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Attica puts a stop to Elba/Byron-Bergen's undefeated season

By Howard B. Owens

In every hard-fought football game, there's usually a turning point -- it may not decide the game, but it seems to seal the fate of one team or the other.

Late in the fourth quarter Friday, with about four minutes to play, and Elba/Byron-Bergen down by nine points, and seemingly in the midst of an end zone to end zone drive, Attica's Dave Clark punched the ball from the arms of running back Andy Underhill.

Clark recovered the fumble and the Lancers never ran another offensive play the rest of the game. Final score, Attica 15, Elba/BB 6.

The loss eliminates the Lancers (5-1) form a chance to win outright the GR League title. Elba/BB could claim part of a three-way tie if  Notre Dame (4-1, and playing a non-league game this afternoon) beats Attica (5-1, but the one loss came in a non-league game) next week.

As for Friday's turning point, even if Clark doesn't dislodge the ball from Underhill's grasp, and the Lancers are able to go on to score, that still wouldn't have meant a victory for Elba/BB. At best, a TD and two-point conversion would have still left the Lancers a point short of a tie.

That potentially critical point was picked up by the Blue Devils in the first quarter when a muffed snap on a punt led to an end-zone safety, giving Attica an early 9-0 lead (Attica's Matt Perry scored earlier on a 81-yard run).

"Give them credit, they played hard," said Lancer's Head Coach Mike Cintorino. "Little things tend to add up and when you’re playing a good team and a rival team, you can’t have that addition, you can’t let those little things add up."

For the most part, Attica's success was driven by Perry, who finished with 182 yards and two TDs on 29 carries.

Elba/BB's star running back, Zach DuBois was held to 112 yards on 25 carries and no touchdowns. DuBois did have a 50-yard dash to the end zone called back on a holding penalty. That was just a few plays before the Underhill fumble.

"Attica’s a great team," Cintorino said. "We knew that coming in. They’re well coached. They have good athletes. They play hard. They’re physical. We knew that we had to come in and we could not shoot ourselves in the foot. We talked about it all week, limit the penalities and no turnovers."

For Attica, Jake Dollard carried the ball 13 times for 72 yards. Besides the fumble recover, Clark had 10 tackles and Evan Krawcyk added seven tackles.

For the Lancers, Zac Gillard was 7-19 passing for 130 yards and one TD. That 50-yard TD reception went to Kyle Morse, who had three catches for 71 yards. On defense, Underhill had 25 tackles (12 solo) and one forced fumble. Brandon Nayler had 10 tackles, Mike Shanley, nine and Nath Jonathan, eight with a fumble recovery.

In other Friday night action:

  • Le Roy moved to 5-1 with a 55-22 victory over Bishop Kearney. Peter Privitera gained 208 yards and a TD on 15 carries. Ryan McQuillen had two TD receptions. Tom Kelso carried the ball 15 times for 144 yards. On the night, the Oatkan Knights gained 481 yards on the ground. Stevie Cappotelli had seven tackles.
  • Oakfield-Alabama beat Alexander 6-0.
  • Batavia lost to Way-Co 21-14.

In today's match-ups, Notre Dame hosts Wellsville and the Pembroke at Holley game is canceled.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. To purchase prints of these photos, click here. (Note: Not as many publishable shots of this game -- lighting conditions on the Attica field are horrendous.)

Contest: NFL Fantasy Football Challenge for Week 5, sponsored by T.F. Brown's

By Howard B. Owens

There was not a lot of faith expressed in Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick in our contest last week. Only four people picked him to lead the NFL in points scored, but the fact of the matter is, among the 10 possible choices in our contest, Fitzpatrick came out on top. In a random drawing of those four people who picked Fitzpatrick, Jason Reese won the contest.

Here's the link to this week's contest.

Pembroke can't field enough players for Holley's homecoming game Saturday

By Howard B. Owens

Pembroke has been forced to cancel its Genesee Region match-up with Holley in Holley on Saturday.

For Holley, that apparently means no homecoming game.

Athletic Director Ron Funke said the team came out of its last game with only 16 healthy players -- the bare minimum required by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. Then on Tuesday, a player was scratched after reporting he had mono.

"The rules say we need 16 players," Funke said. "We apologize (to Holley) for that, but there is nothing we can do. It is what it is."

Funke said the school looked at all of its options, but without a JV team there was just no chance to get enough players on the roster for Saturday's game.

