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Flexibility key for local football teams

Silver Creek/Forestville begins stretch of three games in nine days

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot A group of Silver Creek/Forestville defenders stop a Bishop Timon ball carrier last Saturday at Dunkirk’s Karl Hoeppner Field.

Clymer/Sherman/Panama lost its Class C South showdown with Southwestern on Tuesday of this week.

By Wednesday, the Wolfpack had a new Week 3 opponent.

Coaches have to stay on their toes during the 2021 Section VI spring football season.

C/S/P will now travel to Randolph to take on the Cardinals — a Class D opponent — at 7 p.m. tonight.

“I’m just happy that we’re going to get a game for our kids,” Wolfpack head coach Ty Harper said Thursday evening. “Randolph is a good opponent, and I’m happy for them that they get to play a game.”

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot The Black Knights’ Hunter Larson carries the ball.

Brent Brown’s team, which lost its Week 2 game due to a COVID-19 pause, became available after its regularly scheduled game against Maple Grove was canceled due to the Red Dragons not having enough players to field a team due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols.

“They are a great program. Historically they’ve had a lot of success. They are well-coached. I think it will be a good game,” Harper said. “I’m excited to compete with those guys. Our kids are excited to compete and I’m sure they are hungry for a game coming out of their pause.”

C/S/P and Randolph share some history, but this season the Wolfpack moved up to Class C after winning back-to-back Class D state championships.

“Having some experience playing against them I think helps. We’re pretty familiar with one another,” Harper said. “It’s not like we’re going into this completely blind with some of the things they are going to do. … They have a couple of good running backs and the quarterback is a good athlete. They have a typically massive Randolph offensive line. I think it will be a great test for us.”

Cassadaga Valley/Falconer also lost its regularly scheduled game at Allegany-Limestone tonight, but instead will travel to Springville for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Salamanca, which was scheduled for a bye this weekend, instead will travel to St. Joe’s Collegiate Institute in Buffalo on Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff against St. Mary’s.

Silver Creek/Forestville, which didn’t play Week 1 due to COVID-19 protocols, and then hosted Bishop Timon at Dunkirk’s Karl Hoeppner Field last Saturday, will begin a string of three games in nine days tonight.

“We practiced for six days, went on a pause, and then practiced four days preparing for Cattaraugus-Little Valley before we switched to Timon on Saturday,” Silver Creek/Forestville head coach Sean Helmer said. “We exchanged some film and then you do the best you can. That was hard, really hard.”

The Black Knights will host Portville in Dunkirk tonight, travel to Cattaraugus-Little Valley on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. kickoff and then host Maple Grove next Saturday in Silver Creek — assuming the Red Dragons are back in playing shape.

“Mentally, everybody knew you had to be prepared for whatever,” Helmer said about the approach to this season. “I would never, ever do that unless we were in this situation. The thought process was, we may never play a game, and we wanted our kids to be able to play a game.”

Gowanda/Pine Valley — now in a COVID-19 pause — lost its Week 3 game scheduled for tonight at Springville, which opened the Griffins up for their game against Cassadaga Valley/Falconer.

Section VI also announced Thursday’s Amherst at North Tonawanda game has been moved to Monday at 6 p.m.; tonight’s Tonawanda at Akron game was canceled; WNY Maritime-Health Sciences’ game against Burgard at Riverside Field on Saturday afternoon was canceled; Newfane will visit Tonawanda on Tuesday; next weekend’s Cardinal O’Hara at Cattaraugus-Little Valley game originally scheduled for Friday, April 23 will be played Saturday, April 24 at 6 p.m.; and next weekend’s North Tonawanda at Kenmore East game originally scheduled for Friday will be played Saturday at 7 p.m.

Also, an April 30 game featuring Allegany-Limestone at Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton was moved to a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Other regularly scheduled games tonight include Dunkirk traveling to Albion, Jamestown hosting Kenmore West and Franklinville/Ellicottville hosting Cattaraugus-Little Valley. On Saturday, Fredonia will host Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton in Dunkirk, and Eden/North Collins will visit Lackawanna.

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