SALAMANCA — For the Salamanca football team, this year’s trip to the NYSPHSAA Class C Semifinal is strictly one of business.
According to coach Chad Bartoszek, last year was their time to experience what it was like to play in a state semifinal, this year they have no other intentions other than to win.
“This is not a trip we’re taking for the experience of it … we are going on this trip to try and win this football game,” Bartoszek said. “It’s not just icing on the cake at this point that we made it, we got to do that last year … This year, we know we’re treating it as a business trip. We’re going out late tonight, we’re going to bed, we’re waking up and playing football. So our message to them has been much different and I think they appreciate that. They want it that way. I think they want to get through this. They want to get over this hump. … It’s always tough. But mentality wise, we’re coming in with a different mindset, for sure.”
Last season, the Warriors reached the Class C state semifinal last year for the first time in over two decades. Unfortunately that was as far as their season ran as they were taken down by then-Section 4 Champion Waverly.
This year, they will once again be faced with a Section 4 opponent but this time it will be in the form of Chenango Forks. The Blue Devils ended Waverly’s run of Section 4 Championships and proceeded to blow by Section 3 champ General Brown in the regional.
“When you get to this level, all teams are going to be successful, they’re all going to be well-coached, they’re all going to have very strong parts of their game that are different, that are better than others,” Bartoszek said of Chenango Forks. “This one, (compared to) last week, is very different in terms of its offensive system. Last week we faced a more open spread system. This week, it is … a run game. It’s an option-read type system where they like to grind out rushing yards. … On top of that, you know, Chenango has just been a storied program for a long time. They’ve had success, they’ve got a ton of state titles. … So we know we’re running into a well-coached, disciplined program from top to bottom.”
According to Bartoszek, there will be a heightened emphasis on containing the Blue Devils’ duo of Finn Stark and Lucas Bartlow. The former ran in four touchdowns against General Brown with the latter picking up 128 yards and a touchdown in the regional as well.
“It’s going to have to be a full-team defensive plan,” Bartoszek said. “Everyone’s got a gap assignment, everyone’s got a responsibility. We don’t want to put all of the weight on one of our players, or one scheme, or one play. It’s going to be a long, ground-out, clock consuming game. They’ve had multiple drives of six plus minutes, seven plus minutes. … They’re also capable of explosive plays. … I think we’re going to be matched up equally in terms of speed, so that’ll be new for us. Last week, we were able to, early on, identify that we were controlling the line of scrimmage, and that kind of changed our game plan. This week, we’re going to have a tougher test up front. … I think you’re going to see a few explosive plays on both sides. It’s just who limits them, who doesn’t allow more than the other will be the winner.”
Quarterback Sam Paske will also be a focal point for Salamanca. He scored and led an offense that finished with almost 400 yards against General Brown.
“This week you’re going to see more of an intentional run game with their quarterback,” Bartoszek said. “One thing you might notice is if we are having success stopping the others, their quarterback will get more chunks of the yards because they have a system that is like an option-read system. So, he’s always a threat to pull it and keep it. They run him quite a bit. He is on our radar in terms of their top three or four options.
In terms of what they want to do to impose their own will, Bartoszek said that it will be a bit more of the same schemes that have got them this far. That includes Xavier Peters.
The Warriors’ speedy running back was crucial in their 42-20 win over East Rochester/Gananda in the Far West Regional, picking up 239 yards on the ground and scoring four touchdowns.
“Each week we tweak to try to match what they saw or what we think they’re going to do,” Bartoszek said. “But you walk a fine line between changing what you do and who you are and discouraging your players. … We’re taking the approach that we’re going to do what we do. They’re going to match it at times, we’ll adjust with some tweaks and some turns, of course, but Xavier is going to carry the ball, Maddox is going to carry the ball, and we have got to execute up front. … So it’s going to be exciting. I want the guys to just relax and play free.”
But overall, Bartoszek’s message to his players remains one of flexibility and perseverance. He knows that not everything will go their way, especially this deep in the postseason. He recalled how they were unable to answer in the semifinal last year and suffered a heavy defeat because of that. This year the goal is to do what they weren’t able to last year.
“The message is quite simple,” Bartoszek said. “You’re going to face adversity. Things are going to go wrong. We’re going to be down at some point. How do we respond? I think we’re now at the point in the season where if we end up on the wrong end, it’ll probably be because of a reason like that, we didn’t respond well … Thinking of the Waverly game, there were six minutes left in the second quarter and we were down 7-0. We had the ball on their eight and we failed there. They went down and scored and that game got out of hand in a hurry. We’ve learned from that.”
Kickoff is slated for 12 p.m. on Saturday at Vestal High School with the winner moving on to play for the state title the following week.