It's been a tough year for the Dragons, who are 0-5, being shut out twice, scoring more than seven points in only one game and giving up 30 or more points every time out.

A parent who contacted The Batavian said he traced the problem to the addition of boys soccer to Pembroke's varsity schedule.

Two years ago, coaches, parents and students lobbied the board of education to bring soccer back to the school.

Funke said there is no correlation between the addition of soccer and the shortage of football players.

Last year the team had 24 players and 20 of them were seniors. This year, the team has only three seniors.

"I'd like to see what kids on that team who want to play football that aren't (playing football) anyway," Funke said. "They're very different sports."

Dan Courtney, athletic director for Holley, hasn't responded to our request for information on what Holley's plans are for Saturday and homecoming without an opponent.

College men's lacrosse players held clinic to help Native American children learn the game

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The Genesee Community College Men's Lacrosse program held a lacrosse clinic for a group of approximately 35 children from the Tonawanda Reservation this past Saturday, Sept. 29. The clinic was in conjunction with the GCC Native American Student Group and served as a community service event for the two-time NJCAA National Tournament appearing Cougars.

"We wanted to get our program involved with the community in the area, specifically the Native Americans from around the area," said GCC Head Coach Dave Hoover. "Since our team has always felt that Native Americans can help build our program, we wanted to give back to them."

Genesee currently has five Native Americans on their roster for 2012-13.

The clinic ran from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and included basic lacrosse instruction from 12 players currently on the GCC Men's Lacrosse team. After instruction, lunch was provided for the athletes.

For more information on camps and clinics through the Genesee Community College Men's Lacrosse team, contact Dave Hoover at djhoover@genesee.edu.

For further information and pictures go to Genesee's Athletic Web page, which is updated regularly with game results, team rosters, photographs and information about Genesee's overall athletic program.

http://www.genesee.edu/athletics

You're Too Funny captures field in Batavia Downs feature

By Billie Owens

You're Too Funny, after three consecutive second places in the $9,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace at Batavia Downs, took a brief respite from the harness racing battles. But after a week of freshening, You're Too Funny ($15) returned to the war Wednesday night (Oct. 3) and conquered the field of six by scoring a half-length victory over the heavy 1-9 favorite It's De Lovely in 1:55.1 over the fast track.

It's De Lovely (Dave McNeight III) cut the fractions of :27.4, :57.3 and 1:26.4 and seemed in control around the final turn. But the three-length lead evaporated quickly as the fast pace turned out to be too much to handle.

You're Too Funny and driver Jack Flanigen used a steady and methodical stretch run beginning just past the three-quarters pole, grinding into the lead with every stride down the stretch, eventually collaring the pace setter. Evil Eva (Shawn Gray) was up for third.

Owned by Greg Capell, of Batavia, and trained by Chris Naedele, You're Too Funny has now bankrolled $46,030 on the season. It was the ninth win of the season as well for the four-year-old American Ideal mare.

The Dan Noble watch continues as he inches closer to 3,000 lifetime wins. The 29-year-old Ohio native drive home a pair of winners on Wednesday night and sits at 2,995 career tallies. A great weekend of harness racing kicks off on Friday night at Batavia Downs when a 12-race program gets underway at 6:25 p.m. The Pick-3 returns with a 50-cent minimum wager and a $1.00 minimum bet, starting in race 10.
 
On Saturday night, a super 13-race card is set highlighted by the 10th Annual $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace along with the $12,500 Brian Schroeder Memorial Trot, the usual $10,000 Open Pace and a strong undercard.
 
The night will also feature $1 Sahlen's hot dogs, draft beer and soda and a Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace T-shirt giveaway.
 
Then on Monday, Columbus Day, a special matinee is on tap with post time slated for 1:15 p.m.
 
For all the information on the holiday weekend action or to view live streaming video of all the action, go to "http://www.batavia-downs.com/">

Alexander dirt-track racer rides adversity to victory, heading into historic final in Pomona, Calif.

By Billie Owens

Cody Johncox, an 18-year-old dirt-track racer from Alexander has experienced extremes in one season from breaking his leg to breaking into the list of AMA Pro winners. In just six months, Johncox went from a broken femur to earning his first-ever AMA Pro dirt-track race win this September at the prestigious Springfield Mile, in the AMA Pro Singles class.

