By SPENCER BATES
PORTVILLE — The Portville football program has been waiting a while to get a win over C South rivals Salamanca.
In fact, the last time the Panthers defeated the Warriors was all the way back during the shortened season in 2020. On Oct. 3, that wait finally came to an end with a 28-8 victory.
But while the score was lopsided, it took nothing short of a perfectly executed game plan to pull out the win. A feat achieved, coach Josh Brooks acknowledged, much in part due to the ever-growing chemistry within the newly merged Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg program.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Brooks said. “You get together over the summer, but Friday nights are different than the Monday night seven-on-sevens and open practices. Our kids, there’s just no quit in them. If you came to practice, you wouldn’t be able to know that we were 2-2. … I thought we did a much better job getting ready for Salamanca. We executed a game plan the best we have in a long time, not just this season, but overall, from start to finish, that’s one of the best games we played as a team in a long time.”
Portville set the tone early for how it was going to approach the matchup. Through its nearly seven-minute opening drive that resulted in Jake Ziegler’s (109 rushing yards) first of three touchdowns, the line of scrimmage was owned by the hosts. The holes they created in the trenches allowed for Brooks to go deep into his playbook with the run game his program has become synonymous with.
“It’s no secret, every coach wants to go in and say, ‘we need to control the line of scrimmage,’” Brooks said. “That’s much easier said than done, but I thought our first possession on offense really set the tone up front. We did a really good job and I think that that momentum carried over to the defense. We have two senior defensive tackles, Ty Kosinski and Ian Chamberlain, and they’ve been playing with us for a while. We had high expectations for them this season, and tonight, they showed who they really are, we need them.”
Even Salamanca coach Chad Bartoszek admitted his team was behind from the jump. The Panthers’ physicality up front prevented his team from doing some of the things that had been going their way through their 4-0 start to the campaign.
“I think from the start we felt their momentum, their aggressiveness, they came out and were physically better than us,” Bartoszek said. “Across the board, we were not getting movement and we’ve played several games this year where we’ve been able to at least move the ball and stop the run and slow things down. We were not ready for some of that physicality up front, which is unfortunate. That’s not something we’ve been used to. I think Portville had a plan in place, and they brought it. I give them credit.”
Adam Roe, on a brilliant double reverse handoff, was the Panthers’ only other touchdown scorer on the night. And while he may not have found his way into the endzone with his 82 rushing yards, quarterback Aidan DeFazio, who also had 65 passing yards on 6-for-8 attempts, was the ringleader of the show for Portville. Despite not having taken snaps under center since he was in eighth grade, DeFazio has found his sea legs rather quickly. Elusive and shifty while running the ball, and clinical and accurate while passing — the growth of Brooks’ quarterback is something he has been delighted with.
“Aidan’s a special kid, and as soon as his confidence is super high, he can be tough to stop,” Brooks said. “His first half execution on some of our stuff was unbelievable. He has to make some post-snap reads, and he did a phenomenal job with that. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He gives all his credit to the offensive line. Same with Jake (Ziegler).”
Portville quarterback Aidan DeFazio (7) releases a screen pass. (Spencer Bates)
Entering the fourth quarter Portville had blanked Salamanca, a team that had not been held without a score in a regular season game since 2021. But fortunately for the Warriors, a one-yard touchdown dive from quarterback Payton Bradley, who finished with over 100 yards of combined offense, got them on the board in the final quarter.
“I feel like we weren’t executing just some of the fundamental stuff,” Bartoszek said. “We got a little bit out of sorts, meaning one thing went wrong, and other people tried to cover for other people, and before you knew it, we were all trying to cover for each other, and just weren’t sound on either side of the ball. I think the film’s going to show a lot. I genuinely believe we’ve got much, much more in the tank. But, for our kids, this was a playoff game. This was playoff football (atmosphere) and Portville knew that coming in.”
For the Warriors, it was their first C South loss since 2022 as Bartoszek noted it just was not his team’s night. That being said, the message he relayed to his team was one of encouragement, noting he does not believe his team is yet to reach its full potential.
“The message after the game had little to do with football, and it had all to do with how you respond,” Bartoszek said. “Football teaches you a lot about humility, about being consistent. Get back up, get after it again. I still think we got a lot of fight in us. I still don’t think we’ve got anywhere near our peak.”
Salamanca quarterback Payton Bradley (4) looks to break through the line of scrimmage on a rush against Portville. Bradley scored the lone touchdown for the Warriors in their 28-2 loss to the Panthers. (Spencer Bates)
As for Portville, the win stands as its second in a row after starting the year 1-2, the same record it had after three games last season — a year in which it reached the Section 6 Class C Final. But Brooks’ mind is currently far away from the postseason, instead opting for a week-to-week mindset.
“I’m just super proud of our kids,” Brooks said. “That’s no joke of a Salamanca team. They were 4-0 for a reason. I couldn’t be more proud of how our kids came out and fought gritty. … We got to continue to get better each week. We got to keep grinding out some wins and take it one week at a time.”
Up next for Portville is a matchup at Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove, set for Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile Salamanca will return home to host Southwestern/Frewsburg for its next game, also set for Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
AT PORTVILLE
Portville/C-R/B-R: 7 7 0 14 — 28
Salamanca: 0 0 0 8 — 8
First Quarter:
Portville/C-R/B-R — Ziegler 4 run; extra point attempt good, 7-0
Second Quarter:
Portville/C-R/B-R — Roe 21 run; extra point attempt good, 14-0
Fourth Quarter:
Portville/C-R/B-R — Ziegler 1 run; extra point attempt good, 21-0
Salamanca — Bradley 1 run; two-point attempt good, 21-8
Portville/C-R/B-R — Ziegler 1 run; extra point attempt good, 28-8
——
Team Statistics:
Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg:
First Downs: 16
Rushes-Yards: 42-226
Passing Yards: 65
Comp-Att.-Int.: 6-8-0
Total Offense: 291
Fumbles-Lost: 3-1
Penalties-Yards: 5-40
Punts-Avg.: 0-0
Total Plays: 50
——
Salamanca:
First Downs: 11
Rushes-Yards: 22-53
Passing Yards: 89
Comp-Att.-Int.: 9-19-1
Total Offense: 142
Fumbles-Lost: 1-0
Penalties-Yards: 4-30
Punts-Avg.: 2-31.5
Total Plays: 41
