Fischer needs one more win to set Section VI coaching mark
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The mere mention of Gene Masters' name in Western New York is usually followed by plenty of glowing adjectives. "Legendary," the "Dean of Coaches" and the "Father of Viking Athletics" come immediately to mind.
And why not?
The founder of Grand Island High School's varsity baseball and football programs in 1963, Masters accumulated more than 450 wins on the diamond and amassed 248 victories on the gridiron in 44 total seasons, which included six at Brocton Central (1957-62).
Those accomplishments earned Masters, who passed away in 2001, induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports (1999), the Tonawanda Sports (2002), the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (2008) and the Grand Island Athletic (2024) halls of fame.
"As long as the good Lord wants me," Masters said in a 1994 interview that is posted to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame website, "I will continue his work; that is teaching young men what is right and then doing right through football."
By the way, his 248 wins on the gridiron are the most in Section VI history, a record Masters has held all by himself for years. But, after last weekend, he now has company.
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Curt Fischer grew up in Falconer where he and his buddies played pickup games at the Northside Elementary School, at the high school and even in the village cemetery.
"When I was a kid, that's what I lived for," Fischer told me in 2017.
And when he wasn't playing the game, he was watching it. It was college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday, including the pregame shows. What he saw, though, was different than your average fan. Instead of simply watching the game, he was observing blocking schemes, seeing defensive tendencies and then implementing them during the pickup games with his friends.
From an offensive lineman in the midget football league, he graduated to quarterback as a seventh-grader, a position he played throughout his tenure at Falconer Central School, including his years on the varsity under coaching legend Bill Race.
Three years after his graduation from FCS in 1981, Fischer coached with Mark Petersen on Falconer's junior high team, which was the launching point for a remarkable career that has included stops at Maple Grove, at Chautauqua Lake and now at Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove.
And when the Herd takes on Salamanca on Thursday night at Bill Race Field, Fischer will be seeking his 249th victory, which would move him past Masters on Section VI's all-time wins list.
"It just means I've had a lot of nice kids. Honestly it wasn't just me," Fischer told Post-Journal/OBSERVER sports writer Matt Spielman last week after securing win No. 248 against Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton. "The one guy who has to be mentioned is Dan Greco. Almost every one of those wins, they are as much his as they are mine. Dan Greco just means a lot to me. He deserves a lot of credit."
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The final Jeopardy answer is: "Dino Garr, Howie Vogts, Tony DeMatteo, Vin O'Connor, Brent Steuerwald, Jim Hoover, Buddy Krumenacker, Johnny Barnes, Tom Schoen, Dave Kelly, Jerry Walczak, Steve Fisher, Rich Reichert, Doug Luke, Tom Flatley, Brian Walsh, Gary VanDerzee, Russ Cellan, John Castellano and Joe Casarella."
If your response, in the form of a question, is, "Entering the 2026 football season, who are the top 20 winningest high school coaches in state history?" you're the winner.
Who stands at No. 21, you ask?
As of today, according to the New York State Sportswriters Association, that would be Masters and Fischer, two of the finest coaches to ever grace a WNY sideline.
But Fischer isn't caught up in the numbers. He explained why during his Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame induction speech in 2018.
"It's all about the friendships made and the bonds created that will last a lifetime," he said on that February evening. "It's about the student-athletes and what you can offer them that will ultimately go with them throughout life's journey."