The Clymer/Sherman/Panama football team gathers for a group photo after defeating Wilson in the Section VI Class D title game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. OBSERVER photo by Matt Spielman

ORCHARD PARK — Winning a Section VI championship isn’t easy.

Clymer/Sherman/Panama made it look that way Thursday evening.

Junior quarterback Tate Catanese went 12 of 17 for 133 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding a pair of rushing touchdowns, as the top-seeded Wolfpack beat No. 3 Wilson 38-12 in the Section VI Class D title game at Highmark Stadium.

“It’s the hours spent doing things the right way when no one is watching that lead to great accomplishments. These kids have done everything that we’ve asked them to do,” Clymer/Sherman/Panama head coach Ty Harper said postgame. ” … These kids have met every challenge with enthusiasm and continue to work hard to achieve all of the goals that we set for them.”

“In our minds, we knew we were going to be pretty good. This is just one step,” Catanese added. “We won this one and we know we just have to keep getting better every day. This is pretty important, but we all know there is a more important step we have to take.”

Clymer/Sherman/Panama dominated in all three phases of the game.

The offense scored on all five of its trips inside the red zone, junior Bryce Hinsdale and the special teams forced the Lakemen to start three of their drives inside the 3-yard line, and the Wolfpack defense forced a pair of turnovers and held Wilson’s Jack Mahar – Section VI’s second-leading rusher entering the day – to just 77 yards on the ground.

“The defense has been crucial all year. It’s been a big motivator. The defense really just feeds off the offense and the offense feeds off the defense,” Hinsdale said. “When the defense plays well, our offense is put into positions to succeed.”

Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s defense made the first “splash play” of the game when junior Dalton Richter intercepted a deflected pass to set up his offense at the 16-yard line midway through the first quarter.

“He’s fantastic,” Harper said of Richter. ” … He fills it as a tackler probably better than any player we’ve ever had at that position and now he’s developing really good ball skills. I’m not surprised that Dalton made a big play today.”

Five plays later, on fourth-and-goal, Catanese scored on a 2-yard run that made it 8-0 after Catanese connected with Carson Pinzok on the 2-point conversion.

“He’s really special. I don’t know how else to say it other than that,” Harper said of Catanese. ” … We know if we put the ball in his hands running he’s going to be tough to stop and he’s making great decisions throwing. When you have a player like that at quarterback, you have a chance to be really special.”

Kaden Beckerink broke up a long third-down pass on the Lakemen’s ensuing drive to force a punt. The Wolfpack then drove 83 yards in eight plays, aided by a personal-foul penalty against Wilson. On second-and-4 from the 23-yard line, Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s offense lined up vertically, single file in a row of 11 behind the center, before shifting into formation. Junior tight end Alex Barmore came free down the middle of the field and caught a touchdown pass from Catanese to make it 15-0 after Hinsdale’s first of three successful point-after kicks.

“Force the defense to make a split-second read on what the formation is and get lined up. We were able to get them on that,” Harper said. “Tate made a great throw and Alex made a great catch. That worked the way we drew it up.”

Two drives later, after starting at Wilson’s 34-yard line, Clymer/Sherman/Panama needed just three plays to make it 22-0 on a 6-yard touchdown run by Catanese with 2:12 left in the first half.

The Wolfpack scored on their first two drives of the second half – Catanese threw a 5-yard touchdown to junior Carter Brink and senior Bryce Posker ran for a 4-yard touchdown – as the score ballooned to 35-0 with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter. The final score was set up by a 42-yard completion from Catanese to Hinsdale.

“Mahar came up and he was hip to hip with me. I tried to make a play,” Hinsdale said of the long catch. “Tate put it perfectly where I could get it and he couldn’t.”

As Clymer/Sherman/Panama ran out the final 12 minutes of the game, it clinched its first sectional crown since winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.

“We obviously want the end goal, which is to go to Syracuse and win there,” Hinsdale said. “But this is a really good feeling.”

Coincidentally, the Wolfpack won New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at the end of both of those seasons.

“We were totally focused on tonight. We didn’t want to take Wilson lightly,” Harper said. ” … We’ve got more goals to accomplish so we’re going to keep working hard.”

NOTES: Clymer/Sherman/Panama will take on Section V’s champion next Friday at 5 p.m. at Williamsville South High School. York/Pavilion and Canisteo-Greenwood will play for the Rochester-area title at 7 p.m. today at SUNY Brockport. … Catanese led the Wolfpack in rushing with 62 yards and Posker added 55. Hinsdale caught five passes for 64 yards. … Wilson’s Conner Ernest completed 14 of 24 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Hough caught three passes for 97 yards and the touchdown. … Mahar and Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s Grant Lictus were named the Cross Training Athletics Big 5 Character Athletes for their respective teams.

C/S/P 8 14 13 3 — 38

Wilson 0 0 0 12 — 12

CSP– Catanese 2 run (Pinzok pass from Catanese)

CSP–Barmore 23 pass from Catanese (Hinsdale kick)

CSP–Catanese 6 run (Hinsdale kick)

CSP–Brink 5 pass from Catanese (Hinsdale kick)

CSP–Posker 4 run (kick fail)

W–Hough 48 pass from Ernest (pass fail)

CSP–Hinsdale 27 FG

W–Mahar 11 run (pass fail)