Johncox, who began his motorcycle dirt-track racing career at the age of 5, turned pro on his 16th birthday. His years of amateur race wins and championships began at his home track in Medina. In amateur nationals in the USA and Canada, this Western New Yorker earned the Canadian Youth 65cc National title as a 9-year old, and at age 12 Johncox became the AMA Amateur Grand National Champion 85cc Mod. 12-15 Class. At 13, Johncox took the prize of AMA Amateur Grand National 125 Class Championship, winning every race that season on his way to the title.

Following his numerous amateur championships, Johncox moved up to being a pro racer, battling the world’s best riders in the AMA Pro Singles class for the last two years on dirt tracks and TT courses. In a race this spring in Savannah, Ga., Johncox was knocked from his motorcycle and then run over by other bikes, breaking his femur. What for some might have been a career-ending injury has now been proven by Johncox to just be a passing setback.

In just six months, and not quite yet at 100 percent of his abilities, Johncox outsmarted and out-rode his competition, taking the AMA Pro Singles win at the Springfield Mile, in Springfield, Ill., on his Yamaha. This crowd-pleasing win was a photo finish of 11 motorcycles side-by-side and wheel-to-wheel, separated only by half a second from front to back, from first to 11th. The difference between Johncox’s first-place finish and second-place is measured in thousandths, at .004-of-a-second, which is three times less than it takes a hummingbird to beat a wing.

About his first AMA Pro win Johncox said, “We were in a single-file line of bikes on the restart after a red flag, and I was the 10th bike. I worked my way up the inside and on the second-to-last lap I led over the line. Then I tucked in behind Zakk Palmer and drafted him across the line at the end.”

Third-place finisher, Michael Bickerton, was just a 100th of a second behind the leading pair, finishing .018-of-a-second behind Johncox. If that wasn’t enough to make Johncox nervous, Cole Anderson took fourth also at less than a 10th of a second behind Johncox, trailing by a mere .064 of a second.

It wasn’t until the fifth-place rider crossed the line that a single competitor had finished a full tenth of a second or more behind Johncox. In these passing fractions of a second at the finish line, Johncox could have finished anywhere from first to 11th; but on this day it was first for Johncox, showing his concentration, commitment and character.

Asked why he prefers dirt track to motocross racing Johncox said, “Dirt track is what my dad did and I like it better than motocross. It’s about more than hitting jumps. You really have to learn how to ride the corners at high speed. Dirt track is more about the riding, about controlling the bike.” In talking about his goals, Johncox afford, “I now try to qualify for the Pro Twins class. Just a couple races ago I was just one position from making the final. I hope to one day be an expert champion.”

Cody’s father, Eric Johncox, builds Cody’s bikes at his Sunnyside Cycle shop in Alexander, and said he does what he can to help him do well. “I raced as a novice at the national level and had to stop when I was injured after just working my way into the junior class. It’s my sport. I try to give Cody the best bike possible.”

Cody, who is in his first year at Monroe Community College, will be racing at the two final events of the 2012 season, at the Half Mile at Tucson International Raceway in Arizona on Oct. 6, and the historic Half-Mile at the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona, Calif., on Oct. 13. Look for Johncox on his number-96B Yamaha in the Pro Single class, and look for him as he attempts to qualify his Harley-Davidson XR750 for the AMA Pro Twins class.

The sponsors that make Johncox’s racing possible are: Sunnyside Cycle, Yamaha Motor Corp. Top Gun Construction, RLJ Engines, Arai Helmets, Dynotech, Applied Business Systems, DC Enterprise, Zoladz Construction, Motion Pro, Motul Lubricants, Rev'It Leathers, Alpinestars, Smith Optics, K&N Filters, Oury Grips, Wadco Racing, Stan’s Harley-Davidson, American Harley-Davidson, Saddleman, and Racers Tape.

Alexander volleyball teams play 'ovarian cancer awareness game' for charity

By Billie Owens

The Alexander volleyball teams are sponsoring an ovarian cancer awareness game Thursday night Oct. 4 at home during their games against York.

(We know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this even started out as a breast cancer awareness game, but we switched gears at the beginning of September after our Varsity Coach Marcia Hirsch lost her sister-in-law Bonnie Hirsch to ovarian cancer at the end of August).

We will be having a serving contest in between the J.V. and Varsity games to win prizes from area businesses. You pay $1 to serve a ball into a pizza box and if you hit it, you win the prize that's in it.

