football

As a QB and a DB, Mike McMullen had a big night at Hartwood Park to help lead Le Roy to another dominating victory over a Livingston Conference opponent.

McMullen was 14-22 passing for 138 yards and three TDs. On defense, he made two interceptions. One set up the Oatkan Knights first touchdown, making the score 7-0 late in the first quarter. The second McMullen returned 55 yards for a TD, giving Le Roy a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter.

Head Coach Brian Moran praised McMullen's leadership in helping the Knights notch a 47-8 win.

"Going into half time, I thought that two-minute drill that Mike McMullen ran was outstanding," Moran said. "We were able to move the ball pretty well 80 yards in two minutes and nine seconds.  I thought he did a good job of leading that charge."

Through much of the first half, there was nothing about the Le Roy-Avon matchup that suggested the game would be a blowout.  

"At the start of game, take a look at the tempo," Moran said. "They wanted to run it. I think they did a good job trying to slow us down. You don't get a first down once or twice and you look up and all the sudden it's midway through the quarter."

That's one reason the end-of-the-half drive put together by McMullen led to such a huge momentum shift in the game. It allowed the Knights to reassert control of the game's pace.

McMullen had a lot of help from a Le Roy team that so far has shown its got the tools to win not only on offense, but a seemingly unbreakable defense and line play on both sides of the ball that gets the job done.

Of the offensive line, Moran said, "They're beginning to gel as a unit and that's important. We're going to continue to focus on that as we get later in the season. They have to really perform for us to be successful. They're getting better every day and they're working hard. It's a pleasure to coach a group that works as hard as this group does."

Jon Pierce also had another big night, running the ball 16 times for 108 yards and TD. He also caught a 25-yard pass for touchdown.

Tom Kelso carried it seven times for 43 yards and a TD. Jake Henry had five receptions for 54 yards and a TD. Tyler Prinz had a touchdown reception and Nate Flint scored a TD.

With the game in hand by the fourth quarter, Moran put the second offense on the field and said he was pleased with what he saw, which included a scoring drive led by backup QB Brian Hodges.

"I'm especially proud of that second offense," Moran said. "I thought they put a great drive together late in the fourth quarter to score. That makes us a better football team, when our second team works hard and gets better every week like our first team."

On defense, Kelso had eight tackles, Nick Egeling six, Kody Lamkin five, include a sack, Hodges four, including three sacks, Reed Kacur, four and a sack.

The lesson of tonight's game, Moran said, is the Knights need to be ready to score when there may be limited opportunities against tougher teams, especially as the season progresses.

"As we take a look at it, we have to understand that you have to be flawless as you get into some big games," Moran said. "A team like Avon, the way they ran the clock, you have to understand you may only get two or three possession a half, so take care of the football and make sure you score on those opportunities."

Top Photo: Jon Pierce 25-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter, making the score 41-0.

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The GLOW Ducks youth football program played its first home game today at Notre Dame.

Pembroke vs. Elba/Byron-Bergen. The Elba/Byron-Bergen Lancers started the season in fine feather with a 21-7 win over Pembroke. Head Coach Mike Cintorino summed up the game: "Improved Pembroke squad came out fired up and played hard for their home opener scoring on the first drive. Lancers responded with a score of their own to tie it up and never looked back. Took the lead on a Mike Shanley 89 yard TD run. Interesting 2-day game scenario with some work to do. Looking forward to getting back to work next week and coming home to face the Holley Hawks next Saturday." Stats: Mike Shanley: 15 carries 199 yards, 3 TDs (8,89,21); Richard Flores: 8 carries 95 yards; Andrew Gottler: 7 Tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble; Steele Truax: 10 total tackles; Lancer Total Yards: 374; Dragons Total Yards: 132.

