Oakfield

 No surprise here.

The Oakfield-Alabama football rolled to a perfect 7-0 season and captured the Genesee Region League title, and nine players from that squad were named to the GR all-star team Monday night.

Coach John Dowd was named Coach of the Year as well for delivering the first undefeated regular season for the Hornets since 1986.

O-A has rushed for a whopping 2,242 yards as a team during the regular season. Week 7 counts as non-league games because the Class D teams were already in the playoffs.

That being said, two of the three running backs on the squad and three offensive lineman lead the way.

6-foot-3, 275-pound Chris Williams was a unanimous choice at guard and 6-foot-1, 275-pound center Craig Campbell also was a key on the best offensive line in the league. Both were all-state selections two years ago, with Williams making all-stars for a third-straight year.

5-foot-8, 200-pound tackle Derek Hicks also made the all-star squad.

The O-A offensive line opened many holes for Tim Smith and Brad Riner, who both earned all-star recognition as seniors.

Smith led the Hornets in rushing with 771 yards and 11 touchdowns through six games, then rested in the final game of the season against Holley. He was the offensive Player of the Week for Class C in Week 4.

Riner, a fullback, picked up 639 yards and 10 scores this season, including a three TD game in the final game of the season.

Noah Seward had 29 tackles, an interception and four sacks and Tyler Kowalczyk had 2.5 sacks, an interception and 23 tackles. Both made the all-star team as defensive linemen.

It is Seward's second all-star nod.

Linebacker John Koenig had 17 tackles and two fumble recoveries and is joined by A.J. Kehlenbeck - one of only two juniors - on the all-star squad. Kehlenbeck had three interceptions and 17 tackles.

The Hornets are ranked No. 10 in the state for Class C and open up the Section 5 playoffs with a home game against Dansville Friday night.

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Pembroke ended the year one point away from the league title after its only loss came to Oakfield-Alabama, 25-24, in Week 6.

Quarterback David Kleckler had a stellar year and leads the group of seven Dragons to make the team.

Kleckler completed 30-of-56 attempts for 651 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He also rushed for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

Andrew Wright made the team as a wide receiver, but could have been selected as a running back. He gained 774 yards on the ground and got into the end zone 10 times, while catching 13 passes for 340 yards and three TDs.

He also had a 99-yard kickoff return for a TD, a 58-yard punt return for a score and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Tight end Ken Babcock caught 15 passes for 275 yards with five touchdowns and made the team because of his big-play ability in the red zone. He is a two-time all-star.

Graham Jensen is 5-foot-11, 210-pounds and made the team as a guard while 6-foot-2, 235-pound Matt Klotzbach is an all-star defensive lineman.

Jensen had 42 tackles on defense and Klotzbach had 45 stops with a sack.

Josh Hanel - a 5-foot-10, 200-pounder - was selected as a linebacker and safety Mike Dibble was selected as a defensive back.

Hanel had 45 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery and Dibble made 62 tackles. Dibble also rushed for 522 yards and eight touchdowns.

It is the second all-star appearance for both Babcock and Jensen.

Pembroke opens up the Class C playoffs with Bishop Kearney on Saturday.

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Notre Dame gets four all-star selections after going 4-2 in the regular season. The Fighting Irish are 5-2 and playing Perry on Saturday at East Rochester in the Class D semifinals.

Kevin Francis made the squad for the second straight year as a wide receiver. He caught 27 passes for 337 yards with five touchdowns in six regular season games.

Francis returned five kickoffs for 145 yards and nine punts for 142 yards and a touchdown.

Craig Houseknecht is a 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior and made the team as a guard while Rick Lair makes it as a linebacker.

Lair had 41 tackles and 34 assists with two forced fumbles and eight tackles for a loss.

Matt Thompson is only a junior but garners all-star recognition for the second time as a kicker/punter.

Thompson converted on 26-of-30 extra point attempts and had a season-long 35-yard field goal. He averaged 43.5 yards on kickoffs with 10 touchbacks while averaging 40.4 yards per punt, including four inside the 20.

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Attica went 4-3 during the regular season and gets three all-stars.