There will be concessions with a bake sale and some T-shirts will be available for purchase -- all proceeds being donated to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in honor of Bonnie Hirsch.

The JV game starts at 5 p.m., the serving contest is at 6, followed by the varsity game and the evening should wrap up no later than 8:30 p.m., according to organizers.

The school is located at 3314 Buffalo St. in Alexander.

Irish Girl's Cruise to Easy Wins

By Eric Geitner

The girl's Notre Dame cross country team had an easy time last night at Avon High School. The Irish swept the field of Avon, Mount Morris, Hornell, and Kendall. Shelby McGinnis led the Irish attack on the first loop of the course to set up her 6th place finish over the final stretch. Laurie Call and Anna Warner broke away from Shelby to finish 2nd and 3rd in the race. Madison Gluck and Rose Flumerfeldt finished 8th and 9th respectively to round out the scoring. Hannah Pingrey placed 12th and Emily Sherman recovered from an early fall in the race to finish 17th. The girls are now 11 - 2 on the season.

 

The boy's team fell to Kendall by one point without their #3 guy. Ryan Fuller, Alec Covel and Dennis Bleier stepped up with big races to give the Irish 3 of 4 wins with their 12th, 13th, 14th place finish. Arron Carlson ran a season best 5K time in taking third, while Jeff Antolos cruised to an easy victory, breaking the course record by 45 seconds. The boys are now 9 - 4.

GCC Volleyball powers past Finger Lakes

By Andrew Crofts

The Genesee Community College volleyball team defeated Finger Lakes Community College three sets to none on Tuesday night, their final regular season home match of the year.

Coming off of a winless trip to the Grand Rapids Community College Tournament in Michigan this past weekend, the Lady Cougars won a back-and-forth first set 25-23.

In the second set, Stephanie Maddox served to four-straight early points to put GCC out in front 5-1. Genesee kept their distance thanks in part to Karin Davis, who served four striaight points, including a couple of aces, and won the second set 25-14.

Genesee never trailed in the third set and seperated themselves from the Lady Lakers at the 21st point of the final game. Leading 11-9, Maddox again served to four straight points and gave GCC a 15-9 lead. The Lady Cougars took the third and final set 25-17.

Genesee improves their overall record to 11-18 and will travel to Mercyhurst North East for their next contest on Thursday night.

Lady Cougars shut out Corning

By Andrew Crofts

The Genesee Community College women's soccer team shut out visiting Corning Community College on Tuesday night, by a final score of 3-0.

Denae McGrath put the Lady Cougars on the board in the 15th minute with her first of two goals on the night. She followed it up with a goal in the 30th minute to up the lead to 2-0. GCC took that lead into halftime.

Both teams played an even second half and a Corning CC own-goal was the only scoring of the period, giving GCC a 3-0 that they would hold on to.

Nicole Patterson played well in net, earning her second shut out of the season.

The Lady Cougars improve to 4-9-1 and will play at Jamestown Community College on Thursday afternoon at 2pm.

Weekend PYA Football wrap-up

By Rick Franclemont

Beginner:

All the scoring came this week from Attica. Wyatt Kauffman had two touchdowns and an extra point. Adding single tallies were Eric McCormick, Nick Kurowski and Jonah Clark (Case Hill and Noah Wheeler also added extra points).

Mini:

Attica took this match 27-7.

Fist score was Clayton Compton for Attica with the extra point run in by Ayden Goll.

Second Attica touchdown was by Travis Kauffman.

Next run into the end zone was by Clayton Compton, who also threw the extra point conversion to Zachary Strzelec.

Pembroke got on the board when Drake Sargent completed a pass to Garett Totten. Sargent ran the ball in for the extra point as well.

Attica's final score of the day was a run by Ayden Goll

JV:

Attica dominated this match with all the scoring. In order of points:

1. Mitchell Cook (Extra point Mitchell Cook from Parker Wylie)

2. Kevin Durzewski (Extra point by Blake Pariso)

3. Tyler Myer (Extra point by Ed Strzelec)

4. Dawson Nelson (Extra point by John (JJ) Goodenbury)

5. Noah Stachowiak

6. Interception run back for a TD by Parker Wylie (Extra point by Logan White)

7. Trevor Gol (Extra point by Max Dufour)

Varsity:

Pembroke came out of this contest on top led by Zachary VonKramer who had all three touchdowns and an extra point. Kyle Ludwig kicked the other extra point through the uprights.