Alexander at CG Finney. The Trojans came up short against CG Finney, 28-20. Cody Trzecieski led the Trojan defense with 8 tackles and 1 fumble recovery from his linebacker spot. Tyler Laird had 7 tackles defensively.  Dustin Schmeider had 4 tackles and 1 sack for the Trojans. Offensively QB Jared Browne hit Laird for a 41 yd TD pass to start the Trojans scoring in the 2nd quarter.  Late in the 3rd quarter, Browne scored on a one-yard run. Late in the 4th quarter tailback Tim Calkins scored on a 3-yard run to cut the lead to 22-20 but the 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.  The Trojans then recovered an onside kick with 20 seconds remaining. Two plays later CG Finney intercepted a pass and scored it as time expired. Laird carried the ball six times for 54 yards. Tailback Alex Hadsall had 4 carries for 24 yards before getting hurt. Calkins had 78 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown. Alexander placekicker Zack Shilvock was 2 for 2 on PAT and had 2 touchbacks when kicking off.

Batavia at Livonia. Game still pending because of weather delay. The game will be completed Monday at 7 p.m. at Livonia. Batavia trails, 7-0.

Full game coverage from earlier:

• Le Roy's offense and defense prove too much for Cal-Mum in game split over two days
• Hornets savor win over Notre Dame after years of frustration

Also, we covered Warsaw at Perry for the Wyoming County Free Press. 

NOTE: The information we were given about how long it's been since O-A beat ND was wrong.

It's been nearly 20 years since Oakfield-Alabama beat Notre Dame, and after holding on for a 16-13 win against the Fighting Irish on their home turf, Hornet players celebrated like they had just won a sectional title.

"It feels great," said wide receiver Reice Woodward, a sophomore starting his first game on varsity. "We haven't beaten Notre Dame in a long time and we're starting the streak now."

With seconds left on the clock and Notre Dame in possession of the ball well into O-A territory, a Hornet's victory was far from assured. Then Woodward scooped up a Josh Johnson fumble and Hornet's captain Allen Chatt jumped high in the air, knowing at long last, a win was a cinch.

"With everything my team has been through this pre-season, and my being on the squad since eighth grade and losing to Notre Dame every year, I can't explain it," Chatt said. "It's the best feeling ever."

The first half of the game was all Oakfield-Alabama. The Hornet's defensive line was pushing around the smaller Irish offense seemingly at will. QB Connor Logsdon tasted turf several times. Fans and coaches kept yelling for him to throw the ball away, throw the ball away. After a play where a wall of white jerseys descended on him, the 5' 9" Logsdon yelled that he couldn't see anything over the line.

The Hornets would have ended the half up by four touchdowns instead of just two, except for wide open receivers twice dropping catchable balls.

It was looking like it was going to be a long afternoon -- if not a long season -- for Coach Rick Mancuso and his squad.

Then Logsdon, from deep in Irish territory completed a pass. RB Peter Daversa gained some ground and the Irish got another reception down field.

It was starting to look like a drive, then a short little run that ended in an apparent fumble (ND's coaches insisted the whistle had already blown, but to no avail) was recovered by the Hornets.

Whatever adjustments Mancuso made, they seemed to stick in the second half. Logsdon played with more confidence, feeling less pressure from O-A's defensive line, and Notre Dame showed it could move the ball down field

"We got a little flat right before the half," said O-A's Head Coach Brian Palone. "And Notre Dame did a great job of making adjustments."

Palone said his team has developed a new defense this season, and he expected the defense to struggle and the offense to do well, but the opposite happened he said. It was really the defense that won the game, so he was proud of his team in that regard, and at how hard they worked to protect their lead even as the team struggled in the second half.

"The way we ended the game here shows a lot about their character and never giving up," Palone said. "We had the lead the whole time, but momentum shifted over to Notre Dame the whole second half and I felt like our defense really stepped it up."

Senior linebacker Casey Arnold said the win was a real team effort. 

"The defensive line couldn't have been better," Arnold said. "We played as a team. We flew to the ball. I'm really proud of this team."

Chatt said all along, he's thought this year's Hornet's squad is something special, but nothing is more special than coming out on top against Notre Dame to open the season.

