By SPENCER BATES
BOLIVAR — Three weeks into its 2025 campaign, the newly merged Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg football team sat with a 1-2 record and had just failed to score a point in consecutive games.
Five weeks later and the Panthers are now headed to the Section 6 Class C playoffs after clinching a spot on the final day of the regular season by defeating rival contenders Clymer/Sherman/Panama 22-20.
“We just talked (in our huddle) about the feeling we had after that game versus Chautauqua Lake when we lost 42-0,” Portville head coach Josh Brooks said. “We just felt absolutely defeated. Then we went into the buzzsaw of Southwestern the following week, so we didn’t score two weeks straight. I just told our kids, we’ve coached a lot of good football teams, a lot of good football players, I don’t think we’ve ever had a group this resilient. … These kids are overachieving and they’re having fun. They’re playing for each other, they’re playing some smash-mouth football and it’s clicking at the right time.”
Brooks gave the Wolfpack their flowers. The reigning New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class D Champions moved up to the C South league for this season and came up just shy of reaching the playoffs in their first year.
The CSP offense is nothing to brush off and it showed its firepower scoring the game’s first touchdown in the second quarter. Its defense was staunch throughout the first half too. In fact, it looked as though Portville was set to enter the intermission scoreless, but thanks to a gutsy effort and a gamble that paid off, the Panthers found the endzone on an untimed down that led to a 7-7 score at the end of the first half.
But what made that effort in the dying moments of the half all the more special was that it was commanded by backup quarterback Peyton Carter, who finished with 59 passing yards and one passing touchdown.
Portville’s typical starting quarterback Aidan Defazio, the team’s only returning Big 30 All-Star, was ruled out prior to the game after he aggravated a back injury that he picked up last season. So, the decision to go for the touchdown instead of kicking a field goal with his team’s untimed down at the end of the half was a risky call.
Portville’s Jake Zeigler (28) makes a run down the sideline against CSP. Zeigler recorded 184 rushing yards in the Panthers’ win over the Wolfpack. (Spencer Bates)
But Brooks has all the faith in the world in his players. Fortunately, Carter and Kingston Loucks — who scored two touchdowns against the Wolfpack — delivered.
“For Peyton Carter to step in with minimal reps, at least the last few weeks, and execute the offense was incredible, especially that two-minute drive there at the end of the half,” Brooks said. “We actually called a field goal … but then we said, ‘let’s give Kingston a shot here one-on-one.’ … We had to roll the dice if we wanted to win this game, and we hit it.”
The third quarter saw a significant portion of the affair’s scoring with CSP finding the endzone two times to Portville’s one touchdown, recorded by Jake Zeigler — who finished with 184 rushing yards and one passing touchdown on the night.
“Jake’s just been on a different level the last four to five weeks since we turned over the backfield to him completely,” Brooks said. “He’s taken advantage of that and has not looked back.”
Although, while the Wolfpack did score twice, a crucial missed extra point left the door open for the Panthers. And in the fourth quarter, they took advantage, with typical lineman Ty Kosinski scoring a one-yard touchdown.
Portville’s extra point was then blocked, but Brooks and his staff were able to have more go at the point after as CSP was called for a penalty on the kick. The ensuing two-point conversion sent the crowd in Bolivar into a frenzy.
“I’m incredibly proud of how (our players) responded because we haven’t exactly been in a lot of tight games,” Brooks said. “We don’t have a ton of experience coming back from last year. So for them to really lock in and figure out the situations, they executed very well.”
Portville’s Adam Roe (10) makes a run for the Panthers. (Spencer Bates)
The regular season is now complete for the Panthers and up next will be a test from the Class C North league in the postseason. And Brooks knows that the tests will only get tougher, but he has faith in his players to give whatever team they match up against their best shot.
“People were talking down on the North coming into the year, and I really think they’ve shown that they’ve got some really good teams up there,” Brooks said. “We’ll at least give them our best shot no matter what. That’s all I can ask from these kids.”
AT BOLIVAR
Portville/C-R/B-R: 0 7 7 8 — 22
Clymer/Sherman/Panama: 0 7 13 0 — 20
Second Quarter:
CSP — Whitney 9 run; extra-point attempt good, 7-0
P/CR/BR — Loucks 6 pass from Carter; extra-point attempt good, 7-7
Third Quarter:
CSP — Einink 6 pass from White; extra-point attempt good, 14-7
P/CR/BR — Loucks 24 pass from Zeigler; extra-point attempt good, 14-14
CSP — Einink 25 pass from White; extra-point attempt no good, 20-14
Fourth Quarter:
P/CR/BR — Kosinski 1 run; two-point attempt good, 22-20
——
Team Statistics:
Portville/C-R/B-R:
First Downs: 16
Rushes-Yards: 41-213
Passing Yards: 83
Comp-Att.-Int.: 5-7-0
Total Offense: 296
Fumbles-Lost: 3-1
Penalties-Yards: 9-100
Punts-Avg.: 3-37.0
Total Plays: 48
——
Clymer/Sherman/Panama:
First Downs: 16
Rushes-Yards: 31-127
Passing Yards: 123
Comp-Att.-Int.: 7-18-0
Total Offense: 250
Fumbles-Lost: 2-0
Penalties-Yards: 11-82
Punts-Avg.: 1-45.0
Total Plays: 49
