by TYLER HATHAWAY
BUFFALO, N.Y– It was all Brighton from start to finish on Friday night.
The Bruins (10-2) led for all but 48 seconds in a 42-14 win over Section VI representative McKinley (9-3) in the NYS Class A Far West Regional. Brighton built a 21-0 lead after its first three offensive drives and led by as much as 36 points. The Macks had only allowed 28 points in their three postseason games leading up to Friday night.
“We wanted to come here and see if we could play Brighton football outside the section,” said Brighton head coach Stephen Lian. “We know what we want to do, and they had a great defense coming in. To be able to be tested, you’re lucky. We are very fortunate when you get to have a test and see if you can do it. Our guys executed our game plan to a T.”
The win helped the Bruins secure a spot in the state semifinals for the second consecutive season. Prior to last year, Brighton had never won a sectional title.
“It’s obviously huge for the program and it’s definitely a great accomplishment,” Lian explained. “I think when the season’s finally done, I’ll have time to reflect on that. But in the short term, it really is just a great opportunity for us to stay together. That’s been our mantra for the last month, is to earn tomorrow, and that’s all we care about, earning more time with each other.”
“I mean, I’m really proud of our guys,” said junior running back Zachary Rossignol. “I’m proud of what we’re able to do. We’ve gone through a couple losses, adversity, but it’s all about how we bounce back from that and how we’re playing next week.”
The Bruins got the ball on the opening kick and didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard. The second play from scrimmage saw Rossignol shed a few tackles and take it 54 yards for a touchdown to give Brighton an early 7-0 lead.
Rossignol finished the day with 18 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns.
“I mean, I just keep going,” Rossignol said about his mindset running the football. “Just keep chugging for as many yards as I can.”
McKinley put together a long drive to follow up the quick score by Brighton, but a fourth-down try was no good after Queyanu McDermott made a break-up on a pass from McKinley quarterback Kalaugn Ford. In total, the Bruins’ defense held the Macks to a season-low 14 points. McKinley entered the game averaging 37.3 points per game and over 500 yards of offense.
“That was a big test for us,” Lian explained. “We like to pride ourselves on being a really physical sound defense that can fly around, and we feel like we have the two best linebackers in the area, and the state. And that was a great test. We said if you guys want to be that defense, we’re gonna have to slow this team down, and that’s exactly what they did.”
The next two drives for Brighton also ended in touchdowns. Bruins quarterback Ethan Bialaszewski connected with Leo Hopkins for a 22-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the first quarter, and and after the defense forced a three and out, a 52-yard touchdown pass from Bialaszewski to Patrick Rohr made it 21-0 Brighton less than four minutes into the second quarter.
“I mean, we have people all around the field who can get the ball,” said Rossignol. “We have Patrick (Rohr), Justin (Medina), our quarterback Ethan (Bialaszewski), Matt (Heininger). I mean, everyone who could get the ball has potential to score it on every play.”
On McKinley’s third possession, the Macks converted two third downs and one fourth down on a drive that lasted over seven minutes. Ford found wide receiver Marcus Daniels on for a 14-yard touchdown that made the score 21-6. The Bruins had a last-second field goal attempt blocked before halftime, and McKinley was set to get the ball first in the second half.
”We said that at halftime that the opening kickoff, and this first defensive series of the second half is the ball game,” said Lian. “They had to score, and we felt like if we could get a stop right there, that maybe we could break their will a little bit.”
The Brighton defense once again stood strong, forcing a three and out to take momentum back. Justin Medina capped off the ensuing five-minute Brighton drive with a four-yard touchdown to make it 28-6 halfway through the third quarter.
“Our kids study hard, they take football seriously.,” said Lian. ”When we put out game plans and we put out scouting reports, they really take it to heart. And when you have leaders like Matthew Heininger, Amari Snowden and Charlie Messina on that defense, those senior captains that we have, they are players that not only are great individually, but they make everybody rise their level of play and their level of preparation.”
The defense got another fourth down stop, and it lead to another Medina touchdown just as the fourth quarter started. The senior finished with 14 carries for 52 yards.
“Statistically, there’s other guys in Section V with bigger numbers,” Lian said of Rossignol and Medina. “But I think they’re the two best running backs in the section. I think they do a really great job in our system. And when they’re able to feed off each other and complement each other, you can see what they have.”
On the next drive, Justin Rohr came down with an interception that set up the Bruins just outside the red zone. The Brighton secondary finished with two interceptions, and the defensive line ended with five sacks.
“It was huge,” Lian said about the play of the defensive line. ”We’ve actually been feeling like our defensive line’s been great at stopping the run, but we haven’t been getting to the quarterback as much as we’d really like to. And we knew that tonight, they were gonna have to really step it up to do that. And credit to them, our d-line came to play.”
Rossignol scored his second touchdown of the day from 15 yards out a few plays later to put a stamp on it.
“I mean, I’m just proud of how we come together and play as one team,” Rossignol said. “I mean, we put up 42 points and only allowed six points with our starters in. I think that’s just a testament to how hard we practice, how hard we work, and how hard our coaches work, too.”
“We’ve been playing a lot of football,” said Lian. “We’ve been practicing together since June. And every day that they show up, it’s like the 1st day. They’re fresh and ready to attack the day. I’m just really proud that after this long time, that we’re able to come out here and represent Section V and do a really nice job.”
Bialaszewski finished four of seven passing the ball for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Hopkins caught two passes for 51 yards. Rohr and Matthew Heininger each made five tackles. Heininger caught one pass for 37 yards. Zahmar Tookes finished with seven tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble. Amari Snowden tallied seven tackles, one of which resulting in a loss. Charlie Messina totaled six tackles. Anthony Julian and Jah Joseph each had four tackles, with Julian adding an interception and Joseph a sack.
“You know, if you’re coaching as long as I have, it’s great that we’ve had this last five years of recent success,” said Lian. “But you realize how fleeting it can be and how quickly the year turns into the next year. And when you get to be with kids that you love, and you love to coach, you want to keep it going as long as possible, and that’s what we keep trying to do.”
Brighton advances to the NYS Class A semifinals against Union-Endicott (IV). The game is scheduled for 6:00 pm next Friday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
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