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TNF - What to Watch for tonight in local high school football


There are no TV games airing tonight in WNY, but all games are being streamed somewhere.


WNYAthletics is heading to Southwestern tonight where the Trojan Bears are looking to stay undefeated. Here is a little preview of the games being played this evening.


Barker/Roy-Hart (1-1) @ Medina (2-0)

Section VI - C North Match-Up

Vets Park (335 West Oak Orchard St., Medina, NY)

5:30pm Kick-Off

Game Time Temp 79 Degrees

Partly Cloudy, WNW 10mph


The Raiders are coming off of their first win of the season, a 28-10 league win over Akron (0-2). In week 1, B/RH were routed by Class D Newfane. Meanwhile the Mustangs, despite having relatively low numbers are still showing WNY they are a powerhouse.


Medina was tested last week by Alden after cruising in week 1 against Silver Creek/Forestville. It’s not a huge surprise that they are undefeated, but the Raiders should provide for a more formidable opponent then they’ve seen thus far. Christian Moss is a top running back in Section VI and should be the focal point Thursday. If the Raiders can find a way to contain Moss they might be able to make it a close one. Preston Woodworth is a little known gem that has improved year after year. He can throw the ball and is a dual threat when he needs to be. His abilities add another dimension to the Medina offense. Woodworth was recognized by the Connolly Cup this past week. Expect Kolton Fletcher to play a big role in this one on both sides of the ball.


B/RH has some confidence and momentum on their side after defeating the Tigers last week but these next few games, starting tonight will tell us a lot about the Raiders. They built a comfortable lead last Friday before going into the half and closed it out. The defense will need to step up early and often especially against an underrated Mustang offensive line.


B/RH has a nice secondary and defend the pass well, can they stop the run? It was an issue vs. Newfane. If they can get that corrected this will be a good game. They’re senior leaders in McCaa, Fazzio, Adinolfe, Reiter and Schwab have to lead by example and pick their teammates up when adversity strikes. 


Portville (1-1) @ Southwestern/Frewsburg (2-0)

Section VI - C South Match-Up

Charles A. Lawson Field (600 County Touring Rte 32, Jamestown, NY 14701)

7:00pm Kick-Off

WNYAthletics Norm Rodrigues & Tom Prince have the call

Game Time Temp 71 Degrees

Sunny, WNW 6mph


Home games at Southwestern offer some of the best views in all of high school football. One of the best places to watch a game, especially at night. The Trojan Bears are cooking, led by senior quarterback Trent Lewis who has led the SW/F offense with his legs more then his arm up to this point. So far the Trojan Bears have made it look easy with early season wins over Cleve-Hill and Fredonia, both on the road. They’ll look to continue their momentum against a Portville team coming off a loss to Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton. 


The Trojan Bears look a lot like CWB in the fact that Portville will be facing another sound passing attack and an aggressive, no-nonsense defense. SW/F is playing well in all three phases, but Portville presents a bigger challenge all around then what they have seen so far.


It’ll be interesting to see how Portville comes out tonight after a short week of practice. SW/F comes in as a top ranked team in the state. They (Portville) have gone five straight quarters without scoring. Portville needs to establish a run game early and keep the ball out of Lewis’s hands or it could be a carbon copy of last week.


Other Games


Cheektowaga (1-1) at Lake Shore (0-2)

Section VI - Class B1 Match-Up

5:30pm Kick-Off


The Eagles need a win, bad. Class B is hard enough as it is, they really can’t afford another divisional loss. They face West Seneca East next week and that has trouble written all over it. Cheektowaga, despite having a win this season, has been a struggling program for a while now. Lake Shore cannot waste this opportunity.


The Chargers however, do have a little confidence on their side. Even though they lost last week to the aforementioned Trojans, they played hard, particularly in the third quarter, outscoring WSE 14-13. I have yet to see stats from that game (get your stats in coaches), but this Hae’von Lee from Cheektowaga looks to be a pretty good player for them. 


Lake Shore is led by senior quarterback Cooper Hazard, who has thrown three touchdowns so far this season. The Smaldino brothers, Tommy and Samuel are the prime targets amassing over 250 yards and 3 touchdowns between them. The Eagles weren’t able to get the running game going last week against South Park. Parker Klepfer and Bryson Reid are splitting carries, if they can get their run game going that could open up things for the passing game. That’s a much better team then the 0-2 record indicates. They played Eden/NC tough in the opener as well as the Sparks last Thursday.  


Franklinville/Ellicottville (0-2) @ Allegany-Limestone (0-2)

Section VI - Class D Match-Up

7:00pm Kick-Off

Two winless teams go at it tonight as the Gators host the Titans. After spending a couple seasons playing “8” man football, Allegany-Limestone is back and looking for their first win in “11” man since 2022. 


The Titans aren’t off to a great start this season. The CSP loss in week 1 slipped away in the 2nd half and then Newfane dropped 36 in the first half last week. Realistically though,  they played two bad quarters. I expect Franklinville/Ellicottville to dial it back or simplify things offensively. Rylan Benjamin takes over at QB after the starter Brady Tatlow was injured last weekend. 


Benjamin is a junior, caught two passes and a TD against CSP week 1 (no stats reported week 2). FE had run into some internal issues having stats done, it's a work in progress. I can't tell you what or who can make an impact in a must win game tonight vs A-L. The Titans did bring up a couple JV players to fill a few holes and will be counting on them to step in and help turn things around.


Senior Mat Burnett is leading the charge offensively for the Gators. Defensively, it’s a youth movement. The guys making the most tackles are all juniors and sophomores. Young team, assimilating back into the “11” man game have a chance today to get a win at home. 



Extra EXTRA....



Don't forget, every Friday night on WNYAthletics platforms we air the "Empire End Zone" with Francis Boeck and Jake Fyock. The show starts at 630pm and the guys go from game to game highlighting the teams and players in an NFL Red Zone format.


Did you catch the latest WNY High School Football Weekly show?



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