Andy Ruddock earned offensive Player of the Week for Class B in Week 3 and is an all-star for the second time. He rushed for 936 yards with 10 touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 127 yards and a score.

Shawn Dupuis had 29 tackles with a fumble recovery and makes the team as a defensive back. He was the leading receiver for the Blue Devils, catching 26 passes for 530 yards and six touchdowns.

Kevin Gallinger was the defensive Player of the Week in Week 6 and had a huge year at linebacker. Gallinger had 54 tackles and an interception.

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Barker went 1-5 and nearly shocked top-seed Clyde-Savannah in the Class D playoffs last week.

Defensive lineman Ray Paul makes the all-star squad with 33 tackles and a sack.

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Honorable mentions: 

Alexander - Joe Aurrichio, Lucas Czechowski, Steve George, Jordan Leitten, Ryan Piechocki, Ryan Wilson.

Attica - Luke Pariso, Brandon Rollins.

Barker - Cody Blackley, Greg Brown, Rob Johnson, Josh Sonberg.

Elba/Byron-Bergen - Brent Crawford, Zach Green, Brandon Shuknecht, Cody Torpey.

Holley - Cory Blood, Guy Hills.

Notre Dame - Greg Barr, Nick Bochicchio, Eric Houseknecht, Kevin Schildwaster, Cam McDonald.

Oakfield-Alabama - Josh Athoe, Jon Fisher.

Pembroke - MIke Wells.

 The previews for Week 7 are now up in Sports and I've done special playoff previews for both Alexander and Notre Dame.

As always, readers are encouraged to comment on the games and make predictions.

Here is the list:

Attica at Pembroke

Holley at Oakfield-Alabama

Geneva at Batavia

Elba/Byron-Bergen at Bishop Walsh

Hornell at Le Roy

Canisteo-Greenwood at Alexander

DeSales at Notre Dame

As many area schools face issues with declining enrollment, there is a prime example of what we could see in the future happening at Lyons High School right now.

Lyons had to forfeit last weekend's game against Dundee and today announced it will not be fielding a team for the Class DD playoffs, which start this weekend. The reason is that the team does not have the  minimum of 16 kids that must suit up to play a game.

The eighth-seeded Lions were scheduled to play No. 1 Caledonia-Mumford Friday night.

The only team in the bracket to be pushed into Pool Play is Warsaw, which one would assume would be given that final playoff position. But, it is Wednesday and Cal-Mum and Warsaw have already been working on preparations for the original teams on the schedule. So Warsaw will not be jumping into the playoffs.

This happened two years ago when Holley had to forfeit its final regular season game and opening round playoff game, both against Pembroke.

The Dragons went two weeks without a game and lost in the sectional semifinals because they were obviously rusty and had to play a very good Le Roy squad.

Now Cal-Mum might very well go into the playoffs with a week off and the possibility of facing a solid Avon team in the semifinals.

 Elba felt the need to merge with Byron-Bergen because of the declining numbers, with hopes of avoiding this situation. Unfortunately, this is something that now appears to be a topic we are going to be discussing come playoff time every year or two now.

Congratulations Oakfield on a great win against Pembroke on Friday night!  It was fun to watch the rivalry between 2 great football teams.  Unfortunately, the students did not get a chance to get together and celebrate their victory at their homecoming dance.  Due to a lack of chaperones, the dance was cancelled.  I find it a little disappointing that not one member of the faculty stepped up to spend 4 hours at the school on a Saturday night.   What,exactly, is homecoming without some kind of celebration? 

 When Tim Smith and Brad Riner embraced just moments after the Oakfield-Alabama football team had shocked visiting Pembroke in the final seconds to wrap up the Genesee Region League title, saying it was an emotional moment would be an understatement. 

The two tearful O-A stars literally left it all on the field and scored the final points in an amazing 25-24 victory in front of an estimated 2,500 fans.

Smith's story is well known.

He literally walked off the field in the middle of a game last season and quit on his team. But his teammates welcomed him back - and it was Smith that plunged into the end zone with 29 seconds left on the clock to put the Hornets down by one point.

