Co-State Champion is ready for 2026 Season, Avoca-Prattsburgh rivalry
by Bill Collmer, Sun Senior Sports Writer
FILLMORE-In Fillmore Coach Jarrett Vosburgs first season at Fillmore in 2022 they went undefeated and won the New York State Class D State Championship.
“It was a surreal experience to start a career that way, but so much credit in the transition that year belongs to Jamie Mullen and Mike Witkowski, who serve as assistants on my coaching staff, and who built this program for the three decades prior. Keeping them on board is the best decision I have made as Varsity coach,” Fillmore Coach Jarrett Vosburg said
Vosburg is now entering year number five as Head Coach at Fillmore, Last season Fillmore tied Hamilton from Section three 4-4 in the State Championship game and ended the season as Co-State Champions.
“There is some pressure that comes with an undefeated state championship in your first year, but setting realistic goals has been key to keeping us grounded in the four years since. Each season, we set reaching the sectional semi-finals as the annual marker for a successful season. Everything after that is icing on the cake to some degree. Of course, we re-evaluate and set new goals once we get to that point, but taking each game one at a time has been a key to managing the expectations that come with success. Each year you have new players who want to prove themselves, whether it’s returners developing into the leaders of the program, players vying for starting jobs, or underclassmen coming up from our JV team and seeing their first Varsity experience. So even though we have won three sectional titles and two state titles in the past four years, there is always something more to prove and a desire to be better,” Vosburg said.
“There’s also some acknowledgement that some things have to go your way to win a sectional title (much less a state title). We were down at half-time a season ago to an excellent GV/Belfast squad in the sectional semi-finals. You go on and play five more games and people forget those details, but the reality is, it is really hard to get out of Section Five and be a state representative,” Vosburg added.
Fillmore finished 21-1-1 last season and lost leading Scorer and All-State Midfielder Isaiah Sisson to graduation, the cupboard is far from bare as the Eagles return Junior Brayden Walton (16 Goals, 12 Assists) Senior Issac Wilcox (6 Goals), Junior Levi Russell (5 Goals, 8 Assists) Junior Judah Russell (4 Goals, 6 Assists) Along with All-Star Goalie Junior Jared Boon who only allowed 15 goals last season and had 115 saves.
“In terms of this year, we know we are going to get everyone’s best effort, but I expect us to be a very competitive squad once again. We do lose some key players like Isaiah Sisson and James Hillman (sweeper), but we also return about seven starters including key pieces like Brayden Walton, Braylon Hatch (senior-defender) and Jared Boon among others. I don’t think we will have a 35-goal scorer like we did last year, but I expect we have six or so guys that could score between 10 to 15 to maybe even 20 goals. If we can find a couple guys to get comfortable as leaders, I think we could feature a balanced attack and a reliable defense this season,” Vosburg said.
Last season Fillmore defeated Avoca-Prattsburgh in the State Qualifier after both teams won Sectionals. However, this year Section Five will only have one class D bracket so the two teams could potentially meet in the Sectional Championship game depending on where they end up seeded. Avoca-Prattsburgh will visit Fillmore on Tuesday September 8, in a non-league game.
“In terms of seeing Avoca-Prattsburgh early in the year and potentially in sectionals again, we know they will be prepared and have some extra motivation to knock us off. I don’t place too much stock in scores from one game to the next during the season, let along from one season to the next. So, while we may have advanced last year, that really doesn’t mean much of anything this season. Their coach, John Stamets, is a great guy who always has them ready. But overall, I’d view that game as just one of many challenges we face on our regular season schedule. As I said, we expect to get everyone’s best game, and that includes challenges from within our own league. All you can do is take it one game at a time, keep improving win or lose, and try to be at your peak when it counts the most at the end of the year,” Vosburg said.
Avoca-Prattsburgh won class D Sectionals last season and will start eight seniors this season, so they want to not only win Sectionals again but move onto States, in order to do that they’ll have to beat Fillmore.