"I have a good feeling about this squad," Chatt said. "They're 27, 28, whatever we have, strong. They come down with the pads, loading the balls on the bus, whatever it is that needs to be done. I'm as proud as I can be about these guys today. Nothing tastes sweeter than to beat Notre Dame."

Chatt was 12 for 31 passing for 166 yards with two TDs and two INTs. Woodward led the receivers with two catches for 66 yards, including a 56-yard TD reception. He had one fumble recovery. Sal Schwabble had one catch for 41 yards. Ryan Emery, two for 30 yards, and Trent Stack, two for 26.

On defense, Jon Harris had one sack and 10 tackles. Schwable had eight tackles and a sack. Jacob Natalizia had two interceptions.

We didn't receive stats for Notre Dame.

UPDATE: Notre Dame stats: Peter Daversa, 18 carries, 76 yards, 1 TD; Jack Sutherland, 15 carries, 37 yards; Joe Zickl, 3 receptions, 27 yards, 1 TD; C.J. Souzzi, three receptions, 26 yards; Zickl, 8.5 tackles; Souzzi, five tackles; Ethan Osborne, sack.

Touchdown, Joe Zickl.

Appearances can be deceiving. Despite a great effort by O-A's Ryan Emery, Casey Midwick did catch this pass for Notre Dame.

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The rain may never have fallen in a deluge, but Cal-Mum was certainly swamped by a relentless Oaktan Knight offense and an immovable defense in a game that took consecutive days to complete because of stormy weather.

Final: Le Roy 40, Cal-Mum 0.

The win assured Head Coach Brian Moran with a career record on the plus side against Le Roy's biggest rival, at 17-15.

Moran said, yes, the winning record against the Red Raiders is important to him.

"I'm proud of that because that (Caledonia) is a great community and great football program," Moran said. "You forget sometimes that Caledonia makes Le Roy better and Le Roy makes Caledonia better. That's been evident over the last 25 years."

The game started on time at 7:30 Friday night under the lights of Hartwood Park, but after the halftime show, officials spotted flashes of lightning to the northeast.

The game was delayed and about a half hour later, it was postponed (along with 11 other Section V games). Play resumed at 9 a.m. today, and by 10, Le Roy officially had a 1-0 record on the season.

The split game didn't bother the players much, said QB Mike McMullen.

"It wasn't a distraction, but it was definitely different," McMullen said. "I don't think anybody on the team has ever done anything like this. I don't think any of the coaches have ever done anything like this, so it is different, but you've got to play through it. So we did and came out and played hard."

To start the half, Cal-Mum tried an onside kick, but the Knights were ready and covered the ball.

Moran thought it was the right call by John Walther. If it had worked, it could have given the Red Raider's a spark.

"That's the way you should start the second half," Moran said. "You're down 21-0 and who knows what the weather is going to do. I give them credit for doing that."

Rather than Red Raider ball, the Knights had possession on about the 50-yard line. Soon, the Cal-Mum defense was looking at the back of #16, Jon Pierce, sprinting toward the goal line for a score that all but sealed the visiting team's fate.

"That was huge," McMullen said. "I told them when we came out there, 'hey guys, we've gotta score first drive. We've got to show them what we're about, make a point.' "

Pierce was the star of the game, always around the ball on defense and racking up more than 100 yards of total offense.

He's emerged, at least in the first game, as the running back Le Roy's coaches always thought he could be. He charges at the line with exceptional lower body strength, quickness and speed.

"We've been expecting this from Jon for quite a while," Moran said. "I'll be honest with you. Jon is a great kid and he has a great ability to move in the hole and then accelerate. Last night we saw it and today, again, we saw it and we're proud of him."

To open the game, Cal-Mum keyed on the McMullen to Ryan McQuillen combination, which isn't a bad strategy. A more mature player in Pierce gives an already powerful offense another weapon.

"He does have great hips," Moran said. "If you just stand behind him at practice you see it. That's what makes a good running back, somebody who can get up into those little small holes and make that cut inside and out. Jon has the capability to do that."

