New Team, Same Championship Goals For Alden Football

There’s really no need for Alden High School football coach Rob Currin so sit down with his Bulldogs to discuss the season goals. The expectations don’t change in Alden, home of a proud program that has been among the best in Section VI in recent years.

It doesn’t really matter that the Bulldogs return just one starter on offense and two on defense. Year after year, it’s still championship or bust for Alden.

“Our expectation is always to win the division, to win the section,” said Currin, Alden’s fourth-year head coach who has won two division titles in his first three years. “That’s always the expectation … and you know what? Anything that isn’t that is us coming up short.”

For nearly a decade, Alden has been an elite small school program in Western New York, first under the Hall of Famer Dick Dimunico and then Currin, who took over in 2013. The Bulldogs lost a lot from last year’s Class B East championship team, which finished the regular season undefeated. But they do inherit some talent from a junior varsity team that was 6-2.

Despite the new faces, the Bulldogs still feel they can compete with the best in Class B. “We’re looking good,” senior center J.J Foster said. “A lot of us have been playing together for a long time so we’ll be fine. We’re just looking to work well together and have a good season. We’re looking to get to New Era Field and win a championship, that’s always the plan.”

Junior quarterback Bryan Cybulski, who took over the starting job for the final two games of his freshman year and then started every game last year, returns under center and is expected to be a leader for the Bulldogs.

Probably the biggest graduation loss is that of running back Lyle Grant, a three-year starter who also placed second at the state wrestling tournament. Grant continued a long run of star running backs at Alden, headlined by 2012 Connolly Cup winner Corey Barczykowski.

Taking over that role is Christian Snell, a 6-foot, 170-pound senior. And Currin expects Snell to continue the tradition.

“Christian Snell is a pretty darn good tailback for us,” Currin said. “Every year, there’s just a good tailback here. You certainly can’t replace Lyle Christian’s a different type of back, but he’s going to do a good job for us.” And the quarterback and running back will always have fine protection in Alden – and that sure doesn’t change this year. Up front, the line will be led by seniors Foster and Glenn Drew as well as junior Bobby Meyer.

The Bulldogs have plenty of talent all around the field on both sides of the football. Justin Daucher will play tight end as well as defensive end and Brandon Windnagle will be a hard-hitter at fullback and linebacker.

“We’re pretty solid as a team.” Daucher said. “We’re coming together. We lost a lot from last year, but we have a good group here and we’re coming together like brothers. I think we’re going to be really good this year.”