OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman Fredonia's Mikaela Sciarrino is sacked by Pioneer's Jayden Leederman (3) and Lilly Kless, right, during the second half of Saturday's Section VI Class C flag football title game at Sweet Home High School in Buffalo.

BUFFALO — “They are the standard.”

It was easy for Nick Bertrando to evaluate the Pioneer Panthers after the defending state champions beat his Fredonia Hillbillies 45-6 in the Section VI Class C flag football championship game Saturday at Sweet Home High School.

Pioneer, led by returning New York State Sportswriters Association Player of the Year Ellie Edwards, scored on five of six first-half possessions and never looked back on its way to a fourth straight sectional crown.

“They are the real deal,” said Bertrando, Fredonia co-head coach. “If they are not the best team in the state of New York in all classifications, they have to be 1A. I really mean that.”

Fredonia, which will graduate three seniors, saw its season come to an end with a 15-3 record. Two of this season’s losses and five of the Hillbillies’ seven in the past three years have come at the hands of the Panthers.

OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman Fredonia's Juliana Snyder attempts to split a tackle by Pioneer's Aiden Watson, left, Jayden Leederman (3) and Abigail Mason, right, during the first half of Saturday's Section VI Class C flag football title game at Sweet Home High School in Buffalo.

“There are things that we really look at and say ‘If we can get on their level with this, we can raise our standard.’ This is our fourth year. The success that we’ve had and the time and commitment the girls have put in have been great,” Bertrando said. “Today was a lopsided loss, but this isn’t going to define our season.”

Unlike the teams’ meeting just over two weeks ago when Fredonia led 6-0 late into the first half, Pioneer jumped ahead quickly Saturday. After a timeout on fourth-and-1 from the Panthers’ own 19-yard line, Edwards broke through the Hillbillies defense, breaking several flag pulls on the way to a 61-yard touchdown run that made it 7-0 after an Edwards-to-Jayden Leederman 1-point conversion pass.

“It was fourth-and-1 — we only have seven people out there — but she probably broke about 10 to 12 tackles. Six points later, they are up 6-0,” Bertrando said of Edwards. “She was the New York state Player of the Year. She runs the offense so very well, she can throw it with great vision and she’s very poised back there.”

Fredonia’s second possession of the game made it to the Pioneer 14-yard line, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete, turning the ball back over to the Panthers.

Six plays later, with the help of an Edwards-to-Leederman 43-yard completion on third-and-16, Pioneer made it 14-0 on an 11-yard touchdown run by Edwards and a 1-point conversion pass from Edwards to Abigail Mason.

OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman Fredonia's Emma Perry (11) has her flag pulled by Pioneer's Abigail Mason (33) during Saturday's Section VI Class C flag football title game at Sweet Home High School in Buffalo.

“We didn’t do ourselves any favors today. There were multiple opportunities where we obviously missed flags,” Bertrando said. “Every single time that I felt we missed a flag, it came back to really hurt us with extra yardage or points on the board.”

The Panthers made it 20-0 midway through the second quarter when Cora Hirsch caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Edwards. The Hillbillies quickly answered that score when Emma Perry ran 66 yards for a touchdown on the first play of their drive, but the conversion pass failed and Pioneer’s lead remained 20-6.

“The thing about them is, they are really good. You know what’s coming, but you’ve got to stop it,” Bertrando said. “The way they move, how hard they block, how hard they come off the ball, just the speed that they play at, that’s tough to simulate.”

Again, the Fredonia defense could not slow the potent Panthers’ attack. Leederman ran 34 yards on first down and three plays later Edwards threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mykenna Rosier.

“When you try to guess on one thing, they beat you on something else. That’s a testament to (Pioneer head coach) Chris (Edwards),” Bertrando said. “He does an amazing job with those young women over there.”

OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman Fredonia's Peyton Krenzer is stopped by Pioneer's Mykenna Rosier (9) during Saturday's Section VI Class C flag football title game at Sweet Home High School in Buffalo.

The Hillbillies turned the ball over on the first play of their next drive and Edwards threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Leederman three plays later to make it 32-6 just before halftime.

“They were 5 for 6 in the first half on possessions and touchdowns,” Bertrando said. “We definitely didn’t do a very good job of helping our offense out and getting off the field on the defensive side of things.”

Two more Pioneer touchdowns in the second half made the final score. As Fredonia rotated through its roster, its deepest drive of the final two quarters made it to the Panthers’ 32-yard line.

“Their speed is something that very few teams around here have. The way they pursue the ball, they send different blitzes at you and they give you a lot of different looks,” Bertrando said of the Panthers defense. “They just sort of wear you down.”

Pioneer’s road to a second straight state title will next take the Panthers to a subregional against Section V’s champion at 6 p.m. Thursday at Greece Arcadia High School. Hornell and Bishop Kearney will play for the Rochester area’s title Tuesday.

“When you look at their body of work, they have three losses in five years or however many years they’ve had a program,” Bertrando said. They have a state title and I’d be hard-pressed to say they aren’t going to win (another) at this point.”

NOTES: Perry led Fredonia in rushing with eight carries for 81 yards. … Hillbillies quarterback Sophia Utegg completed 11 of 21 passes for 79 yards and an interception. … Defensively, Perry had nine flag pulls and two passes defended; Madelyn Polhamus had nine flag pulls, including a tackle for a loss; and Peyton Krenzer had a sack and a pass defended.