Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg hope to start strong, look forward to Bradner

In high school football, consistency only goes so far. Rosters fluctuate, coaching staffs roll over and success ebbs and flows. What stays the same, and what four football teams around the area are focusing on this season, is the constant effort to roll with the punches and utilize the players in front of them.

The largest amount of holes to fill come from the Porville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg co-op, who are looking to fill gaps in mass.

Coming off of a 5-4 season, the Panthers’ success was propelled by a massive crop of seniors, a class 20 strong that accounted for over 2,800 all-purpose yards. At the tip of the spear was Jake Ziegler, the main piston for the Maroon and White who ran for 1,220 yards and 17 of the Panthers’ 27 rushing touchdowns. Alongside him, Portville will also be looking to replace their star receivers Kingston Loucks (316 receiving yards, five touchdowns) and Adam Roe (288 yards, four touchdowns), as well as Aidan DeFazio, the graduating quarterback who threw for 741 yards and eight touchdowns.

“We kind of preach as a program, it’s the next guy up mentality. Really, we were staring down that same situation the past two years prior to that, ” said Portville/Cuba-Rushford/Bolivar-Richburg head coach Josh Brooks, noting how Ziegler filled the shoes left behind from Max DeYoe a year prior. “These younger kids have seen that and we do have some kids that are itching (to find a way to make an impact.)”

While the Panthers opened the camp looking at the voids to fill, they had a surplus of options to pull from, returning 30 players with varsity experience to their ranks.

Coming back for his senior season, Peyton Carter will facilitate the offense at quarterback, taking notes from his role as QB2 which produced 197 passing yards and four touchdowns and while the backfield in experiment flux, their work will be fostered by the trio of veteran men in the trenches, James Aksey, Logan Englehardt and Wyatt Tyler.

After a season that had its ebbs and flows, Brooks’ main message to the team through training camp was coming out hot. Finding their footing early and shaking off any nerves before C-South league play, which begins in Week Four against Fredonia. Part of coming out strong is building momentum off big moments, for instance, beating a next door neighbor.

For the first time in program history, the Panthers will finally have a showdown with Olean thanks to changes made by the Section VI governing body. That clash of local communities will go down in Week Three on Friday Sept. 18, a game that Brooks has circled on his calendar.

“I think it’s going to be really cool. There’s going to be a ton of people, from the Olean area of course, but also from Portville, Bolivar-Richburg, Cuba. We have a wonderful following and a ton of support,” said Brooks. “It’s going to be awesome. What a cool environment to play at Bradner Stadium.”

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