More pictures from today can be found at Francletography (www.francletography.com)

Batavia woman vital player for RIT Tigers Volleyball Team

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Taylor Harkness, of Batavia, was a vital reason the RIT Tigers Volleyball Team went 4-0 at the SUNY IT Invitational.

RIT defeated Cazenovia in four sets and Sage College in three on Friday. The following afternoon, the Tigers beat the host Wildcats 3-1 and had little trouble with Old Westbury, sweeping the Panthers.

Harkness dished out a team-high 84 assists over the weekend, including 29 against SUNY IT, and added 21 digs.

For the season, Harkness is second on the team with 125 assists.

The Tigers return to action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they travel to Nazareth College.

Antolos Shines at McQuaid

By Eric Geitner
The Notre Dame XC teams had great showings on Saturday at the McQuaid Invitational at Genesee Valley Park in Rochester. It was a great day for Jeffrey Antolos as he led his team in the seeded race, finishing a close second in 14:55 which tied for the fastest time by a Section V runner. It is the first time a Notre Dame runner has broken the 15:00 barrier over a 3 mile course. Arron Carlson ran a strong race in 17:47 to place 47th. Alec Covel placed 133rd (18:21), Ryan Fuller 156th (18:59), Dennis Bleier 165th (19:23) and Bryan Mosicki 179th (20:37). The team finished in 20th place in the 28 team field. The girls team finished in 14th place in the elite seeded race. Laurie Call led the Irish running 19:31 to place 39th with Anna Warner close behind in 19:36 and 42nd place. Emily McCracken was the next to cross the line in 20:11 and 65th place. Shelby McGinnis finished 108th (21:06), Rose Flumerfeldt 160th (23:12), Madison Gluck 165th (23:23), Hannah Pingrey 177th (24:04), and Emily Sherman 189th (25:03).

Francis' hat-trick propels Cougars

By Andrew Crofts

For the third time this season, forward Dominic Francis recorded a hat-trick for the second-ranked Genesee Community College men's soccer team. Sunday, it came against Tompkins-Cortland Community College in a game that the Cougars would end up winning by a final score of 4-1.

Francis put GCC on the board just three minutes into the first half with his first of three goals on the afternoon. He then gave GCC a 2-0 lead at the 27 minute mark with an unassisted, breakaway goal. Matheus Freire upped the lead to 3-0 with an unassisted goal of his own. The Panthers cut the Genesee lead down to two with their only goal of the contest at the 38 minute mark in the first half. Genesee led 3-1 at the break.

(#17 Dominic Francis celebrates his second of three goals against TC3 on Sunday afternoon)

In the second half, both teams played nearly 45 minutes of scoreless soccer before Francis capped off the scoring on the afternoon with a chip shot that beat the TC3 goalkeeper with 31 seconds remaining in the game.

The win improves Genesee's overall record to 11-1. The Cougars will return to action on Tuesday night when they host Corning Community College.

 

 

The Genesee Community College women's soccer team could not find a way past visiting Tompkins-Cortland Community College on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Lady Panthers 5-0.

Both teams played an even, scoreless, thirty-minutes to open the game before Erika Faberzak scored the lone goal of the first half, her first of three goals on the afternoon, to give TC3 a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Panthers struck again early in the second half and added three late goals to cruise to the 5-0 win.

(Genesee goalkeeper Nicole Patterson dives to make a save against TC3 on Sunday afternoon)

Genesee managed just two shots on goal. Nicole Patterson made twelve saves in net for Genesee.

The Lady Cougars (3-9-1) will return to action again on Tuesday night when they host Corning Community College.

Genesee baseball wins fall title

By Andrew Crofts

The Genesee Community College baseball team captured the Western New York Athletic Conference Fall Baseball Championships Title with a 19-1 victory over Erie Community College on Saturday night.

It took the Cougars 13 innings in the semi-finals against Niagara County Community College to earn a victory to reach the finals for the second straight fall season.

Genesee gave up four runs in the top of the first inning to the Thunderwolves to dig themselves a 4-0 hole. The Cougars clawed back and scored twice in the fourth inning, once in the eight inning and then tied the game on an RBI double by Brandon Collins in the bottom of the ninght inning to take the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the 13th inning, still tied 4-4, Carlos Garcia scored the game winning run after Sean Sutton flied out to center field. Garcia tagged from second base to third base, and scored on a wild throw to send the Cougars to the WNYAC Championship game.