Before the start of the season, Moran and other coaches expressed some concern about an inexperienced offensive line. Friday and Saturday, the line showed it had the ability to move the pile and open holes.

That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement, even after a 40-0 win against a good team.

"There's a lot of things you can do better," Moran said. "You sit back and start to evaluate tape. This is only week one. As we're sitting there and looking at it a little differently on the film, you know there are people who need to read their keys a little better and their footwork needs to be better and the offensive line has to communicate better. We're always thinking about improvement. That's the name of the game."

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The threat of lightning played havoc with the Section V football schedule Friday night, including perhaps the biggest game of the night (certainly, all the Rochester media thought so, turning out in force at Hartwood Park), Cal-Mum and Le Roy.

Officials suspended the game after the half-time show and play will resume at 9 a.m., with the Oatkan Knights leading 21-0.

In all, 12 Section V games were postponed due to weather.

Batavia is down 0-7 to Livonia and play will resume in Livonia at 1 p.m. Elba is beating Pembroke 17-7, and play will resume at 5 p.m.

Top photo: Le Roy's Jon Pierce breaks up a pass by Jake McEwen.

Photos from the first half in the slideshow. To purchase prints, click here.

Coach's final season, a team that enters the 2014 season with a lot of promise, a first game against the school's biggest rival -- it's a good time to remind the players and the fans about the program's highest pinnacle, a state championship.

Five members of Le Roy's 1995 state champion team were invited back home today for a pep rally at the end of the school day.

The former players each took a turn talking about P-R-I-D-E (Perseverance, Responsibility, Involvement, Diversity and Empathy).

The men were wearing T-shirts honoring Coach Brian Moran's 26th and final season leading the Oatkan Knights.

Deputy Joe Loftus told the story of his 13-year quest for a full-time career in law enforcement. Sales Manager Brian Fulmer flew in from Minnesota to talk about responsibility. Bill McKenzie, now a teacher in York, spoke on involvement. Brandon Shaugnessy couldn't leave Texas today because his wife recently had a baby two months earlier than expected, so Coach Jim Bonacquisti read his statement about diversity. Pat Ashley, a corrections officer with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, was assigned empathy.

Ashley remarked that he got assigned the word a lot of people get wrong, confusing it with sympathy, and after giving some examples of how he uses empathy in his career working in a jail and as a small arms instructor, he said maybe he got it wrong, too. (He was spot on: putting yourself in the others' shoes, seeing things from their point of view).

Then the pep of the pep rally began when Student Body President Derek O'Sullivan took the mic.

Derek had members of the marching band beat their drums and then cheered on the volleyball and soccer teams, which also have games today.

He then said, "and I think there's another team playing tonight. Coach Moran, who are we playing?"

"Cal-Mum," Moran said.

Derek noted that the folks in Caledonia probably think they're doing to win. Are they? He asked the crowd? A few kids yelled "no," so he asked again, and the room exploded with a resounding, "NO!"

Afterward, Moran said the rally was "really enjoyable."

"You know, that's why we coach," Moran said. "You take a look at the young people we have up here today, and that's why we coach.

"You talk about the wins and losses," he added, "but we forget about those, you know, shortly after they happen. What you remember are the relationships, the commitment that you have with each other; and for coaches, we want to see what they're doing 10, 15 years from now. Obviously, today, you take a look at these young men and we're just proud of their accomplishments."

The Le Roy-Cal-Mum rivalry is woven into the fabric of both communities, Moran noted, but in a positive way.

"Caledonia and Le Roy is the greatest rivalry in New York State in high school football and we're so close, but that's what leads to great communities," Moran said. "The interest in the game, the interest in each other, the bond that we have with Caledonia and Le Roy. When the game's on, obviously we want to win and they want to win, but when it's over, it's over. And whatever they need, or somebody in our community needs, they're always reaching out. I think that says it all about what both communities are about."

Come on out to the game (7:30 p.m.). It will be a great community, Friday Night Lights experience. If you can't make it, the game will be carried live on WBTA or live streamed over WBTAi.com.