The coaching staff initially wanted to kick the extra point and go into overtime, especially with Smith getting banged up on the touchdown run. But the O-A players made the call to go for two, and coach John Dowd let his players decide if they were going to win the Genesee Region League championship outright on a two-point conversion.

After burning a timeout because of some confusion, the Hornets lined up and gave the ball to Riner, who took a sweep to the left side of the line and dove into the end zone to give O-A the lead.

Riner wrapped up the league title (it is the first time the Hornets have won the title outright since Dowd has been coach) with an interception two plays later.

This was a typical Oakfield-Alabama/Pembroke game, a classic battle between the top two programs in the GR.

There was no smack talk on the field, no cheap shots ... nothing but a hard fought battle between two great teams.

Pembroke looked as if it was going to dominate early on as David Kleckler returned the opening kickoff 70 yards to set up an Andrew Wright 1-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the contest.

Neither team moved the ball after that in the first quarter and it was 7-0 after 12 minutes.

Wright put an end to the battle of the punters with a 41-yard run midway through the second quarter. Matthew Phelps nailed an impressive 39-yard field goal to put the Dragons up 10-0.

O-A started near midfield and quarterback A.J. Kehlenbeck rumbled for 17 yards to set up a Riner 6-yard TD run with about a minute left in the half, making the score 10-7 at the break.

After the second half started with defensive stops, Riner broke off a 16-yarder and Smith eventually scored from 3-yards out to give the Hornets a 14-10 advantage.

The Dragons seemed to have lost it at this point.

Three consecutive conservative rushing calls set up a fourth-and-8 at the Pembroke 30-yard line.

But Kleckler scrambled around for a little bit and launched a pass into the end zone, which was hauled in by Jacob Reeves. It is just the second reception he's had all season long.

Pembroke carried the 17-14 lead into the fourth.

Oakfield-Alabama's power rushing attack led to a 7-plus minute drive that allowed the score to be tied up when Jon Fisher kicked a 24-yard field goal.

On the ensuing drive, Kleckler scrambled for 32 yards and Mike Dibble rumbled for 14 yards, but two penalties in three plays put Pembroke in a tough situation.

The Dragons had a third-and-17 at the Oakfield 23-yard line.

Kleckler dropped back to pass and felt the pressure from O-A's defensive lineman, but he scrambled around for a couple of seconds and found tight end Ken Babcock at about the 5-yard line. Babcock took a few steps into the end zone and the Dragons led 24-17 with 2:42 left in the game.

Smith had a long kick return to midfield and O-A's longest run on the final drive was a 12-yard scamper by Riner.

The win means Oakfield-Alabama is now 6-0 and is league champions. Pembroke falls to 5-1.

With Le Roy's victory over Caledonia-Mumford tonight, O-A is still the No. 2 seed in Class C and Pembroke is at No. 3. 

The Dragons play Attica next week.

 All of the football previews are now done and in sports, with the exception of the Pembroke/Oakfield-Alabama game. I put that one on the front page as well because I did an insane amount of work on that thing.

I'd like to get you members of The Batavian involved with these previews. Please pick the games you are interested in and make predictions as to what you think will happen and what the final score will be. Maybe we can get some good conversations going.

Here is the list of games:

Holley at Attica

Pembroke at Oakfield-Alabama

Cal-Mum at Le Roy

Batavia at East Rochester/Gananda

Barker at Alexander

Elba/Byron-Bergen at Notre Dame

Also, if you are looking for preview information on Livingston Conference, Albion or Medina games you should pick up a copy of The Daily News tomorrow. They are doing a good job of reporting on these games.

I'm guessing the only statistics and story-lines you are going to see on Batavia, Le Roy or GR games are all on The Batavian today. 

Pembroke (5-0) at Oakfield-Alabama (5-0)

7 p.m. Friday

Genesee Region League football fans have had this game marked on their calendars since the schedules came out.

Pembroke and Oakfield-Alabama have had the top two teams in the league all season long and this game will decide the champion.

O-A would clinch the title outright with a victory and avoiding a total meltdown against Holley next week. Pembroke would clinch at least a tie and would claim the title outright with a win and a victory over Attica in the final week of the season.

