There’s not much Chad Bartoszek has to say come game day this time of the year to motivate his Franklinville/Ellicottville football team.
Section 6 Class D’s unbeaten first seed (8-0) rolled to a 54-13 win last week in the quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal tonight (7 o’clock) in Franklinville against No. 4 Chautauqua Lake (3-4), which knocked out Salamanca in a 40-0 win.
Tonight will give the F/E seniors one last home game and a chance to make a fourth straight trip to the sectional championship at New Era Field (previously Ralph Wilson Stadium).
“We’ve had a good week,” Bartoszek said Thursday. “They came out and performed last week for our first playoff game. The easy part about it now is we’re in playoff time, it’s win or go home time, so there’s not a ton to say, especially when you’ve got a senior-laden group. All we basically have to say is ‘this could be your last game.’ That kind of straightens them up, perks them up a little bit.
“We have to keep reminding them to focus on daily goals, getting better today type of things, but they need to keep showing up to practice, they need to get better in that aspect, but you can just tell because of our leadership with our guys that they’re ready, they understand that this could be it.”
The Titans list 14 seniors on their roster, including the core of Brock Blecha, Griffin Chudy, Austin Grinols and Sam Erickson, all of whom have played big roles back to the 2015 Section 6 champion team.
Under first-year coach Rich Morton (a Jamestown native, not to be confused with the Salamanca athletic director), the Thunderbirds rely on one of the D division’s best backfields with senior quarterback Devin Pope and classmate running back Josh Walsh.
“(Pope) is multi-dimensional, he’s kind of their leader, the team kind of goes as he goes, he’s a tough kid and when he’s rolling their team tends to roll,” Bartoszek said.
“(Walsh) is kind of a big bruiser, one of the bigger running backs we’ll face in the league, definitely a downhill-type runner. He’s not afraid to hit, he’s definitely a load. That’s someone we have to contain because he busted out a couple against us last time we played. That’s not someone we want to let get through the first level for sure.”
In a 46-6 victory over the Thunderbirds in Week 6, the Titans did enough to contain Pope, a dual threat quarterback, which Bartoszek credited to the F/E defensive line.
“Our front four is pretty aggressive, athletic,” he said. “Sam Erickson’s a beast coming off the end, and we’ve got some tough interior linemen, Walter Woodarek, and our other D-end, Dakota Olsen, and we usually roll in other D-tackles that continuously bring pressure through our front four. That allows us to make sure everybody is accounted for. That’s something we’ve been able to accomplish all year, so it creates havoc for the quarterback when you’re getting pressure, for sure.”
In the other Section 6 Class D semifinal, No. 3 Clymer/Sherman/Panama (6-2) visits No. 2 Maple Grove (7-1) tonight. The defending sectional champion and a state finalist last year, Maple Grove beat C/S/P, 28-14, in Week 5.
