It had already earned the reputation as one of the top Class D high school football leagues in the state.
Perhaps even the best.
That’s what happens when your division, which has generally fluctuated between six and eight teams over the last half decade, boasts six of 12 New York State champions since 2009 – between Randolph (‘09, 2012-14) and Clymer/Sherman/Panama (2018-’19) – a Franklinville/Ellicottville program that has mostly been a force since merging in 2014, a formerly dominant Maple Grove and stretches of serious contention from Portville and Frewsburg and previous members Salamanca and Chautauqua Lake …
Even those from the other side of the state, such as Nick Aiello, the Allegany native and current coach of reigning Class D champion Tioga, who’s always been complimentary of who he’s had to face coming out of Western New York, begin to take notice.
This fall, however, there may be no doubt as to which is the best.
A YEAR AGO, the Section 6 circuit boasted three of the top 15 teams in the state – Randolph (No. 5), F/E (No. 10) and C/S/P (No. 12) – plus an honorable mention in Portville. In fairness, so did the Class D league right next door in Section 5’s Oakfield-Alabama/Elba (No. 3), Avon (No. 9), Alexander (No. 13) and Bolivar-Richburg (HM).
In fact, when the two sides met head-to-head, in the Far West Regional, O-A/E edged Randolph, 28-22, denying the Cardinals an opportunity for their fifth NYS championship in the last 13 years.
Point, certainly, for Section 5.
But what might propel Section 6 to the top of the pack this year is what it has back … and what it’s added.
RANDOLPH returns all but a couple of key players from last year’s 10-1 team, including Big 30 Player of the Year Xander Hind, the rising senior tailback who rushed for an impressive 1,745 yards and 24 touchdowns last fall, and fellow Big 30 all-stars Ryan Carpenter (offensive line) and Jaiden Huntington (linebacker). C/S/P has become a perennial power under Ty Harper, having won state titles in 2018 and ‘19, and would have likely competed for one at ‘C’ level in 2020 had it not been for the pandemic.
Portville, after a transitional year, also returns just about everybody, including Big 30 all-star Zander Keim and star running back Kaedon Holcomb, and seems poised to rejoin the championship push. And F/E, under both Chad Bartoszek and now Jason Marsh, always finds ways to reload.
And it would be one thing if it were just those four teams, but it isn’t.
A six-team league last year, Section 6 Class D will jump to eight squads this fall, adding Wilson and Frewsburg. Wilson went 7-3 en route to a third-place finish in Class C North last year, and after just missing the sectional playoffs, went on to win the ‘C’ Funke Bowl. Frewsburg, meanwhile, which had previously been a program to be reckoned with – and combined with Randolph for a year – forged a solid 7-1 mark among the eight-man ranks in ‘21, dominating most foes and falling only to Red Jacket.
The only team gone from last year’s D standings is Silver Creek/Forestville (now up in Class C South), which struggled for much of the season, had to forfeit multiple contests and bowed out of the postseason.
OF COURSE, none of this is lost on the league’s coaches. And even in what might be as brutal a year as ever in the small-school circuit, the goal is still the same: “We’re here to win,” Portville coach Josh Broooks maintained.
“Everyone knows our league is very tough,” the fifth-year PCS coach said. “Randolph had a great season last year – returns quite a few, if not everybody. We all know Xander Hind’s back and he’s their guy.
“C/S/P has just been a machine the last five years, F/E’s done very well for themselves, too … so we have our work cut out for us. But we’ve been focused, and we have that experience back. That’s why we went with those younger kids last year, to get them ready. It’s really what we did.”
F/E’s Marsh echoed that sentiment.
“Randolph is the defending sectional champ,” he noted. “Obviously, you’ve got to feel that they’re the top dog right now and everyone’s chasing them.
“But for us, I think it’s a dog fight every week. I think our league is pretty even and there’s a lot of pretty good teams in it, especially when you’ve got Wilson and Gowanda coming down from Class C. Really for us, we feel that we’re going to be in a dog fight every week.”
They also know what playing in, and surviving in, a league as loaded in this one could do for them in the long run. This, Brooks acknowledged, is the kind of division from which whoever wins figures to have a strong chance at playing for a state title.
“Playing in a league that is so good, it prepares you for the playoffs,” he said. “You see it a lot where teams run through their league, then get to the playoffs and play another team with some sort of ability and they haven’t faced any adversity all year.
“Our kids have faced adversity already (particularly last year against the likes of Randolph and C/S/P). We’re really looking forward to the season.”
