It’s no secret Otto-Eldred comes into tonight’s Allegheny Mountain League title game as underdogs.
The North division champion Terrors (5-4) face a daunting task in hosting undefeated Kane tonight at 7 o’clock in Duke Center, as the Wolves traveled to face Otto-Eldred in the season’s second week and left with a 42-7 win.
“I think both teams are different than Week 2,” Terror head coach Nick LaBella said. “I like to think that we’re playing better football.”
In that game, Kane quarterback Reed Williams (11-for-15, 272 yards) threw four touchdowns, while Ray Maze had four receptions for 114 yards and Davis Gardner caught five for 98 yards. Otto-Eldred’s Seth Drummond managed 62 yards on 21 carries, including a 29-yard second-quarter score.
Regardless, the Terrors’ players are completing a season goal of winning their division and hosting the game.
“It’s certainly been a goal to get to this game,” LaBella said. “It would certainly be a monumental upset if we were able to pull it out. I think our kids are excited for the opportunity. Knowing their toughness, I’m sure they’ll give everything they have [tonight].”
Kane is a perfect 9-0 and rolled through a gauntlet of AML South teams, but Otto-Eldred is also hot coming into tonight’s action. A 24-14 win two weeks ago at Coudersport put the Terrors in the AML North’s driver’s seat before returning home for 39-0 drubbing of Smethport to clinch not only a division title for the first time since 1975, but the first District 9 playoff berth ever for the school.
“Those guys are playing with a lot of confidence, which they should be,” Kane head coach Todd Silfies said about the Terrors. “Obviously the last five weeks, but Week 4 as well against Bradford.”
The Wolves, however, are in a familiar position under their fifth-year head coach, who has Kane in its sixth AML title game and third in his tenure. A win would not only give Kane back-to-back AML titles but an unbeaten regular season, the fifth in school history (1962, 2007, 2013, 2015) and third in Silfies’ tenure.
“Every year, you set out with an AML championship as a goal,” Silfies said. “I know it’s on the mind of our seniors. To be the first group in Kane history to have three of them, you don’t need anything extra.”
The Wolves have never lost in five AML title games, which is considered a regular season game despite it being a league championship contest.
“There’s nothing regular about an AML championship game,” Silfies said.
Silfies said he was proud of the way his team has handled being on top – the Wolves are two-time defending District 9 Class A champions and Class AA finalists the two years prior – and playing with composure knowing they’re getting opponent’s best shots.
“It’s a credit to these guys,” Silfies said. “Coming out, especially after last year, we’re on top and it’s hard to stay at the top. The almost professionalism of our players and how they approach each week…it’s the right approach and they buy into it and do it well.”
LaBella’s first task in taking down the Wolves will be to try and contain the quick Wolves’ offense and match Kane’s toughness on the offensive and defensive lines.
“I think it’s going to be really important that we can slow them defensively,” LaBella said. “We’re going to have to play an outstanding game of team defense rallying to the football. It’s going to be really important that we have hats on the football and force a couple turnovers.”
For Kane, the Wolves must slow down the trio of Sawyer and Seth Drummond and Grant West, the cogs to Otto-Eldred’s offense.
“They’ve got three guys who can run the ball really effectively,” Silfies said. “I think it’s important for us to come out and stop the run. They do some creative things offensively. They’re three really good football players. We have to be aware of them on both sides of the ball.”
Limiting the opposition’s splash plays – big yardage or game-breaking plays – may be a key for success for both sides. In Week 8, Kane’s Ange Costanzo (punt) and Frank Truden (interception) scored on returns, while Gage Babcock ran a 73-yard kickoff back for a touchdown to help Otto-Eldred take a two-point lead, 16-14, over Coudersport.
“I think we’re going to have to make a couple big plays, whether that’s on special teams or on offense. I think that’s going to be important for us.”
A win by Otto-Eldred would give the Terrors the fourth seed, and a home playoff game, in the Class A playoffs, while a loss drops them to sixth. Kane has already locked up the top spot in the four-team Class AA field and hosts fourth-seeded Moniteau (3-4) next week.
