x
Breaking News
More () »

Dick Gallagher's Sidelines - Week 2

Dick Gallagher gives his thoughts as we head into week 2 of the 2018 high school football season.
Credit: WGRZ
Dick Gallagher

Booster Club Presidents of the Week:

Sherrie Tonkin, Jamestown

Sara Maniscalco, Williamsville North

Academic Achievers of the Week:

Brendan Gawel, Starpoint (95 GPA)

Drew Boggs, Jamestown (93 GPA)

Mason Bestine, CSP (95 GPA)

Jon Stephens, Clarence (97 GPA)

Nick Maniscalco, Williamsville (93 GPA)

Top Athletic Complex: St. Joe’s

Referee of the Week: Paul Gagliardi & John “The King” Drobits

Top Band: Orchard Park

Top Refreshment Stand: St. Joe’s

Top JV Program: Canisius

Tackling Machine: C.J. Ozolins

Assistant Coaches of the Week: Canisius

Best Chain Crew: St. Francis

Top Ambassador: Len Jankiewicz

Top Principal: Thomas Stack, Albion

Most Photogenic Player: Ben Schoenle, Canisius

Most Media Friendly Football Program: Canisius

Alumnus of the Week: Tyree Brown, South Park

Question for the Week: Why are so few parents at Williamsville South helping out the sports boosters?

Best Dancer: Ugene Harrison, Albion

Most Photogenic Coach: Dean Santorio, Grand Island

Superintendent of the Week: Jon McSwan, Cleveland Hill

Best Team Nickname: “Thunderbirds” Chautauqua Lake

Best Fan: Ken Stoldt

Worst Dancer: Brian Wild, Lancaster

Name for the Week: Savon Vansickle, Jamestown

Best Uniform: St. Francis

Class Acts: Jack Putney and Jon Stevens, Clarence

Best Fans: West Seneca West

Best Dressed Coaches: Clarence

Best Game Program: Depew

Top Statistician: Ken Partel, Alden

Best Announcer: Vic Martucci, Clarence

Best Trainers: Chris Dukat, Ryan Rajak, Lancaster

Best Nickname: Aaron Wahler, Cleveland Hill

Best Voice: Zach Vaticano, Maryvale

Journalist of the Week: Patrick Nagy, Amherst Bee

Best Restaurant: Chefs

Top Assistant to the Athletic Director: Mary Faracca, Williamsville East

Best Comedian: James McCarthy, Clarence

Fastest Players of the Week: Clarence Thomas, South Park and Carlos Lewis, Burgard

Strongest Players of the Week: David Meyers, Starpoint and Mike Rigerman, Pioneer

Tallest Players of the Week: Max Bowden, Starpoint and Greg Poland, Williamsville North

Photographer for the Week: Jim McCoy, Buffalo News

Best Mascot: Clarence

Top Quarterbacks: Connor Desiderio, Maryvale and Deabeyon Humphrey, South Park

Top Running Backs: Michael Pataky, Orchard Park and Joe Jamison, Canisius

Top Wide Receivers: Marcel Wilson and Archie Bartolotti, Orchard Park

Top Offensive Linemen: Cole Gambino, St. Joe’s and Nick Hamme, West Seneca East

Top Defensive Linemen: Jemelle Jones, Williamsville South and Michael Woodruff, Hutch-Tech

Top Linebackers:

Mike Glinski, West Seneca West

Justin Mott, Starpoint

C.J. Ozolins, Canisius

Dylan Kelly, Williamsville North

Top Defensive Back: Bryan Ball, West Seneca West

Top Kicker: Tristian Vandenberg, Canisius

Slogan for the Week: “Talk with your pads, play with you heart.”

Nicknames

Rob “Dr. Sack” Giancarlo, Sweet Home

Joel “Broadway” Nicholas, Canisius

Alex “Bambi” Card, Southwestern

Joe “Bulldog” Powers, Lew-Port

Marcel “Wheels” Wilson, Wilson

Dawson “Wonderboy” Tyger, St. Francis

Scott “Knuckles” Becht, Williamsville North

Savon “Thunder” Vansickle, Jamestown

Predictions Week 2

Bennett

Burgard

Lancaster

Orchard Park

Williamsville North

Jamestown

West Seneca West

McKinley

Williamsville East

Sweet Home

West Seneca East

Starpoint

Cheektowaga

Pioneer

Maryvale

Depew

Medina

Albion

Dunkirk

Fredonia/Brocton

Cattaraugus/LV

Silver Creek/Forestville

Gowanda

Southwestern

Allegany-Limestone

Franklinville/Ellicottville

Maple Grove

CV/Falconer

South Park

Niagara Wheatfield

Eden

Cleveland Hill

Canisius

Erie Prep

Timon/St. Jude

University Prep

Bishop Kearney

The following 12 WNY Football Alumni are playing professional football in 2018

Rob Gronkowski, Williamsville North – New England

J.C. Trotter, Akron – Cleveland Browns

Brett Kern, Grand Island – Carolina

Corey Graham, Turner Carroll – Philadelphia

Chad Kelly, St. Joe’s – Denver

Damone Harris, Timon/St. Jude – Tampa Bay

David Fluellen, Lockport – Tennessee

Luke Tasker, St. Francis – Hamilton CFL

Naaman Roosevelt, St. Joe’s – Saskatchewan, CFL

Mercer Timmis, Canisius – Hamilton CFL

Top Games Week 3

Lancaster at Williamsville North

Williamsville South at South Park (AH)

