BY PAUL LIOTTI
The skill players get all the publicity in football:
Quarterbacks. Running backs. Receivers.
But when Letchworth/Warsaw and Attica take the field Saturday afternoon in the Class C finals, the game will be won at the point of attack, with the big uglies up front determining the outcome. That’s the overwhelming consensus from both sides and anyone who follows these teams.
“The biggest matchup on Saturday will be in the trenches,” Letchworth/Warsaw coach Justin Mann said. “We both run the ball and we both want to control the line of scrimmage. Whoever can control the line will win the game.”
This game is for bragging rights, not only in Class C, but in the Livingston County/Genesee Region league, and the communities as well.
“Everyone is very excited about getting to this point,” Attica coach Caleb Sabatino said. “So many people have told me they are going to the game – not only from school, but from the community as well. This is a big deal for all of us.”
Fan bases from the area will make the trek to St. John Fisher College, the site of the Class C finals. The game is set to kick off right at 5 pm Saturday.
Both teams operate with the ‘three-yards-and-a-cloud-of dust’ philosophy and rarely go to the air.
The fifth-seeded Blue Devils (7-2/No. 9 NYSSWA) — who are looking for their first Sectional title — average 287 yards rushing and just 45 yards passing, and have only attempted 60 passes all season. But when they need to pass to win, they can, just ask Wayland-Cohocton or East Rochester/Gananda, who were both burned by passes in quarterfinal and semifinal losses, respectively. Against Way-Co, Attica scored with 4.1 seconds left to win 31-28 and against ER-G, a 36 yard pass set up a three-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds left in a 21-14 win.
Utilizing and old-school, double-wing formation, it’s difficult for opposing defenses to pick out who has the ball when Attica is on offense. Every perfectly choreographed rush usually rips off chunks of yards and moves the Blue Devils down the field. Four running backs have rushed for more than 250 yards this season, and are led by Mason Compton (776 yards, 7.8 yards/rush, eight touchdowns), Edward Strzelec (723, 7.9, six) and Zachary Strzelec (292, 8.1, two).
But third-seeded Letsaw (8-1/No. 10 NYSSWA) has been up to the challenge having faced some powerful opponents this season. L/W has rolled through its season with three shutouts and allowing a total of 9.0 points per game. Its only blemish was a 40-0 defeat at the hands of Class B power Batavia Week 3, a game which provided more value in a loss than with perhaps if they had won. That loss, coupled with the incredibly tough schedule, has prepared Letsaw for this moment.
“After that game we knew what we had to fix and it was a very good learning experience for us,” Mann said, whose program hasn’t won a title since a three-peat in 2009-10-11. “When the schedule first came out, we realized that we had to be sharp because all our opponents were very strong,” Mann said. “Anytime you have a schedule that includes Batavia, LeRoy, Cal-Mum, Hornell, Way-Co., and you can be successful you will be better for it.”
And Mynderse and Penn Yan found out just how good Letsaw in these Sectional playoffs: Letsaw shut down Mynderse 35-7 in the quarterfinals then shut out powerful Penn Yan 28-0 in the semifinals to get to this point.
Attica’s schedule was no different as the Blue Devils navigated a slate that in Batavia, Livonia, LeRoy and Hornell, all teams that made the playoffs.
Neither team faced off against each other this year during the regular season, but they do know about the other’s tendencies.
“We are familiar with each other,” Sabatino said. “In the preseason we had a pretty good scrimmage and did participate in 7-on-7 drills together.”
And that familiarity translates to understanding that to stop L/W, the Blue Devils will have to keep an eye a running back by committee effort which includes bruising back Adrian Figoura (400 yards rushing this season), crafty back Dalton English, multipurpose back Sam Wolf and an experienced signal caller in Tom Standera.
“It’s going to be a knock-em, sock-em type of game, just the way we both like it,” Sabatino said.
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