Big game in Le Roy tonight as archrival Cal-Mum visits to kickoff the 2014 season.

Batavia is at Livonia and Elba is at Pembroke. The complete Section V schedule can be found here.

Below are links to all of our Genesee County football preview stories. The slideshow above is a roundup of all our pre-season photos. To purchase prints, click here.

Best of luck to all of our local teams for a great 2014.

Also, if you love football and have the journalism training to cover sports, we could use the help of a free-lance football writer this season. It's really time consuming for me to take all the pictures and write the game stories. We can't afford to pay a lot, but being out on the gridiron is a lot of fun and the community appreciates the coverage. If you're interested, e-mail me at howard@thebatavian.com.

• Football Preview: Blue Devils hunting more Ws in 2014
• Football Preview: Alexander counting on team speed to make them a contender
• Football Preview: Oatkan-Knights have a lot to play for in 2014
• Football Preview: O-A looking for young receivers and backs to step up and make plays
• Football Preview: Young players already experienced in winning move into key roles at Notre Dame
• Football Preview: Lancers, a year older and a year hungrier
• Football Preview: Pembroke working hard to get ready for 2014 campaign

Pembroke Head Coach Dick Dimincuco has been working hard all pre-season to get the Dragons ready to take the field in 2014 and what he sees two days before opening kickoff against Elba is a team that's still a work in progress.

But the emphasis is on the word "work."

"We have nice group of kids who work hard and come every day and try to get it done," Dimincuco said. "Obviously, that's a strength. We need to get a little better at what we do on the field, and they're going to do that because they work hard and listen."

The Dragons are coming off a 2-6 season and the program hasn't had a winning record since 2010 (5-3).

The team will rally around QB Mitch Lewter, a senior in the role of offensive field manager for the first time. He won't be without weapons. Senior Dakota Swimline returns to wide out and running back and senior Cal Neurohr will share backfield time as well as play linebacker.

The offensive and defensive lines will be anchored by 6-foot, 225-pound junior Jack Thomas.

"He's a big tackle and good football player," Dimincuco said. 

With only one winning record in the previous six seasons, it's tempting to think of last year's 7-1 record and a three-way share of the Genesee Region League title was a bit of a fluke.

After all, in the previous two years the Trojans were 2-6 and 2-5.

Head Coach Tim Sawyer doesn't mind folks around the league thinking that way. After all, they might just be in for a surprise.

"We've had a good camp," Sawyer said. "We've had excellent attendance. They want to be good. It's a new team, but the same goal. Let's see if we can be GR champs. We've got to be perfect six, eight nights to do it, but we've got a chance."

Last year, the Trojans were big and physical. A year ago, Sawyer noted how several of his players hit the weight room hard during the off season. That training paid off.

There was no better proof of that than the season put together by Dylan Scharlau, with 1,663 yards rushing and 19 TDs.

But Scharlau graduated. So did his big offensive line and a strong, rugged QB in Nelson Burke.

At every position, the Trojans are smaller.

But they're also faster, Sawyer said.

Speed will change the nature of the offensive attack and Alexander might rely more on big plays.

Junior Jerad Brown will start at QB and he's got a great instinct for the game, Sawyer said.

Sharing the backfield will be a committee of backs, Sawyer said.

"Scharlau averaged about 27, 28 carries a game," Sawyer said. "We probably won't see that this year. We'll probably see a bunch of boys eight to 12, maybe 15 carries in a game, which I like, because all those boys will turn around and play defense."

Leading the defense will be Ty Laird, a returning starter, and a player Sawyer says is "probably the best football player in GR."

"He's crazy strong and he's running a 4.7 40," Sawyer said.

Perhaps the most interesting player on the squad is Zach Shilvock, a soccer player who last year chose tennis over football, so didn't kick for the Trojans until the last few games of the season (after tennis was over).

Shilvock gives Sawyer a weapon not to many high school coaches ever get to use -- a kicker who can put it through the uprights from as far as 45 yards out.

"I've seen him make 50s," Sawyer said.

