By PAUL GOTHAM
BRIGHTON, N.Y. — Stephen Lian and Brighton football have an added challenge to this season.
After winning the program’s first sectional title a year ago, the Bruins now find themselves as the target of every opponent’s best shot.
On Saturday afternoon, Spencerport was the latest to try and make a statement with a victory over Lian’s squad, and late in the third quarter the outcome hung in the balance.
That is until the Brighton gridders put together a 13-play, 65-yard drive.
“We knew this was going to be a different year, that everyone was coming after us,” Lian said after Brighton’s 28-13 victory on homecoming. “It’s kind of a weird thing because everyone’s coming after us, but more than half of the team wasn’t a part of it last year.”
Sophomore quarterback Ethan Bialaszewski connected with teammate Patrick Rohr on a touchdown pass from inside the 10-yard line to give the Bruins (3-0) their first two-possession advantage of the game at 21-7.
“We have a lot of young guys in new roles and then trying to shuffle a little bit,” Lian said. “Very proud of the guys dealing with some adversity.”
After their previous three drives accounted for one total first down, the Bruins used nine plays on the ground and converted four first downs in the eventual game-winning drive.
Third down: Ethan Bialaszewski finds Patrick Rohr for 6. 2-point conversion is good. @brightonbruins 21 Spencerport 7 @SecVFootball pic.twitter.com/DEt6jqvZXq
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 20, 2025
Zach Rossignol caps an 8-play drive with a touchdown. PAT is good. @brightonbruins 28 Spencerport 7 pic.twitter.com/Bm9k7N4sOT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 20, 2025
“Things were not clicking,” Lian said. “We were not in sync like things were all week in practice. And so, how do young guys respond? I think a lot of guys showed us that they can respond pretty well.”
That Brighton had a 13-7 lead was the result of Spencerport being caught off guard. After the Rangers went 53 yards on eight plays to tie the game at seven, Rohr returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown.
Spencerport had three chances to tie or take the lead. On each drive, the Rangers had the ball in Brighton territory. Following Rohr’s kickoff return, the Rangers had the ball at midfield. Amari Marianetti-Smith took a handoff on first down and went 15 yards to set up Spencerport at the Brighton 35. Four plays later, the Rangers turned it over on a fumble.
The Rangers’ next drive stalled on fourth down in Brighton territory.
After stopping Brighton on downs to open the third quarter, Spencerport (2-1) moved the chains twice before committing another fumble.
“Against good teams and obviously, they’re a good team, those mistakes compound, and it kills you,” said Rangers’ head coach Brian Hugelmaier. “We knew we had to kind of play perfect coming in. A couple too many mistakes and they took advantage.
“I’m not a big moral victory guy, but I just told the kids we went toe to toe with them. We had a couple of opportunities.”
Marianetti-Smith tied the game at seven when he shed a couple of tackles inside the five-yard line before getting a final push against a trio of Brighton defenders.
“We kept them off balance a little bit,” Hugelmaier said of the drive that mixed seven plays on the ground and two through the air. “We threw some play-action. We wanted to play with those linebackers a little bit. We slowed them down a little bit, and that opened up the running game.”
Brighton extended the lead to 21 when Zach Rossignol scored for the second time on the day to give the Bruins a 28-7 with 7:21 remaining in the game.
“We’re just trying to get better a little bit every week,” Lian said. “We have a lot of young players, a lot of guys in new roles. Like I told everybody as we were going into the season, every week we’re finding ways to improve, finding ways for different guys to step up. I think that’s one thing that’s really special about this group. Is when one guy is down or somebody is having a down day or not making plays, somebody else steps up. It just helps everybody bounce back.”
Bialaszeskwski completed 10-of-18 passes for 113 yards.
Rossignol rushed for 56 yards on 14 carries. On the defensive side, the junior linebacker made six tackles, one for a loss and had a fumble recovery.
Anthony Julian and Matthew Heininger both finished with five tackles including one for a loss. Julian forced a fumble and had a fumble recovery.
Justin Medina had nine carries for 81 yards. Rohr made three catches for 29 yards. Clarence Bell and Leo Hopkins made two catches apiece. Hopkins also had an interception.
“I’m happy that we ran into a little bit of adversity,” Lian said. “The priority is to win the game and be 3-and-O. Because we accomplished that, I think the great thing is we hadn’t dealt with as much adversity in the first couple of weeks.”
Brighton travels to play at McQuaid Jesuit next Friday. A 7:00 p.m. kickoff is scheduled.
Spencerport hosts Hilton for its homecoming game next Saturday. A 2:00 p.m. start is slated.
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