In the championship game, GCC jumped out early and never looked back. The Cougars scored three runs in the home-half of the first inning, a run in the third, two runs in the fourth, six runs in the fifth, four runs in the sixth and three runs in the eighth.

Sean Stanley threw six-plus innings for Genesee, allowing just one run on three hits while srtriking out three, en-route to earning the victory on the mound.

Collins went 2-5 in the championship game with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Sutton was 2-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in and Zach Ranta went 2-3 with three runs scored and one run batted in.

The Cougars finish a perfect 14-0 in WNYAC play during the fall season. They captured the WNYAC Fall Baseball Title for the second straight fall season.

Lancers take control of GR with 56-0 win over Oakfield-Alabama

By Howard B. Owens

A win by Elba/Byron-Bergen and a loss by Attica on Saturday puts the Lancers atop the Genesee Region Conference.

The Lancers beat Oakfield-Alabama 56-0 behind another big game fro Zack DuBois, who gained 331 yards on 25 carries, scoring touchdowns of 14, 3, 86 and 63 yards.  DuBois now has 1,198 yards rushing.

Zac Gillard was 4-6 for 67 yards and two TD passes. He had two carries for 36 yards.

Kyle Morse caught of Gillard's TD passes and gained 51 total yards.

Andy Underhill had 10 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown.

For the Hornets, QB Chase Manzella was 6-16 for 20 yards and five carries for 24 yards. Paul Ferraro had three receptions for 13 yards

On defense, Underhill had 17 tackles, including four tackles for a loss. Brandon Naylor, 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Nate Jonathan, eight tackles, five for a loss, one sack and one interception. Jon Levchuck had five tackles, two for a loss and half a sack. Chad Kowalik, two tackles and one interception.

On defense for O-A, Manzella, six tackles, Chris Nann, five tackles, Dominic D'Alba, one Interception and Danny Monachino had five tackles.

With the win, Elba/BB moves to 5-0 and is the last undefeated team in the GR.  Attica, who started the day 4-0 lost to Livonia 6-0.

In the only other local game on Saturday, Alexander lost to Holley, 44-12.

Batavia tries to come up big against Hornell, but Raiders still notch 44th straight win

By Howard B. Owens

When Batavia scheduled Hornell for its homecoming game some people thought it was crazy, Head Coach Brennan Briggs admitted after last night's 30-14 loss to the Raiders.

Hornell came into the game with a 43-game winning streak and is arguably the best team in the state of New York in any class.

But at the half, with the score tied 14-14, and the Blue Devils' defense coming up big on some key plays, it didn't look so crazy.

The theme for the team all week in preparing for the game, Briggs said, was "great moments come from great opportunities."

The second half didn't go as well for Batavia, but Briggs came out of the game believing the Blue Devils, in his first season as head coach, are ready to play with anybody.

"These kids showed they can come out and play with the best and compete with them," Briggs said. "Yes, obviously, we got beat by 16. We’re not super excited about getting beat by 16, but we know we can play with them. We really do."

Justin Washington and Brett Scheuerlein had big games for the Blue Devils.

Washington snagged an interception in the first quarter and returned it 30 yards for a TD. He also nabbed a 20-yard reception from Scheuerlein in the second quarter for a touchdown (top photo).

Scheuerlein was 7 for 12 passing for 93 yards.

The Raiders played a tight, disciplined defense all night however and the Blue Devils were forced to punt four times in the second half.

In the third quarter, Brendan Buisch hit Richie Harkenrider on a 40-yard TD play. A Batavia defender got a hand on the ball as Buisch hauled it in, but when he couldn't strip it, there was nobody between Harkenrider and the end zone.

With the lead, the Raiders turned their offense over to Zach Bacon, their big, strong full back, who wasn't unstoppable (defenders a couple of times took him down for losses), but could also shake off tackles (or jump over) and get big gains.

In the fourth quarter, Bacon (#40 in photos)  scored on a 50-yard run, just plowing through blue jersies for the first 20 yards like a combine in a cornfield.

"The kid’s a stud," Briggs said. "You can’t really coach against that. You do what you can against him, but he’s one heck of a football player."

