Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Asher Olson finds open space to run for a 33-yard touchdown during Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional against Alexander/Pembroke at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium in Buffalo.

BUFFALO — Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s defense posted a shutout in the first half Saturday — and the Eagles were losing 2-0 after 24 minutes of action.

The Eagles offense needed to find its way in the second half.

Ty Harper’s crew did just enough in the final two quarters to beat Alexander/Pembroke 11-8 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C Far West Regional at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium.

“It’s any way possible at this point of the season. Everybody is here for a reason,” Harper said postgame. “Any opponent that you see at this point of the season … they’re all good.”

After falling behind 8-0 on the first drive of the third quarter, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton scored on its next two possessions and its defense held up the rest of the way to send the Section VI champions into next Saturday’s noon state West Semifinal against Chenango Forks at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Asher Olson reaches the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown during Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional against Alexander/Pembroke at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium in Buffalo.

“I’m proud of our guys for regrouping at half,” Harper said. ” … We made a few adjustments at halftime and the kids did a great job of executing.”

Alexander/Pembroke took a first-half lead Saturday in Buffalo when Wyatt Summers sacked the Eagles quarterback Brayden Gibbs for a safety with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter.

That was Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s low point of a scoreless first half, which saw the Eagles gain just 58 yards of offense, punt three times, fumble once and turn the ball over on downs to end another drive.

“They were tremendous, very physical. They played on fire in the first half. They did a great job of controlling the ball. We couldn’t get anything going outside of that first possession,” Harper said. “They were just crazy physical at the line of scrimmage and they did a great job of taking away things that we’ve done really well over the last four or five games.”

The Defenders weren’t much better when they had the ball. They rushed for 77 yards and threw for 37, but for the most part kept Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton on its own half of the field.

Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Brayden Gibbs drops back to pass during Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional against Alexander/Pembroke at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium in Buffalo.

The Eagles’ first drive of the game stalled at Alexander/Pembroke’s 27-yard line on a fourth-down incomplete pass and their second drive ended on a fumble at the 40-yard line.

“They certainly had us frustrated,” Harper said. “To have our defense not give up any points in the first half and go into the locker room trailing, that was really something.”

The Defenders received the second-half kickoff and marched 80 yards in eight plays, keyed by a 41-yard completion from Brody Heckman to Mason Snyder. Three plays later, Ryder Reichert scored on a 16-yard burst. Alexander/Pembroke attempted a point-after kick, but when the snap was bobbled, a rollout pass failed and kept it a one-score game.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton finally managed to move the ball on its first drive of the second half. The Eagles quickly went 60 yards in six plays, capped by a Brayden Gibbs-to-Asher Olson 33-yard touchdown pass on third-and-5. The same duo hooked up for the 2-point conversion to tie the game with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

“Harper does a great job. He was confident going into the second half and I think the guys were too,” senior Carson Fairbank said. “The line just had to step up and that’s what they did.”

Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Devin Hewes catches a 30-yard pass down the sideline during Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional against Alexander/Pembroke at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium in Buffalo.

After Alexander/Pembroke went three-and-out, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton took the lead for good. On first down from the Defenders’ 40-yard line, Gibbs connected with Devin Hewes for a 30-yard gain.

“We had the polecat formation that we had planned on using anyways. I didn’t think that would be the way to loosen up the defense,” Harper said after lining up two offensive linemen outside with Hewes, Olson and Fairbank. “I didn’t think that we would have to do it as kind of a last resort to take pressure off of our linemen, but that was a good play for us in the third quarter and set up the go-ahead field goal for us.”

After a negative run and an incompletion, the Eagles nearly fumbled the ball back to Alexander/Pembroke, but recovered to set up fourth-and-goal from the 15-yard line. Harper did not hesitate to call on Fairbank, who drilled the 32-yard kick to give his team a three-point lead.

“I didn’t feel like we were really close enough to go for it at that point. I didn’t like our odds … on fourth down,” Harper said. “The odds were better of him making that field goal than us scoring a touchdown.”

“I’m comfortable from about 40 yards,” Fairbank added. “That was just a routine kick for me. I do it every day in practice.”

Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Carson Fairbank watches after kicking a 32-yard field goal during Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional against Alexander/Pembroke at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium in Buffalo.

The Defenders punted the ball away on their next two drives before taking over at their 25-yard line with 2:25 left in the game. Heckman managed to pick up a pair of first downs through the air to give his team first-and-10 from the Eagles’ 42-yard line. After a 3-yard sack, Alexander/Pembroke spent its final timeout with under a minute remaining. Two more incompletions followed and then on fourth down, Heckman’s final attempt was tipped before Tristen Gibbs made a game-sealing interception.

“I feel like we have a pretty good secondary. We have athletes back there,” Fairbank said. “Just don’t get beat deep, swat the ball down, pick it, do whatever.”

“Credit to the kids, they did an awesome job, played assignment football, took care of their gap and did their one-eleventh. … They were the difference today,” Harper said of defensive coordinator Chris Payne’s unit. “The defense really kept us in the game in the first half and closed out the win there in the fourth quarter.”

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s defense will likely have to be just as good and its offense will need to be better next weekend when the Eagles take on the New York State Sportswriters Association’s top-ranked Class C team in suburban Syracuse.

“Forks is going to be a heavy lift. They are a tremendous football team. There are no weaknesses on that football team. Usually you look at film and there are a couple of holes you can exploit. I don’t see a lot of holes in Chenango Forks,” Harper said. ” … We’re going to have to play substantially better on offense than we played today if we’re going to have a chance in that game.”

Photo courtesy of Cody Jacobson Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton head coach Ty Harper holds up the plaque after winning Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional over Alexander/Pembroke at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium in Buffalo.

NOTES: Chenango Forks, Section IV’s champion, beat Section III’s General Brown 47-24 in Saturday’s other western quarterfinal at Vestal High School’s Dick Hoover Stadium. … Brayden Gibbs completed 8 of 15 passes for 99 yards with Olson catching two passes for 63 yards. … Trent Houser led the Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton defense with 15 tackles; Olson had 11 tackles, including one for a loss; and Tristen Gibbs had nine tackles, including one for a loss, a fumble recovery and an interception. … Reichert led Alexander/Pembroke with 19 carries for 73 yards. Heckman completed 8 of 16 passes for 110 yards.

Alexander/Pembroke 0 2 6 0 — 8

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton 0 0 11 0 — 11

A/P–Safety (Summers sacked BGibbs in end zone)

A/P–Reichert 16 run (pass failed)

CL/W/B–Olson 33 pass from BGibbs (Olson pass from BGibbs)

CL/W/B–Fairbank 32 field goal