Maryvale at Pioneer

Burgard at Albion

Sweet Home at Grand Island

Stongest Players

Class AA – Dylan Kelly, Williamsville North

Class A-1 – Taige White, Jamestown

Class A-2 – Jake Meyers, North Tonawanda

Class A-3 – Jemelle Jones, Williamsville South

Class B-1 – Tyler Ellis, Pioneer

Class B-2 – Izaiah Rhim, Medina

Class B-3 – Antonio Norwood, Burgard

Class C North – Drew Westmoreland, Wilson

Class C South – Brandon Watkins, Allegany-Limestone

Msgr. Martin Association – Tyler Doty, St. Joe’s and Eric Schon, St. Francis

Cheerleaders of the Week - Clarence

Alexis Amodio

Alyssa Arena

Ashley Bertrand

Olivia Blarr

Elizabeth Bockus

Mackenzie Buono

Kaitlin Casilio

Brooke Crossley

Abby Curtis

Jillian Dry

Sara Gennaro

Neyla Giannone

Victoria Gradl

Ava Grande

Ashley

Guidie

Natalie Hallac

Adrienne Honaker

Julie Mannarino

Kristin Olivieri

Maria Phelps

Sydney Randall

Olivia Raupp

Emma Riedel

Autumn Smith

Faith Tezna

WNY High School Football Quiz Week 2

Which 2 players passed for 3000 yards in a season?

Which WNY team has the most state football championships and how many?

Which player holds the WNY record for touchdowns in a season?

What player rushed for 100 yards in 13 consecutive games in a season?

What two kickers booted 60 yard field goals?

Which player holds the record for most tackles in a season?

Who are the players who made the Buffalo News All-WNY first team for 3 consecutive years?

Which two players caught passes for 300 yards in a game?

What player scored the most points in his career?

North Tonawanda has a new turf field and sports complex.

Passing combination: Keshone Beal to Tamel Bass, Cheektowaga

Twin Terrors: Louis and Zach DeCarolis, Newfane

Pioneer junior RB Trae Hill rushed for 1400 yards for the Panthers JVs last season.

Nichols football program which started in 1895 canceled their games due to a low number of players. The Vikings were 1-14 in the past 2 seasons. Nichols had merged with Niagara Catholic and Christian Academy to increase their rosters but it didn’t result with any impact of new players. Also, the closing of Niagara Catholic didn’t help. The Vikings football history had a number of outstanding teams and athletes. The head coaches also had a difficult time scheduling games with Section VI teams.

Shayne Harrington is the new QB for the Newfane Panthers this season.

Best Booster Club Event – Williamsville South Sports Booster Club Golf Tournament at Akron Dande Farms

Brian Stoldt who was an All-WNY and All-State player at Alden is now a graduate assistant coach at Alfred University.

Mikel Lewis-Myree from North Carolina has transferred to Canisius.

Section VI Football League Chairmen include:

Class AA: Len Jankiewicz and Bob Casley

Class A-1: John Faller

Class A-2: Mike McFadden

Class A-3: Tim Delaney

Class B-1: Scott Zipp

Class B-2: Rob Valenti

Class B-3: Doug Ames

Class C North: Glen Graham

Class C South: Jay Sirianni

Class D: Chris Payne

East Aurora has a new complex including a turf field.

Night football made its debut in Lancaster on October 18th, 1935. The Maroons joined Tonawanda, Jamestown and Dunkirk as the first programs with lights enabling teams to play Friday and Saturday nights.

State Classification Numbers For Football

Class AA: 1025 +

Class A: 585-1024

Class B: 355-584

Class C: 230-354

Class D: 0-229

Frank Payne, Tom Goddard and Mark Kensy are all on Clarence’s coaching team for Paul Burgio.

Teams in Class A and B which have 3 leagues each will only count their league games for playoff decisions.

ECC football team has 99 players with 43 coming from WNY high school football teams.

For the 2018 season, several football referees will be able to have microphones and ear pieces to help them communicate with other referees on their squad.

Gene Tundo, former head coach at Orchard Park who retired in 2017 is now the Wide Receiver’s coach at ECC.

Freshman to Watch: A.J. McDuffie, Amherst JV

Aquinas in Section V has won 4 of the last 6 Class AA sectional titles. The Irish is returning their starting offensive line for 2018. Also Victor is now in Class A.

Micah Brown, St. Joe’s, is an All-WNY candidate at QB.

12 WNY alumni are playing professional football. 6 of the 12 are from the Msgr. Martin Association. 9 are in the NFL and 3 in the CFL.

Grand Island varsity for the past 2 years is 12-5 while their JVs are 15-1-0.

Grand Island starting linemen include Kenny Yockey, Henry Grunzweig, Anthony Seifert and Brandon Vedella.

Steve Frerichs, Wilson senior QB, passed for 21 touchdowns, 1664 yards, 126 completions and 239 attempts in 2017.

Bob O’Connor, longtime St. Joe’s head coach is again at Bennett this season.

Three football teams in Section III dropped playing 11 man football and will play eight-man football this season. The league chairperson had to re-work schedules for Class D teams. The primary reason for the change was low turnouts when the season football practices started. There are now 30 teams in NYS playing 8 man football with none in Section VI.

Classification Class AA

Hutch-Tech: 3591

Bennett: 1680

Niagara Falls: 1523

Lancaster: 1373

Orchard Park: 1144

Clarence: 1085

Lockport: 1038

Williamsville North: 1028

Note: Canisius will play St. Joe’s in their rivalry on Friday, September 28th at New Era Field at 7pm.

Note: The Msgr. Martin Football Championship will be held on Saturday, November 17th at All-High Stadium.

Assistant coaches at St. Joe’s include Rodney Barons, Tony Formato, Matt O’Malley, Earl Perrin and Carmen Zagarrio.

Class Act: Jordan Prince, Orchard Park

Jack Brandon who was a junior QB at Canisius has transferred to a school out of state.

Only 17 head football coaches have more than 11 years as head coach.

Before You Leave, Check This Out