Fredonia Hillbillies quarterback Nick Whitfield looks to pass during a game earlier this season against Class C South foe Cassadaga Valley/Falconer. Fredonia plays Class C South’s Portville tonight. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

There is a lot on the line for the Fredonia Hillbillies (3-2) football team tonight at 7 p.m. against the Portville Panthers (4-1, 3-1) as it’s the Homecoming Game and for the seniors it could be their last game ever at the Orange Bowl as there will be home playoff games on the line.

The Hillbillies are coming off an unforgettable victory last week against the Thunderbirds in Westfield where Fredonia orchestrated another last second comeback. Hopefully, for the Hillbillies sake they can carry over some of that success into this week.

“I’m hoping that it pays dividends knowing that we can get down,” Fredonia head coach Greg Sherlock said about Fredonia’s ability to comeback from a deficit. “We had some explosive passes and explosive athletes to get back. Gardner’s 50-yard catch and run, Nick’s ability to extend plays and Skinner brings a lot too.”

In the first half of the game last week, Jake Skinner showcased his ability in the backfield and Fredonia showed that as an option in the running game.

“I think it’s a week-to-week thing,” Coach Sherlock said about using Skinner in the back field. “That wouldn’t have been a good recipe for other games. He’s a big kid that can move, I don’t think anywhere else you’d see him at running back, he can catch the ball well. It’s about getting the ball to your playmakers.”

Last week Skinner looked unstoppable out of the backfield as he powered Fredonia’s offense into position for their first two scores. Whether it is Skinner, Dalton Gardner or Dom Gullo out of the backfield, the Hillbillies want to establish a strong ground game against Portville tonight. Establishing the ground game will be very helpful for the young quarterback Nick Whitfield.

“Offensively we have to be able to run the ball, then we will be able to pass the ball,” stated Coach Sherlock. “Nick, we always want to run the ball to make things easy for him… you’ve gotta be comfortable. I think his development is coming along well, he’s dodging guys, but his eyes are always downfield. If you give a receiver an extra five seconds it helps a lot… not a lot of kids can do what he can do.”

If Fredonia expects to keep up with the second best offense in the division, in Portville, they’ll have to excel both in the run game and the passing game, along with playing better defense this week.

“Our defense needs to play better than they did last week,” stated Coach Sherlock.

The Panthers offense will prove difficult to stop, as they feature both a strong running game and passing game. The running game is highlighted by Jayden Lassiter who has rushed for 639 yards and 13 touchdowns thus far and Lassiter added two more receiving touchdowns on the year. Dalton Tobola will also feature as the primary receiving threat for the Panthers with 332 receiving yards and four touchdown catches on the year.

“They have a very big tackle who is a good athlete, Austin Babb,” Coach Sherlock said about Portville. “From the line standpoint, they spread, they have a lot of experience we knew how good they were from day one. I’m glad there is only one ball.”

Portville started the year with Mike Stillman at quarterback, but last week Hunter Griffin was in and they still went off in their 40-12 victory over Allegany-Limestone.

“Their quarterback can put the ball on the money,” stated Coach Sherlock. “Last week Griffin was the quarterback and they didn’t lose a step.”

If the Fredonia seniors want to secure another home game at the Orange Bowl they’ll have to play an all-around game to keep up with the potent Portville offense and try to play as defensively sound as they did in the early part of the game against Southwestern two weeks ago.