The Buffalo Bills and ADPRO Sports are proud to once again partner to recognize some of the best coaches that Western New York has to offer through the 2022 High School Football Coach of the Week Program.
The Bills and ADPRO Sports will be awarding varsity head tackle football coaches with the Coach of the Week Award to highlight not only their team's achievements on the field but also some of the work they are doing off the field in their communities. We will announce winners from the Buffalo and Rochester Regions over the course of 11 weeks, with both region's Coach of the Year being named during the Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots game in January of 2023 at Highmark Stadium.
Each Coach of the Week winner will receive a $1,000 grant from the Buffalo Bills and ADPRO Sports. The respective Coach of the Year winners will also receive an additional $1,000 for their programs. Winners will be selected by a panel of local high school football experts.
Buffalo Region Coach of the Week # 8
Albion head coach David Skrip has been named the week seven Buffalo Region Coach of the Week after rallying his Purple Eagles to a 26-20 win over arch-rival Medina last week. It was the 124th time the teams had played - they have played every year since 1898.
Medina had entered the game 7-0 and ranked 4th in NYS. Albion fell behind 14-0 at the half, but Coach Skrip told his players to stay focused.
"Just keep believing in each other," he said. "Keep playing hard and take it one play at a time."
Albion got on the scoreboard when Javon Jones ran 8 yards for a TD to pull the Eagles within 14-6. Medina pulled ahead 20-6 in the third quarter, but Albion answered when QB Amari Jones tossed a 40-yard TD pass to Kwame Riley and Albion trailed 20-12. Later in the 3rd quarter, Javon Jones ran 7 yards for a TD and Albion trailed 20-18. With just 1:30 left in the 4th quarter, Albion started a drive on their own 30. The Eagles drove down to the Medina 6-yard line with :49 left when Javon Jones ran for his 3rd TD of the night to give Albion their first lead at 26-18. On Medina's ensuing possession, Dallas Ecker intercepted the pass at the 50-yard line to seal the win.
Coach Skrip has coached at Albion for 7 seasons. He was named the head coach before the 2021 season and led Albion to a 6-3 record and a playoff spot last season.
Albion is now 6-2 and will play Pioneer in the first round of the Class B playoffs on Friday.
Coach Skrip's varsity players are active in the school community, running a Big Brother Program where varsity players are introduced to younger students to provide guidance and act as mentors. Coach Skrip also runs a strength and conditioning program over the summer, for 7th through 12th graders for athletes in the Albion program.
Off the field, Skrip teaches 8th-grade Social Studies at Albion.
Rochester Region Coach of the Week # 8
U-Prep head coach Isiah Young has been named the week eight Rochester Coach of the Week after leading the Griffins to a 30-6 win over Rush-Henrietta. U-Prep finished the regular season with an 8-0 record and won the regular-season title in AA.
RB Christopher Jean led a solid ground attack as he ran 9 times for 111 yards. QB Noah Hill completed 16 of 24 passes for 218 yards and 3 TDs.
Young has coached at U-Prep for 3 seasons, winning the Section 5 Class A title last fall. After the season, U-Prep was moved up to the Class AA level, despite being an all-boys Charter School with just 216 students. His career record as a head coach is 22-3.
Coach Young has his players very active in the community. Six U-Prep captains recently attended a Gun Violence Summit in Rochester to discuss issues about gun violence in the inner city.
"We need to keep young people talking about these issues," Young said. "They need to be aware of situations that cause gun violence."
Coach Young also takes his players on college tours during the off-season.
"I want to get these kids to see something different, a place that's not Rochester," Young said. "I want them to see that if they take their academics and football seriously, going away to college is something they could do."
"We just load some kids into the school vans and go," he said. "We have visited off-season workouts at colleges. We have been to prospect camps. The farthest we went was to Michigan in 2019. We went to UConn this past summer."
Young has been a teacher at U-Prep for the past four years. The head coach focuses on the importance of academics off the field which played a role in his team having a GPA of 3.18 through week 5 of the season.
Coach Young and his players have a close relationship with the Flower City Panthers Youth organization. This summer, they donated equipment to help them out with a lack of it. The organization also had a halftime show for the 10 & 11u team during their homecoming to showcase the youth in our community.