Special teams overall could make the difference for Alexander, Sawyer said.  

"We hope that can help us get through some close games," Sawyer said.

It should be an interesting season for green and gold.

"I know people on the outside just glimpsing in think this will be a down year a little bit," Sawyer said. "Obviously, you can look and see, we don't have the size, but we've got some kids who can play."

Hornets fans have much to be hopeful about in the 2014 season: A third-year starter at QB with a strong arm, a strong offensive line, experienced coaching leadership, but there's also a couple of question marks.

The big issue is who among a young group of receivers and running backs is going to step up and be the playmaker to complement QB Allen Chatt.

Head Coach Brian Palone is looking to improve on last year's 5-3 record in what promises to once again be a tough Genesee Region.

"It all depends on how those guys coming in at skilled positions do for us," Palone said. "We've got some guys who are really competing at those spots for us. It will be interesting to see how we perform in the first game."

Chatt has continued to improve at QB and has become a true team leader, Palone said. He's stepped up, providing leadership to his young receivers.

"He knows what I expect of him and what we expect of the offense," Palone said.

It's hard to find a high school football coach who will predict a winning season during an August practice session, and Elba/Byron-Bergen Head Coach Michael Cintorino is no exception.

But clearly, he has a lot to be excited about.

He's got a starting QB coming into his second year leading the varsity squad who's gotten bigger and stronger in the off season and put in the hard work to improve his skills.

He has two proven veterans to run the ball, and both his offensive and defensive lines are stocked with second- and third-year players.

Last year's 3-5 season was merely a chance to grow and learn for this group of players.

"This year, they're a year old, a year hungrier and they've been extremely competitive in practice and looking forward to the start of the season," Cintorino said.

The offense will be led by Garrett Chapell, who was shaky at times last year, but Cintorino said he's playing now with a whole new level of confidence.

"He looks fantastic this year, Cintorino said. "He put in a ton of work in the off season."

He'll have three first-year receivers, but Cintorino said they look like real weapons for Chapell so far.

The backfield will be bolstered with the experience of Steele Truax and Mike Shanley, who both proved last year they can run for positive yards and put points on the board.

So will this all add up into Ws for the Lancers, maybe a nice post-season run.

Cintorino dosn't want to go that far. Not yet.

"It's tough to say (how good the team will be)," Cintorino said. "Everyone else is probably saying the same things that we are right now, so we have to see what the league is going to look like once the season actually kicks off. Our goal is obviously to compete for a league championship and make it to sectionals and compete in the Class C sectionals, but there are a lot of good teams putting in the same work we are, so we have to wait and see until we get started."

With each turn of a new generation of football players at Norte Dame, Head Coach Rick Mancuso usually finds a way to mold the young players into a winning unit.

Mancuso, of course, stops short of making any predictions for the Fighting Irish in 2014, but he does say he has a good group of young men who have been working hard and putting in the time to get ready for another season.

"Last year, our JV team had a successful season, so they're coming in and they had a lot of experience last year towards the end," Mancuso said. "We pulled up some kids for sections who got some playing time, which is a big advantage for them. Hopefully, we can keep them motivated and learning every day."

The offense will now be in the hands of junior Connor Logsdon, who led that JV squad last year to its undefeated season.

He steps into the shoes of record-setting QB Tim McCulley, but Mancuso said Logsdon is now his own man with his own offense to run.

"We're not asking him to fill anybody's shoes," Mancuso said. "We're asking him to execute the offense and do what he can do. Everybody's got to do their 1/11th."

Not much about the offensive scheme will change from recent seasons. Notre Dame will run and it will pass and work at setting up scoring opportunities.

"Unless you've got all the horses up front, you can't run the offense one way or the other," Mancuso said. "We're going to mix it up. We'll pretty much run the offense we've been running right along. We won't be spread as much as we were. We'll be spread sometimes, but we've got the full confidence in this team being able to execute what we put in."

The Irish are coming off a 6-2 season that ended jarringly with a 28-0 loss to Alexander in the first round of Class D sectional play. 

