Just a quick note.
My high school football previews have been pushed back until Thursday this week because I'm working on something special.
So make sure you check back throughout the day as I will be posting them as I complete them.
I was just taking a look at the current standings for the Section 5 Tournaments and figured I would relay where are local teams are and what that means come playoff time.
The most exciting tournament locally will be in Class C, where local team currently hold the top 3 spots.
Le Roy sits at 5-0 and has the top seed at this point with two big games left on the schedule. A pair of victories over Class DD Caledonia-Mumford and Class B Hornell would wrap up that spot.
Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke are both also undefeated and are No. 2 and 3, respectively. Those two teams will be playing each other on Friday night and the winner will have the upper-hand on the second seed, with a shot at No. 1 if Le Roy loses either of its final two games.
Pembroke will host Class B Attica in the final week of the season and O-A will host Class C Holley.
Elba/Byron-Bergen (1-4) and Holley (0-5) are the other two local teams in Class C and at this point it looks like the Hawks are eliminated and will be playing Pool Play games.
The Lancers are probably going to need a victory over Class D Notre Dame this weekend and/or a victory over Section 6's Bishop Walsh in Week 7 to get in. Elba/B-B is the 9th seed right now with the same record as No. 8 Dansville. No. 7 South Seneca (3-2) is too far ahead to be caught.
Attica and Batavia are both 3-2 and look to be fairly safe in Class B as far as making the tournament.
Wayland-Cohocton, Penn Yan and Waterloo are all 1-4 and would need a lot of things to go their way to get in.
But both local Blue Devil squads have a chance to move up as high as No. 5 as Palmyra-Macedon and Livonia share records with Attica and Batavia.
Batavia will play East Rochester/Gananda - the current No. 4 seed - and Geneva - the current No. 1 seed - to wrap up the regular season.
Attica will play Holley and then Pembroke.
Cal-Mum is 5-0 and has the top seed in Class DD, but Alexander moved closer to getting the No. 3 seed with last week's victory over Elba/Byron-Bergen. The Trojans are 2-3 and the fourth seed, with Avon at No. 3.
Alexander will need a win over Barker - which is 1-4 with the No. 6 seed in Class DD - and an Avon loss against Class C Letchworth to move up to the No. 3 seed.
The Class DD and D playoffs start a week sooner than the higher classes.
Notre Dame is 3-2 and currently has the No. 4 seed in Class D. As far as I can tell, the Fighting Irish could end up anywhere from No. 2 through No. 6 depending on the outcome of the games this weekend.
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.
Oakfield-Alabama (4-0) at Attica (3-1)
7 p.m. Friday
It doesn't get much bigger than this one as Attica must win to have a shot at a tie for the Genesee Region League title and the Hornets need a win to make next week's game against Pembroke basically give the winner a shot at being an individual champion.
The battle on the line is going to determine the winner as both teams have had big years running the football, with O-A's line being led by Craig Campbell and Chris Williams.
The game is Attica's homecoming so the Blue Devils will have some extra motivation.
Andy Ruddock is going to get the ball a bunch of times for Attica - and why not - he's been one of the top performers in the league thus far.
The senior has gained 608 yards with eight touchdowns on 62 carries and works as a featured back in coach Jeff Cusmano's offense.
The Blue Devils will pound the ball with Ruddock, hoping he can pop off a couple of big runs.
If O-A's defense can manage to hold him in check, Brandon Rollins is going to put the ball in the air.
He's gone 22-of-37 for 385 yards and six touchdowns this season.
The top target in the passing offense is Shawn Dupuis, who has hauled in 12 balls for 214 yards and four scores.
Williams and Brad Riner lead the defense with 20 tackles and their unit will be trying to force Rollins to beat them. Both Derek Hicks and Evan Kotarski have 19 tackles apiece with Noah Seward pitching in 18 tackles with four sacks.
Oakfield-Alabama's offense is going to continue to pound the football and Attica knows what is coming - like every other team - but will have to work to stop it.
Smith won Class C Offensive Player of the Week this week after a huge performance and now has 489 rushing yards with seven touchdowns.
He got the bulk of the carries last week, but coach John Dowd will give the ball to Riner (301), Jason Stanley (199) and Joe Natalizia (221) as well.
Attica's defense will be led by Luke Pariso and his 28 tackles. Dave Jennings has 22.
O=A moved up to 11th in the state.
Oakfield United Methodist Church
Pork Roast Dinner
October 18th
hasEML = false;
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:
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:
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:
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."
I just want to remind everyone that tomorrow (the 17th) is a big day in the Oakfield community. Oakfield Youth Group is having a spaghetti dinner - chinese auction for 9th grader Carl Bish at the Oakfield Fire Hall. Carl has recently been diagnosed with cancer and we are hoping to raise money to help the family with growing costs. The event is 4:30 - 7:30 at the Oakfield Fire Hall. Tickets are $7.00 adults, $5.00 kids 12 and under.
We have been overwhelmed by the generousity of the whole area. We have over 125 baskets for the Chinese auction, plus numerous large items that are to be raffled off. I hope everyone can come and see what great kids we have in our community.
If anyone has questions or needs tickets...please call 409-9527.
Thank you.
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