GALLERY: Looking ahead at what to expect from local teams in Section Five Football.
By Sun Senior Sports Writer Bill Collmer, photos by Steve Harrison
With August coming to an end, it means summer is almost over which is always hard to believe. However, the one bright spot with Fall quickly approaching is High School sports are back. Football practice began Monday August 17;
We’re very lucky to live in an area where we have several teams competing at a high level in Section Five Football every fall
Let’s take a look at what we can expect the next few months from our local Football teams
Are you ready for some Football?
Our local football teams have begun practice, and games will kick off September 4, Local teams like Wellsville, Bath, Hornell, DWC and Canisteo-Greenwood are ready to get to work.
DWC (Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton) finished 4-4 last season but with seven starters back on both sides of the ball there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about a successful season. Junior Ethan Bauer had a breakout sophomore year running the ball, he finished the season with a School record 910 yards rushing and scored 8 touchdowns. Bauer is being recruited by RPI, University of Rochester and Alfred University. DWC opens up Friday September 4, at Newark.
The Wellsville Lions began practice doing two-a-days with work in the weight room, on the field, and watching game films. Head Coach Tim Keenan’s team will once again feature players from Genesee Valley/Belfast, Wellsville entered sectionals last season as the No.5 seed and fell to No.4 Leroy/Cal-Mum 27-20 in a hard-fought contest. They will open at Midlakes on Friday, Sept. 4.
The Bath-Haverling football team entered Sectionals as the No.7 seed last season and fell in the first round 34-20. They will host Canisteo-Greenwood Friday September 4, at 7 p.m.
Canisteo-Greenwood lost to eventual Champion Avon in the Sectional Semifinals; the Chargers return 10 seniors this season.
Bath has a young team, having only Four seniors on the roster. But they are solid seniors. Bath is young, but experienced. They have a large number of juniors that are returning starters or who had significant playing time last season. Their running back core has a lot of depth, and they have speed and strength. They will be the heart of the offense. The Rams have two young quarterbacks competing for the job, Parker Lafler and Blake Thomas. They both have great attitudes and are strong athletes. The big question will be their offensive line. They have three returning starters on the offensive line. They have to fill in two holes. Losing LCAA All-Star McClane Stermole to graduation, leaves a big hole to fill. But they have some young, but talented lineman ready to do get the job done.
“We had a core number of players that worked hard all summer long, lifting weights, speed training and working on skills and drills camps throughout the summer. We competed in a few 7 on 7 competitions. The team has almost completed the first week of practice. It has been a great week. They are working hard and have great attitudes. Our practices have been intense, and we are getting better each day,” Bath Head Coach Mark Recktenwald said.
The defense has a few spots to fill. They have fast defenders and they are eager and ready to play. They are well coached by Nathan Fish, Bath’s defensive coordinator, and he will have them ready to make big plays. Bath has always had a very dedicated coaching staff!
“We have the type of team that will work on getting better each day, each week. Our league is competitive and we face mostly merged teams which sometimes puts us at a disadvantage. But, if we stay healthy, which really is the key to this year, we should be competitive. Our team is taking the approach that we take every opponent seriously and we take one game at a time. Our focus now only is to get better and get ready for our first opponent Canisteo-Greenwood,” Recktenwald said.
Recktenwald was the head coach at Canisteo-Greenwood for the 2024 season before returning “Home” back to Bath.
Bath has a Sophomore on varsity this season with some strong football ties to Bath, Max Kisiah is the grandson of Section Five Hall of Fame Coach Wayne Carroll. Recktenwald was an assistant under Carroll for many years at Bath. In his 32 years Coaching high school Football Carroll finished 183-101, he Coached at Bath from 1992-2018 winning six sectional titles and advanced to the New York State Final Four on four separate occasions. Kisiah’s uncles Nick and T.C Carroll were both All-State players at Bath, Nick went on to play Division 1 Football at Monmouth.
“Yes, having Max Kisiah joining us as a sophomore is great! Being the grandson of a legendary coach in Wayne Carrol is an advantage to us. Max has an awesome work ethic and is developing into a strong player and he will do great things for us,” Recktenwald said.
Stand out players include, all returning starters: Dayton Orlowske (12) RB/LB, Brady Hopkins (12) RB/LB, Asher Phenes (11) WR/RB/Safety, Kage Adams (11) RB/DB, Bentley Decker (11) TE/DE, Noah Gotshall (11) OL/DL, Cole McKinley (11) Center, Maddox Conrad (10) OL, and Jacob Warner (12) DL
“I am very excited to see who else will step up. I am blessed to have nice kids to coach. They are a good bunch of people. I hope they bond and play as a team,” Recktenwald concluded.
The Hornell Red Raiders looked impressive in a Scrimmage against the Class AAA Elmira Express from Section IV. Hornell was able to score several times as both teams practiced offense, defense and special teams during the practice The Red Raiders season kicks off at Wayne (Class B) on September 4th at 7pm. Hornell’s home opener is Friday September 11, against Wellsville/Genesee Valley at 7p.m. Hornell is competing in Class C and will have Four home games this season not counting sectionals.
High School Football is back and there are many reasons to be excited.
