight minute drives resulting in points in the best way to keep Le Roy's offense off the field.

The Oatkan Knights will try to stop O-A on first and second down and force them to pass on third-and-long situations.

Tim Smith and Brad Riner have been a great one-two punch carrying the football, with Smith currently at 1,040 yards with 16 touchdowns and Riner at 890 yards with 12 TDs.

Le Roy will be doing the opposite on the offensive side of the ball.

Class C Offensive Player of the Year Travis Fenstermaker and wide receiver Mike Humphrey will look to attack an Oakfield-Alabama defense that is great at stopping the run, but has been passed on in a couple of recent games. Pembroke moved the ball through the air in Week 6 and Dansville had a lot of success in the opening round of sectionals.

Fenstermaker has 1,030 yards passing with 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions and Humphrey has caught 37 passes for 592 yards and 11 TDs.

Running back Andrew Alexander is coming off a 300-plus yard rushing performance against Letchworth in the semifinals, and will still get plenty of touches. He has 1,347 yards rushing with 13 touchdowns.

There isn't much of a history between these two teams. The last time they matched up was in 1999 in the Class C finals, with Le Roy winning 34-3.

Everybody knew Travis Fenstermaker was going to be a good quarterback for the Le Roy football team. But it is almost impossible to imagine the season that he has had for the 9-0, second-ranked team in the state.

Because of his incredible season, he was just named Section 5 Class C Offensive Player of the Year.

The senior has completed 64-of-108 pass attempts for 1,030 yards, including 18 touchdown passes compared to just three interceptions.

He has also ran the ball 87 times for 425 yards and four touchdowns, is sixth on the team in tackles and handles all of the kicking and punting duties.

He is 20-1 as a starting quarterback in his high school career.

The Oatkan Knights will be playing Oakfield-Alabama in the sectional finals Friday night at PAETEC Park.

 The Le Roy football team turned the ball over five times, missed two field goals and nearly gave up a 21-0 lead, but managed to hold on and beat Letchworth 21-14 in the Section 5 Class C semifinals Saturday at Aquinas High School.

Andrew Alexander was a big reason why, rushing for 336 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.

The Oatkan Knights were dominant early with a high-powered rushing attack, but wound up seeing it turn into a game in the second half.

Le Roy marched right down the field and Andrew Alexander had his first touchdown of the game 3 minutes in on a 7-yard run.

After the Indians went three-and-out, Alexander broke off a 30-yard run and eventually scored on a 10-yard rush.

Le Roy had a 14-0 advantage after the opening period of play as Alexander picked up 139 on the ground in the first 12 minutes.

The game appeared to start becoming a blowout in the second quarter when Travis Fenstermaker scored on a 13-yard run. 

Alexander had an interception right before the half and the Oatkan Knights had a 21-0 lead.

The Oatkan Knights fumbled the ball away at the start of the second quarter, but Mike Humphrey saved a score when he picked off a pass.

Le Roy turned the ball over again when freshman Chris Nevinger caught a tipped pass and returned it 20 yards for a TD.
 

The Oatkan Knights coughed the ball up again, with the Indians recovering the ball. Quarterback Travis Tones scored a little bit later on a 1-yard TD run.

Le Roy had a shot to score early in the fourth quarter, but missed a second field goal attempt.

Letchworth failed to drive on its first series of the final frame, but forced Le Roy into a three-and-out.

Letchworth moved the ball into Le Roy territory and came up just short on a third down attempt, setting up a fourth-and-1. Nevinger took the handoff and was stopped inches short, allowing the Oatkan Knights to run out the clock and move on to the finals next week at PAETEC Park.

Tones finished with 103 yards rushing to lead the Indians.

Letchworth falls to 5-3 while Le Roy improves to 9-0.

 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.

Here's a little something I put together after a visit to the Jell-O Gallery in Le Roy earlier this week. We only included part of the tour here in the hopes that folks might get interested and go visit the museum to see the rest.

One other quick thing... You may have noticed that the format of the videos have changed somewhat, and in my honest opinion, for the better. We're testing out a new video hosting site called blip.tv. I'm already a big fan. Blip has great video quality, as you can clearly see.You'll also notice that the screen is slightly bigger. If you visit the video on the Blip Web site, the screen is another three times as large as this! Simply visit thebatavian.blip.tv to see our videos in a larger screen format. If all goes well, and we don't have any problems, I'll go ahead and trasnfer our other older videos to Blip.

Enjoy!

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 vs. Le Roy  

Dundee vs. Notre Dame

Attica vs. Bath

Pembroke vs. Oakfield-Alabama

 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.

A home on Route 5 near Keeney Road in Le Roy suffered extensive fire damage last night, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. The blaze broke out shortly after 7:00pm, and although fire crews were able to get it under control soon after they arrived, the fire "had a good start" and caused considerable damage. No injuries have been reported, and no cause has yet been determined. Investigation will continue today.

 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.

Flu shots will be offered at the Presbyterian Church at Main and Clay streets in Le Roy from 10:00am to noon today, courtesy of the Genesee County Health Department.

In other news, leaf collection begins in Batavia today on River Street in the southside and Redfield Parkway in the north. Leaf piles need to be free of sticks and any other "foreign materials" and placed near the curb line in the street. Residents of Oak, Main and Ellicott streets should place their leaves in the space between the sidewalk and the street.

Batavia's City Council meets this evening at 7:00pm at City Hall.

 All of the high school football previews are set in sports. Here's the list of playoff games with links.

Batavia at Geneva

Attica at ER/Gananda

South Seneca/Romulus at Le Roy

Dansville at Oakfield-Alabama

Bishop Kearney at Pembroke

Perry vs. Notre Dame, at East Rochester

Pool Play roundup

And just in case you missed it earlier in the week, here are the Genesee Region League all-stars.