For the final time this season, the Buffalo Bills and Legends Global Merchandise are happy to partner to name Andy Englert and Ty Harper as the coaches of the week for the Rochester and Buffalo regions for week 11 of the high school football season.
Aimed at highlighting varsity head tackle football coaches' efforts on and off the field, coaches from both the Buffalo and Rochester regions will be honored over the course of 11 weeks and will receive $1,000 for their teams. Each region's Coach of the Year will be named during the Week 17 game against the New York Jets and will receive an additional $1,000 for their programs.
Rochester Region Coach of the Week
Avon coach Andy Englert was named the Rochester region Coach of the Week after he led the River Hawks to a 28-0 win over Alexander in the Section 5 Class D championship game.
Avon led 15-0 at the half and the defense pitched a shutout. After a scoreless first quarter, the Avon defense recovered a fumble deep in Alexander territory to set up a short field. Wesley Farley ran 19 yards for the game's first score. Blayden Vorsching caught the two-point conversion pass, and the River Hawks led 8-0.
Late in the second quarter, Avon started a drive on their own 36-yard line. With just 1:07 left in the half, Kalman Dolgos ran 17 yards for a touchdown and Avon led 15-0.
"It was a tough group, stay with the game plan," Englert said. "Keep swarming the ball."
Farley added a two-yard touchdown to give the River Hawks a 22-0. Dolgos ran 20 yards for a touchdown to put the game away.
Farley ran 26 times for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also made nine tackles and recorded a QB sack on defense. Dolgos ran 18 times for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Bobby Bridges led the defense with 11 tackles and forced a fumble. Travis Hollada made eight tackles, recorded a QB sack, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.
Alexander entered the game 9-1, losing only to Avon in the regular season. Avon is now 11-0 and will play at SUNY Brockport at 5 p.m. Friday against Clymer-Sherman-Panama in the Class D Far West Regional.
Englert, who has coached for 27 years, has now won six Section 5 titles, including 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021 and this year. Avon also won Section V titles in 1983 and 1986.
Englert has always loved the game of football and how it teaches young athletes how to be dedicated, committed and accountable. He finds ways to get his students involved in football over the years as Avon has three levels of football.
Englert is also on the Section V Sportsmanship Committee and in 2023, he received the Robert J Uplinger Distinguished Service Award from the local Lions Club which recognizes outstanding and exemplary service to the Avon community.
Buffalo Region Coach of the Week
Clymer-Sherman-Panama coach Ty Harper was named the Buffalo region Coach of the Week after leading the Wolfpack to the Section VI Class D championship with a 33-8 win over Franklinville/Ellicottville at Highmark Stadium.
Harper said he was surprised with the selection.
"So many great coaches had some big wins this week," Harper said. "Some of the best coaches that worked so hard year-round to build their programs."
CSP won the last two Class D titles. The Wolfpack has now won four championships in the last seven years, previously raising the trophy in 2018, 2019 and 2023. CSP won New York State titles in 2018 and 2019.
CSP was locked in a defensive battle early in their sectional championship win. Neither team scored until halfway through the second quarter when the Wolfpack broke through.
"I think the defense did a fantastic job," Harper said. "They kept us in the game while our offense found its footing. It took a while to get going."
With nine minutes left in the half, the CSP defense stopped a fake punt on fourth down and the Wolfpack took possession on the 48-yard line. CSP proceeded to drive 48 yards in 5 plays for the game's first score. Carter Brink caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tate Catanese with 7:26 left in the first half and CSP led 7-0.
Franklinville/Ellicottville tried to drive for the tying score but, with just 2:20 left in the first half, the Wolfpack defense stopped the Titans on downs again, this time at the CSP 29-yard line. The offense drove 71 yards in 6 plays for a second touchdown. With 0:42 left before halftime, Catanese ran in from eight yards out to give the Wolfpack a 14-0 lead.
"Even though our offense struggled, we have some really talented kids and once it gets going, we're tough to stop," Harper said.
At the start of the second half, the CSP defense forced a punt, and the Wolfpack started on their own 43. The offense drove 57 yards on 15 plays for a touchdown. They took 5:33 to drive for the 20-0 lead.
"They did a good job of limiting any explosive plays," Harper said. "They made us earn first downs."
Catanese hit Bryce Hinsdale with a seven-yard touchdown pass for a 20-0 lead. Later in the third quarter, Catanese ran 19 yards for a touchdown and a 27-0 lead. The defense held Franklinville/Ellicottville off the scoreboard until the Titans scored with 3:51 left in the game.
Harper is the only head coach that CSP has ever had, as the program has only been in existence since 2016. Before that, he spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Sherman, where he is a Social Studies teacher. In 2015, he was hired as the head coach of the new Clymer-Sherman program and Panama joined the following season to become CSP.
"There are a lot of obstacles to overcome with a merged program," Harper said. "We had three, small rival school districts. The kids were the easy part."
Two years later, Harper led the Wolfpack to the program's first sectional title. Three weeks after that, the Wolfpack would win their first New York State championship.
"We've had some great kids," Harper said, "and the assistant coaches have done a great job teaching them."
The success of the football merger has led to the districts merging for other sports.
"We've merged cross country, track, baseball," Harper said. "I hope we merge more programs. It gives kids opportunities to compete with programs that are bigger."
CSP is now 8-2 and will play Avon (11-0) in the Far West Regional at SUNY Brockport on Friday at 5 p.m.
"At this point, everyone is still playing for a reason," Harper said. "Avon is a very good team and we're expecting a battle."
Harper believes that football is the ultimate teaching opportunity to prepare athletes to be functional adults. He preaches the importance of accountability and work ethic, and that those things generally correlate with productivity and achievement. His hope is that the players that he coaches go on to become successful adults, good husbands and fathers, and ultimately contribute to society in a positive way.
CSP varsity players volunteer to work the program's youth football camp each year, which runs for four days every summer for any Clymer, Sherman, or Panama student entering grades 3-8.
CSP has been recognized as a NYS scholar athlete team multiple times since 2015, has had 7 players recognized as Academic All WNY selections since 2015 and more than 40 student athletes have been recognized as members of the 3 schools' National Honor Society chapters during Harper's tenure.
