Week 6 of the high school football season in Western New York has gone by and the Buffalo Bills and Legends Global Merchandising are happy to partner to recognize the top coaches in the region through the 2024 High School Football Coach of the Week program.
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 next 10 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
Brighton coach Stephen Lian was named the Buffalo Bills coach of the Week after leading his Bruins to a 14-6 win over Irondequoit. Brighton is now 6-0 on the season in Class A, Irondequoit fell to 5-1.
The game was scoreless in the first half.
In the third quarter, Brighton's Noah Wagner ripped off a 30-yard punt return to start the Bruins with great field position at the Irondequoit 35-yard line. Gavin Parks ran four times and capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.
Irondequoit responded immediately as the offense drove 70 yards for a touchdown to pull within one. The Brighton defense stuffed the 2-point conversion to preserve the 7-6 lead.
In the final quarter, Brighton added a touchdown drive where the Bruins drove 43 yards in 8 plays. Wagner caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Grady Hopkin for a 14-6 lead.
Brighton got the ball back with four minutes left and ran out the clock.
Gavin Parks ran 39 times for 194 yards and 1 touchdown. Parks, a 1st-team All-Greater Rochester running back in 2023, has now rushed for 993 yards and 15 touchdowns on 133 carries this season. Kaleb Matthews made nine tackles, including 2.0 sacks. Matthew Heininger made 7 tackles and recorded 2.0 sacks. Noah Wagner caught 3 passes for 25 yards and a touchdown.
Hired as head coach before the 2012 season, Lian has coached at Brighton for 15 seasons.
His coaching philosophy is to develop future leaders through football. He uses his program as a vehicle to make the community better.
His favorite memories as a football coach are when former players come back at their alumni events and share their memories that they have been able to experience as a Brighton Football Family.
Away from the field, his team volunteers with all their Brighton Junior Bruins football activities. They also organize and work their annual "Peanut Butter and Jelly Slam" to make bag lunches for the Open Door Mission.
Buffalo Region Coach of the Week
Kenmore West's John Haynes was named the Buffalo Bills Coach of the Week after leading the Blue Devils to a 26-7 win over Starpoint.
After starting the season 1-2, the Blue Devils have now won three games in a row and clinched a Class A playoff spot with their win.
"Class A is very tough," Haynes said. "There is no cupcake week in Class A."
After the Blue Devils lost to Sweet Home, Haynes called his players together.
"We needed to turn things around," Haynes said. "We told the kids that it's not about the name on the back of the jersey. It's about the team. Our kids bought into it."
Since that meeting, the Devils have beaten Hamburg, McKinley and now Starpoint, all teams that entered the game with better records than Ken West.
"We needed to treat it like we had a playoff game each week," Haynes said. "The kids have done a great job preparing each week."
Kenmore West scored first when the Blue Devils drove 70 yards for a touchdown. QB Jack Johnson tossed a short touchdown pass to Avahn Jackson for a 7-0 lead.
Later in the 2nd quarter, Ken West began driving the ball again. Facing a fourth down, Johnson tossed another touchdown pass to Jackson for a 14-0 lead.
"It was a great catch," Haynes said. "Avahn caught it in double-coverage and came down with the ball."
Jackson caught 3 passes for 41 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also made 7 tackles on defense, including 3.0 QB sacks.
"He really stepped up this week," Haynes said. "We had to move him from LB to CB because we had some injuries. This week, we were able to move him back to LB and he did a great job."
In the second half, Starpoint got the ball first and drove down the field for a touchdown to pull within seven points.
"We had to respond, right then and the kids did," Haynes said.
On the ensuing possession, the Blue Devils drove 75 yards for a touchdown. Senior DD Rodgers broke free for a 47-yard touchdown and West led 20-7.
Later in the third quarter, Rogers intercepted a pass to end a Starpoint threat. He then ran 30 yards for the game sealing touchdown.
Haynes has been coaching football at Kenmore West for 29 seasons. He was named the head coach before the 2016 season. He has been a part of three league champions in 1996, 2009 and 2015. He also helped the Blue Devils reach the Class A championship game in 2015.
Haynes has also been the head baseball coach at Ken West since 2012. He has led the Blue Devils to 3 league titles and a Section 6 title in 2019.
In the winter, Haynes is the head coach of the Unified Bowling team.
"Unified Bowling matches up kids who are in Special Ed with other athletes from our school," Haynes said. "We have kids who play girls soccer, basketball, football and wrestling who are working with the Special Ed kids."
Haynes said that his experience with the Unified Bowling team has been incredible.
"It's awesome," he said. "Just seeing the rewards and excitement the kids get from Unified Bowling has been very rewarding for a coach. This program works for all sorts of kids and I'm so glad I can be a part of it."
His coaching philosophy is to build relationships with the student athletes and teach them life lessons that will carry on for the rest of their lives.
"I really enjoy coaching and getting the best out of the athletes, to see them succeed," Haynes said.
They use acronyms every week and different words that represent good character and preach "Once a Devil, always a Devil."
Off the field, they go to an elementary school in the district for a day and work with the students from K-4 in reading, math and their physical education classes. They also invite the students to come to one of their games during the season and pick a ball boy for the game.
