WNYAthletics High School Football Week 2 Preview

Class AA

Williamsville North heads to Clarence for a Friday night game featuring two of the best teams in the division. Each put up impressive numbers in Week 1 but keep in mind they played against non-league opponents from Class A.

Each team features some of the top players at the skilled positions like the Spartans’ Joe Nusall (QB) and Dylan Kelly (WR) or the Red Devils’ Jack Putney (QB) and Jon Stevens (RB/WR). This game however will be won in the trenches. Williamsville North dominated the line of scrimmage last week as did Clarence. I believe the Spartans have more beef on both sides of the ball not to mention the experience which gives them the advantage.

Lancaster has a date with Hutch-Tech at Riverside and the Legends are the odds-on favorite. This game will be a lot closer than you think. The Engineers still have one of the best defenses around and will give the young Lancaster offense fits.

Bennett had a rough go of it last Friday against St. Joe’s but rebounded nicely with a 51-7 blowout versus Lockport Thursday night.

Orchard Park is playing Niagara Falls at the right time – early in the season. The Quakers’ offensive line and power running backs will be too much for the young Wolverines.

Class A

West Seneca West and Niagara Wheatfield should be in good shape for their weekend matches against Kenmore West and Frontier respectively.

Hamburg takes the long drive to Jamestown to face a Savon VanSickle-less Red Raider team. Advantage Bulldogs.

McKinley heads to Grand Island for a late game Saturday without Cam Sionko. The Vikings QB will miss some time. The Macks are a team that too many people are sleeping on. Better wake up.

Williamsville East struggled to move the ball against crosstown rival Will North last weekend. They should have more success against Kenmore East. Don’t expect the Bulldogs to just show up though, they can play with the Flames.

North Tonawanda and Sweet Home suffered hard losses last weekend but they played two of the absolute best teams in Class A. The Panthers host the Lumberjacks on Friday.

Starpoint, West Seneca East, South Park and Amherst each won in their opening games last weekend.

Starpoint hosts Amherst in what could be a tough match up for the Tigers.

South Park is hosting WNY Maritime Charter/Health Sciences at All-High on Saturday. The Sparks can’t afford to lose.

The Trojans play another road game this week at Williamsville South. The Billies had their hands full last week with Hutch-Tech. WSE is a tough opponent no doubt but a little more their speed.

Class B

Cheektowaga hosts East Aurora/Holland Friday on their brand new turf field.

Pioneer visits Iroquois in one of the top games of the weekend.

Maryvale hosts Lewiston-Porter. Expecting the Flyers to have another good game but the Lancers and Joe Powers may have something to say about that.

Lake Shore plays at Eden/North Collins on Saturday.

Albion hosting Lackawanna is definitely one of the best games going this weekend. Both teams are coming off big wins. Can Albion’s defense slowdown that high-powered Steelers offense?

Medina/Lyndonville pulled off a nice, come-from-behind win last weekend while Springville struggled mightily against Maple Grove (Class D). Don’t let that score scare you off, this will be a close game.

Olean felt the wrath of Albion last Friday while Depew blew a 4th quarter lead. I like the Tigers at home and senior QB Joe Pagano in this one.

Did you see Dunkirk and senior Quantavis Kleckley last week? Expect another big performance Friday at Tonawanda.

Burgard and Fredonia/Brocton also scored victories in week one, while Alden, Newfane, Tonawanda and Eden/North Collins lost.

Newfane (1-1) picked up a convincing road win Thursday night at Burgard (1-1) 35-8.

Class C

Gowanda/Pine Valley is off to a quick start after defeating Roy-Hart last Friday 34-7, they’ll face JFK (0-1) at home this week. Could be a shoot-out.

Wilson travels to face long-time nemesis Cleve-Hill for a Saturday game played at Maryvale high school. The Lakemen need to find a way to stop the Golden Eagles rushing attack. Wilson has one of the best QB’s in the area in Steve Frerichs, who also led the team in tackles last Friday.

Akron pulled out a nice road win over JFK last Saturday. They head south Friday night to tackle Silver Creek/Forestville (0-1).

Roy-Hart (0-1) is also on the road, they’ll face Cattaraugus/Little Valley (0-1) who is coming off a 26-20 loss against Salamanca.

The game of the night in Class C South is Randolph/Frewsburg heading over to play Southwestern. Both teams are off to good starts. This game features week one Trench Trophy nominee Andrew Bernard (RF) and 2017 Connolly Cup finalist Cole Snyder (SW).

Chautauqua Lake (1-0) takes on Cassadaga/Falconer and the beast, known as Robbie Penhollow, who rushed for over 200 yards last weekend in a 41-12 loss. The Thunderbirds are looking to make it two wins in a row for head coach Curt Fischer.

Portville, Allegany-Limestone, Franklinville/Ellicottville and Cassadaga/Falconer all lost in week one by a combined score of 33-140.

Class D

One of the best games anywhere in WNY tonight will be played at Maple Grove where the Red Dragons host Clymer/Sherman/Panama (CSP). The Wolfpack have not been able to beat Maple Grove and dropped their semi-playoff game last fall. I’ll be keeping close tabs on this one.

Catt/Little Valley (0-1) hosts Roy-Hart (0-1) and Salamanca (1-0) will travel to play Franklinville/Ellicottville (0-1) in non-league contests.

Monsignor Martin

Canisius (1-0) will travel to Rochester to play Section V’s McQuade Jesuit (1-0). The Knights won 48-0 over Edison Tech/School Without Walls, while the Crusaders beat WNY Maritime Charter/Health Sciences. This will be a good test for QB Christian Veilleux.

St. Joe’s (1-0) is heading to Erie, PA tonight to tackle McDowell (1-0). Last weekend the Marauders rolled Bennett while the Trojans took down St. Francis in a 58-33 shoot-out.

St. Francis (0-1) will host the Erie Royals (0-2) for a rare Friday night home game in Athol Springs. Sophomore QB Jake Ritts broke a Red Raiders individual game record for passing yards last weekend. Another player you want to watch for is fellow sophomore TE Antonio Corsi.

O’Hara (at Bishop-Kearney), Timon (vs Notre Dame – Utica) and St. Mary’s of Lancaster (vs UPrep) are all back in action as well and looking for their first wins.

The 5 BIG Games You’ll want to Follow

Williamsville North @ Clarence

Lackawanna @ Albion

CSP @ Maple Grove

Pioneer @ Iroquois

Wilson vs Cleve-Hill @ Maryvale (Sat)

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