Notre Dame opens the season at home against Oakfield-Alabama on Sept. 6 at 1:30 p.m.

"We've got a great group of guys," Mancuso said. "I think everybody is going to do their best to make the team successful."

The Batavia Bulldawgs and the Batavia Blue Devils met in a scrimmage this evening at Van Detta Stadium.

Who won?

Who cares. The Mini-Division (8-9 years old) Bulldawgs were clearly thrilled to be on Woodward Field and get a pre-game pep talk in the Blue Devils' locker room from Batavia Head Coach Brennan Briggs.

Briggs told his team that he heard the Bulldawgs defense hadn't given up a score yet this season, so the Blue Devils offense might have a tough time of it.

In the first series, the Bulldawgs stopped running back Dominick Mogavero behind the line of scrimmage and sacked QB Greg Mruczek.

On the first play, the Blue Devils linemen didn't block. Rather they grabbed each of the Bulldawgs in front of them and lifted them in the air over their heads. Above, offensive lineman Gunner Rapone lifts an obviously thrilled Nathaniel Heusinger.

There's a few story lines we could take with Le Roy football for the 2014 season.

The return of starters Mike McMullen at QB and Ryan McQuillen at receiver. A team coming off a 7-1 season but a need to avenge a disappointing OT loss in the Class C sectional final. The expectations on a team with a storied tradition that has a lot of tools, but will be relying on young offensive and defensive lines.

And then there is the final season of Head Coach Brian Moran, in search of his 200th victory, a possible 14th sectional title and -- dare we say it -- a second state title in 26 years at the helm.

The story line Moran has the least interest in, his final season.

"We don't really worry about the final year," Moran said. "We just come out and prepare these kids as best we can. Whether it's your first year or last year, we just want to focus and coach kids up best we can."

Starting with McMullen and McQuillen, the Oatkan-Knights do have some key starters returning, and all of them are guys that are in their third or fourth years on varsity, such as Jon Pierce, Jake Henry, Tom Kelso, Nick Egeling and Kody Lamkin.

That's a lot of talent on a team that we know will be well coached. Is it unfair to have high expectations?

Moran won't go there.

"Every year you come in, you expect to be successful," Moran said. "That's the first thing. Hopefully, we can get ourselves better and compete for a championship again. That will be interesting to see, but it will be up to how the kids perform and how they work together."

Much will depend on the big men up front.

"We're a little inexperienced up front and you're only as good as you play offensively and defensively on the line," Moran said. "Those kids are going to have to really focus and get themselves ready."

One thing's for sure, if history is any indication, Moran and his staff will do everything they can to prepare this team to compete at a high level. Coach's last year, or not.

Coming into his third year as Batavia's head football coach, Brennan Briggs said both he and his players approach the 2014 season with some optimism.

There are seven returning starters on both sides of the ball, QB comes into his junior season as a second-year starter and there should be some other weapons on offense to help put points on the board.

"Overall the kids' attitude is very good," Briggs said. "They're excited coming into this season. They know they can win some ball games."

Joining Mruczek in the backfield will be a "committee" of runners.

"We've got some thunder and we've got some lightning back there," Briggs said.

During the off season, Mruczek has put the time in to make himself better, according to Briggs. He's studied film and schemes and really picked his brain to understand what it takes to run the offense.

"He's really been doing a great job for us. Great attitude, great commitment."

The coach said returning players who also seem ready to step up their game include Devon Koepp, Gunner Rapone and James Cryer.

Several sophomores who were part of the varsity last year are ready to assume bigger roles in 2014.

The Blue Devils are coming off of two consecutive 3-5 seasons.

Overall, the Briggs era continues to move forward as he works to shape the program according to his vision. 

"One of biggest things, coming into a program and kind of making it your own is setting that bar, setting the expectations of where you want it to be, so the kids understand exactly what you want  from them," Briggs said. "I think we're getting to that point where the kids understand what's expected of them every single day. They understand what kind of effort I'm asking from them."

