It has been an up and down season for both the No. 3 Silver Creek Black Knights and the No. 6 Frewsburg Bears in Class D football, but with the Section 6 playoffs starting, it all comes down to the game at hand.
The Black Knights got off to a rocky start as they lost their first two games of the season while the Bears were winners in their first two.
Since then, Silver Creek has gone 4-1 while its counterparts finished a dismal 1-4 with one of those losses coming at the hands of the Black Knights.
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With everything that has happened so far in the past, the only thing that matters is tonight's matchup in Silver Creek.
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"It has been a steady week," Silver Creek coach Sean Helmer said. "We're pretty healthy and the kids are excited to play."
Silver Creek and Frewsburg met up just two weeks ago with Silver Creek edging out the visiting Bears 34-12.
Despite the win, Helmer is cautiously optimistic about his team's chances.
"It always scares me," Helmer said of playing the Bears just two weeks apart. "It is hard to be the team to win twice in the same season. It's easy to be over confident and we know Frewsburg is a good team. I would say our momentum is an advantage, but this is the playoffs and everyone is 0-0."
The Black Knights are coming off of a 34-0 shutout of Chautauqua Lake, something the No. 3 seed will look to continue with a strong defensive showing.
"We need to stay disciplined on defense," Helmer said. "We need to rally to the football and understand what we are doing. Our defense has given us great field position and kept us in games all year. Those things are going to be key for us."
On the other side of the ball, Silver Creek is coming off of three straight games of scoring 30 points or more, as it picked up wins in each of those games.
Offensively, there are a number of keys for a Black Knight victory.
"We need to stay balanced," Helmer said. "Our kids our elevating their game and the blocking has been quite a bit better. Zeddie (Williams) has been carrying more of the load for us and Tyler Baines and Zach Klisiewicz have given us the option to spread things out a little more."
The second season starts to night and with a number of key matchups, this game is one that could go a long way towards deciding who plays at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the Section 6 Finals.