In preparing the Blue Devils for Hornell, Briggs reminded them that 31 years ago, Batavia (Correction: It was Notre Dame) snapped Cal-Mum's 49-game winning streak on Woodward Field.

"I told them, 'this field's made for breaking winning streaks,' " Briggs said.

While the final score was disappointing, Briggs said the game will give Batavia great confidence going into the final two games of the season and into, hopefully, sectionals.

"We know that if we continue with the same intensity, the same enthusiasm, the same execution, we can have a great ending to our season," Briggs said.

In other football action on Friday:

  • Le Roy's winning streak was snapped by Perry, 44-36. Perry's QB Cory Dillon hit Jake Kiehle on a fourth-down, less than two minutes to play, 11-yard TD pass to put Perry in the lead. Dillon passed for 299 yards and 4 TDs. He was 25 of 40 passing. Perry, now 4-1, last beat Le Roy in 1991. Peter Privitera carried the ball 18 times for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Le Roy is now 4-1.
  • Notre Dame is 4-1 after beating Pembroke 35-7. Andrew Mullen carried the ball 14 times for 180 yards and one TD. Jason Hart also scored on the ground and had 13 attempts for 14 yards. (Nick Taylor apparently did not play Friday). Tim McCulley was 4-7 passing for 105 yards and three touchdowns. Hart had one TD reception of 12 yards. Josh Johnson's only reception was for a 46-yard TD, and Jared Thornton's lone catch was for a 29-yard score. John Lapple notched Notre Dame's only sack. He had three tackles. Anthony Paladino had 5.5 tackles. Peter Thomas had 10.5 tackles for Pembroke.

This afternoon, Oakfield-Alabama is at Elba/Byron Bergen and Alexander hosts Holley. The other game of significance is Attica at Livonia. Both Elba/BB and Attica are undefeated. The Genesee Region rivals meet next week.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

At half-time, Blue Devils and Hornell tied 14 to 14

By Billie Owens

At half-time, the football game between between the Batavia Blue Devils and Hornell is tied 14 to 14.

Hornell came into the game with 43 straight consecutive wins.

Look for complete coverage Saturday.

UPDATE 8:54 p.m.: Complete coverage is currently available via WBTA radio.

UPDATE: At end of third, Hornell 20 to 14.

UPDATE: Final, 30-14.

Muckdogs sign affiliation agreement with Miami Marlins

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Batavia Muckdogs and Miami Marlins today announced the signing of a new two-year Player Development Contract through at least the 2014 New York-Penn League season. A joint announcement was made by Marlins Farm Director Brian Chattin and Brian Paris, president of the Genesee County Baseball Club, the non-for-profit that owns the Batavia Muckdogs franchise.

The agreement ends a six-year affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed a two-year agreement with the State College Spikes last week. The Marlins had been affiliated with the Jamestown Jammers since 2002. During that time, the Jammers posted a combined record of 370-451 (.451), with two post-season appearances.

“We are excited to have the Miami Marlins as our new affiliate. I look forward to developing a relationship with them and to welcome them into our community. The Marlins are a fine organization that brings with them solid baseball experience and good people. This is a good fit for us as we enter our 74th season of baseball in Batavia. On behalf of the entire community and the Genesee County Baseball Club, we are anxious to get started with another year of professional baseball in Batavia,” Paris said.

“We’re very pleased to sign a new working relationship between Batavia and the Miami Marlins. The Marlins are everything a Minor League franchise could hope for in an affiliation. They also understand how important small town Minor League Baseball is to the Batavia Community and we can’t wait to play host to some extremely talented young players,” said Naomi Silver, president and CEO of Red Wings Management, LLC, the company which has managed the Muckdogs since 2008.

"The Miami Marlins are very excited to begin an affiliation with the Batavia Muckdogs. With its rich baseball history, supportive front office and loyal fan base, Batavia will be the ideal place for our players and staff to call home each summer,” the Marlins' Chattin said. “The Marlins are proud to have Batavia as our player development partner and look forward to a long and productive partnership together."

The Muckdogs are one of seven affiliates in the Marlins’ player development system, joining the New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA/Pacific Coast League), Jacksonville Suns (AA/Southern League), Jupiter Hammerheads (Advanced A/Florida State League), Greensboro Grasshoppers (A/South Atlantic League), Dominican Summer League Marlins (Rookie) and Gulf Coast League Marlins (Rookie).

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