Franklinville/Ellicottville Titans (8-0) vs Clymer/Sherman/Panama Wolfpack (7-1)
New Era Field | Orchard Park, NY
Saturday | November 9, 2019
Kick-Off: 12 Noon
Radio: www.mixlr.com/wnyathletics
It’s a week three rematch between small school heavyweights CSP and Franklinville/Ellicottville. The Titans handed the Wolfpack their first loss in well over a year, 24-8, with Logan Frank rushing for over 140 yards rushing for one and throwing two touchdowns.
It was a stunning loss for CSP but a huge confidence builder for the FE Titans. Last season the Titans were playing up in Class C. Meanwhile, CSP not only took the Section VI Class D title (their first since merging four years prior) they breezed through the NYSPHSAA playoffs winning the state title.
The Wolfpack have most of their skill players back from that championship squad; Gerrit Hinsdale, Cam Barmore, and Zac Overton to name a few. Not returning; their entire offensive line, and it showed versus Franklinville/Ellicottville.
The Titans controlled the line of scrimmage all game and will be looking to win in the trenches on Saturday.
“That was an area where we needed to improve as the season went on,” head coach Ty Harper said in a recent interview. “FE was very aggressive and physical and we need to get better there if we play them again.”
The Titans rolled through the regular season and in their only playoff game last weekend versus Salamanca. They have put up 264 points in the process, only giving up 46 with two shutouts.
The story for FE has been the play of Frank. He’s receiving considerable attention from around the Section and has been mentioned as one of the top players in the area. Frank is just 93 yards away from reaching 1,000 yards for the season. He is tied with four other backs in WNY with 15 touchdowns.
The Wolfpack defense will have their hands full no doubt.
Offensively, the Wolfpack continue to display a pretty balanced attack. Connor Cooper has done a tremendous job running the football with 618 yards and 10 TDs. Barmore really shined in the second half of the 2018 season and is doing that once again here in 2019. Hinsdale continues to prove that he is a great on the field general, passing for over 1,300 yards and tossing 21 TDs (3rd best in Section VI). Perhaps two unsung heroes thus far for CSP have been Zac Overton and John Swabik whose special teams play has been a huge advantage for the Wolfpack all season.
It was 8-8 at the half in their first game but a 16 point Titans third quarter was the difference. FE suffocated the CSP offense in the second half. Will the Titans be able to duplicate that same success at New Era Field, that remains to be seen. The Titans were certainly confident on Tuesday at Media Day but rookie head coach Jason Marsh was quick too point out that CSP were defending champions and would be much improved in the rematch.