This game has become the biggest rivalry in the GR in recent years as both teams are powerhouse programs that compete for a sectional title every year.

It shouldn't be any different this year as Oakfield-Alabama is currently the second seed in Class C while Pembroke follows at No. 3.

Le Roy is the top seed and will be playing tough games with Caledonia-Mumford and Hornell in the final two weeks, so the winner of this game could end up getting the prestigious top seed in sectionals.

The Hornets are ranked No. 10 in the state while Pembroke gets an honorable mention.

Pembroke's Chip Foster and O-A's John Dowd became head coaches at the same time and the Dragons have won four out of five meetings between the two powerhouses.

The games are typically defensive battles:

2003 - Pembroke 17, Oakfield-Alabama 13

2004 - Pembroke 14, Oakfield-Alabama 9

2005 - Oakfield-Alabama 34, Pembroke 16

2006 - Pembroke 14, Oakfield-Alabama 6

2007 - Pembroke 13, Oakfield-Alabama 10

The Hornets have a big size advantage on the offensive and defensive line, but Pembroke might have the edge in the amount of skilled players that will touch the football.

Andrew Wright tops that list.

He has rushed the ball 39 times for 539 yards and seven touchdowns while catching 12 passes for 334 yards and three scores.

But Wright is by no means the only offensive weapon.

Mike Dibble has gained 390 yards and scored eight touchdowns, Josh Phillips has 268 yards and six TDs and quarterback David Kleckler has rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 rushes.

Kleckler has completed 21-of-38 attempts for 532 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. His main targets are Wright and tight end Ken Babcock (9 receptions, 198 yards, 3 TDs).

Tim Smith has been the biggest producer offensively thus far for the Hornets, gaining 651 yards with nine touchdowns on 73 carries. But O-A will spread the ball around.

Brad Riner has 413 yards and six touchdowns, Joe Natalizia has 221 yards and two scores and Jason Stanley has pitched in 212 yards with one touchdown.

Josh Athoe returned from a leg injury suffered during baseball season and got the start last week, rushing 16 times for 83 yards with two touchdowns.

A.J. Kehlenbeck has added a pretty good passing attack for the Hornets. He has completed 13-of-24 pass attempts - to seven different receivers - for 145 yards and four TDs. Noah Seward leads the team in receptions with three for 36 yards. He also has four sacks.

 The Oakfield-Alabama football team didn't start a lot of the usual names because of a flu that kept several players out of practice this week.

They also didn't do a very good job of keeping the ball from hitting the ground.

But the Hornets did just enough to beat host Attica 35-20 Friday night.

It was senior night for the Blue Devils and a couple of seniors gave the squad a very quick lead. Andy Ruddock busted off a 21-yard run and Nate Berry hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from junior Brandon Rollins to get things going, just 1 1/2 minutes into the contest.

O-A blocked the extra point.

The Hornets didn't take very long to answer as Tim Smith returned the kickoff 34 yards and Josh Athoe made his mark.

Athoe hasn't played in any high school game since getting injured at the start of last baseball season, but got the start at fullback in this game.

The 6-foot-2, 185 pound junior busted off an 11-yard run that set up his 12-yard touchdown run, with the Jon Fisher giving Oakfield-Alabama a lead that would never go away.

Ruddock ripped off a 30-yarder on Attica's next drive, but Chris Williams sacked Rollins to kill a drive and force a punt.

The Blue Devil defense did its job by stopping the Hornets on a fourth-and-2, but the offense fumbled the ball away on the first play of the next drive.

Athoe kicked off the second quarter with a 9-yard TD run, giving O-A a 14-6 advantage.

The Hornets got the ball back after an Attica punt and moved the ball through the air, with A.J. Kehlenbeck hooking up with Noah Seward and Tyler Tamblin on passes before finding Brad Riner with a 4-yard touchdown pass with just 17 seconds left in the half.

Tim Smith - who finished with 162 rushing yards on 20 carries - started the second half scoring with a 20-yard TD run.

Attica then started making a comeback.