The first game is Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m., at Livonia. The first home game is Sept. 12, 7 p.m., against Wellsville.

As we move into August, football is in the air. The Batavia Bulldawgs started practices this week with sessions in the late afternoon at Kibbe Park. The first league games are Aug. 16, with Batavia hosting Attica at Lions Park.

After 30 years of coaching Le Roy High School football, Andrew Paladino is retiring at the end of the 2014 season.

Paladino was defensive coordinator under Head Coach Brian Moran for 25 years. This season will also be Moran's last, and he and Moran always said they would retire together.

"Also, it's time to go," Paladino said during a party in his honor at the shop of Bill Fox. "We've got three former players on staff now. We're leaving them in good hands. Brian Herdlein is a very capable coach. He'll do fine."

Paladino's Le Roy football career started as a player with junior varsity in 1970. In his junior year, as the only junior on the team, he was the starting center and made the All County Team. The following year he slimmed down and started at full back and line backer and was named to the All Rochester Team, the All State First Team, and was named a Prep All American.

Rather than go to college, Paladino decided to get married, take a job and stay in Le Roy.

His coaching career started a couple of years later when he became a youth football coach (as a kid he couldn't play youth football, he said, because he was too fat).

During the Moran/Paladino years, the Oatkan Knights won a state championship (1995) and more than a dozen sectional titles. 

At the party Saturday was Paladino's high school coach, Don Santini, who joined Paladino for a cigar. Paladino said, "This is the man who started it all right here."

Photo: Santini, Paladino and Ron Plummer.

The season may not be over for the Lyndonville Tigers.

Then again, it might be.

One thing President of Football Operations Taylor McCabe is pretty confident about is the team is not done and there will be a team on the field next season.

The semi-pro football team plays its home games in Pembroke and there's been reports recently that the team has folded.

It's true, McCabe said, that owner Harold Suhr has pulled out, but there are other people ready to step into the ownership role. It's just a matter of whether the ownership situation can be straightened out before this Saturday's 5 p.m. game in Pembroke.

"Harold Suhr chose to close up shop and his involvement is coming to an end," McCabe said. "There are other interested parties, current players, current management, people who are going to stay involved if the interested parties pick up the ball and run with it. We may be able to play our next game. Worst case, we forfeit the rest of the season and re-emerge next year."

McCabe said contrary to some reports, the Tigers have not lost eight players to another team. They lost two. The team has enough players to finish the season if an owner or owners can be found.

Semi-pro teams survive primarily on fundraisers and donations, and this season the fundraising hasn't gone so well, which has meant Harold Suhr had to dig into his own pocket, as owner, to ensure refs were paid, insurance was paid, and other minor miscellaneous expenses were covered.

"This year, we were last in fundraising," McCabe said. "One of the big things with this league is everybody has family, kids, social lives, family and work obligations. It's not like anybody is doing this full time."

Press release:

The Batavia Bulldawgs Youth Football & Cheer program will hold its 5th Annual Extreme Youth Football and Cheer Camp. This year’s camp cosponsored by Extreme Streetwear will be held at GCC Fields this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday July 10th – 12th.

Walk-up registration still available. Cost for the camp is only $30.

Campers will receive quality instruction from USA Football certified coaches, a camp T-shirt, and lunch at the end of camp on Saturday July 12th.

Camp on Thursday & Friday will run from 4 to 6:30 p.m. with check-in at 3:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 to noon with check-in at 8:30 a.m..

The camp is open to ALL athletes no matter what league affiliation between the ages of 6 to 13 years old by Dec. 1st. Birth certificate is required.

Camp is a stationed-based training where campers are divided by age and experience level so each athlete receives the right level of instruction and support. The Bulldawgs staff and volunteers will teach techniques, skills, and appreciation for all football positions and cheerleading in a fun, positive way!

For more information, please contact:
Extreme Streetwear at 585-344-4411
League Commissioner John Reigle – 716-228-5787
Cheer Director Sherri Wahr – 585-356-0639
Or by e-mail at bataviabulldawgsfootball@gmail.com