Rollins hooked up with Shawn Dupuis on a 44-yard pass that moved the ball all the way down to the O-A 1, where Rollins scored on a keeper. The conversion pass failed and Oakfield-Alabama led 28-12.

Just seconds ticked off the clock before Kyler Dabolt popped the ball out of an O-A runners hands and Berry picked it up, scampering 62 yards for a score. Rollins ran in the conversion and Attica had cut O-A's lead to 28-20 near the end of the third period.

And then Smith stepped up again. Last week he earned Class C Offensive Player of the Week in a win over Notre Dame, and he stepped up with the big play this week.

The senior busted through the line and busted off a 52-yard run. He scored a couple of plays later from eight yards out.

As Attica tried to drive, Kehlenbeck had a big interception to kill a much-needed opportunity. 

The Hornets fumbled the ball away again, and had a couple of penalties that put the Blue Devils into great position to score.

On a third-and-goal from the Oakfield-Alabama 11, Seward picked off a pass to wrap up the victory.

Athoe rushed for 83 yards on 16 attempts and Riner gained 110 yards on 24 carries. Kehlenbeck completed 5-of-6 pass attempts for 50 yards.

 Attica falls to 3-2 while O-A improves to 5-0 and will be hosting currently unbeaten Pembroke next Friday night.

I took a drive out to Elba and Oakfield today.  In Elba, I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of this building, which is now the wallpaper on my computer.

Anybody know the history of this place?

When Hilly found out I was driving out to Oakfield, he told me I had the stop at Santino's Pizza. "The pizza is amazing," he said.  I did, and it is.

In Oakfield, I stopped by the library and read the flyers in the window of the pharmacy.

Two events I learned about:

• October 18 and 25: Ghost walk at Batavia cemetery on Harvester, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
• The Genesee Chorale presents a recital series, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Batavia City Centre.

Reminder, if you're with a community organization and need to publicize an event or other group news, you can post the information you need to get out to Genesee County on The Batavian.  It's free. Just create an account, login and post.

The Genesee County Legislature voted unanimously last night to go through with the consolidation of sheriff and city police dispatch services, according to the Daily News. Most of the ground work has already been completed and the city sent its two dispatchers to the sheriff's facility on Park Road, where all calls will now be fielded.

In other news:

• Batavia's Yard Waste station on Law Street will be closed Monday. It will resume normal hours of operation Tuesday.
• Tom Rivers wrote a fantastic column about getting held up at a Canadian immigration check-point where he was given "the treatment."
• Between 4,000 and 5,000 people are expected to come out for Oakfield's Labor Daze parade Monday morning at 10:30am. the village will celebrate all weekend with "bed races" and square dancing on Saturday; gospel music, crafts and bingo on Sunday; and more of the same all day Monday. Should be a fun time.

UPDATE: I meant to say something about this earlier, but I forgot. Mark Gutman did a great job getting photos of the fire out in Byron yesterday. Every one is well composed and full of action. Great job, Mark!

For more on these and other stories, pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Check out WBTA for these and other stories:

• Oakfield wished itself a happy 150th birthday and kicked off a summer-long celebration last night with the burial of a time capsule. (We would love to hear from folks about some of the items they tossed into the capsule — maybe a Batavian bumper sticker.) Former Oakfield Mayor Ray Cianfrini talks about the occasion.
• Thirty-three kids will attend this year's state Sheriff's Association Summer Camp in Penn Yan to help "create a positive interaction" between the kids and the sheriff's deputies.
• A Livingston County man faces up to 20 years in prison following a guilty plea to child pornongraphy charges. Forshee had been previously convicted of third-degree rape.

From Oakfield resident Nancy Baxter:

"Oakfield Community Youth Group was proud to present the Bish Family with the proceeds from the spaghetti dinner-chinese auction that was held on May 17th. Carl Bish is a 9th grader from OACS and has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Our local youth group raised $12,000 for the family to help with medical costs and money needed to continue Carl's chemotherapy treatments. The whole community came together with donations and volunteers for our fundraiser. This definitely could not have been such a success without the love and support of our community."