Brandon Harris was named the Buffalo Bills High School Coach of the Week #11 after his Canisius Crusaders cruised past St. Joe's 58-34 in the Monsignor Martin Association AA championship game at Ralph Wilson Stadium last weekend.
"It was a great feeling for our kids," Harris said. "It was great for all of our alumni, for our administration and our students."
Ricky Pringle rushed for under 187 yards and three touchdowns to lead the ground attack. Quarterback Travis Eman completed 12 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Eman also ran 11 times for 110 yards and scored three touchdowns.
"Our offense played about as good as they could play," said Harris. "I kind of knew it was going to happen. The way our week of practice had gone, the kids understood what we wanted to do and they executed just about perfectly."
Canisius led 24-21 at the half. Peter Roehmeldt kicked a field goal at the end of the half to take a 24-21 lead into the locker room.
Harris said, "I thought that was a key point in the game. They got the ball in the second half and we stopped them. We scored and put some distance between us."
The teams raced up and down the field like it was a track meet in the first half.
"Our defense came out and tried a few things," Harris said. "At halftime, we went back to our base defense and our kids were a lot more comfortable. Our defensive coaches made an adjustment and they did really well."
Harris played high school football at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California. He was name all-conference and all-state as both a junior and a senior. Harris then played wide receiver at the University of Idaho.
After his eligibility was complete, Harris played for two seasons in the NFL and one more year in the World Football League. After his playing career, he returned to Idaho to get degrees in Journalism and Marketing.
This is the 13th consecutive year of the Buffalo Bills Coach of the Week program. Each week during the 11-week high school football season, a committee appointed by the Buffalo Bills selects a head football coach as Coach of the Week.
The honorees receive a certificate signed by Russ Brandon, Buffalo Bills general manager/chief operating officer and Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner. They also receive a Buffalo Bills Coach of the Week cap and $1,000 donation to their school's football program from the Buffalo Bills Youth Foundation. Recognition of the winning coach will also be shown on the Buffalo Bills official website (www.buffalobills.com).
At the end of the season, one of the weekly award winners will be named Coach of the Year and will receive an additional $1,000 donation to the school's football program.
2009 Bills HS Football Coach of the Week Winners:
Week 1 - Kraig Kurzanski, Williamsville South Billies
Week 2 - Jason Kolb, Burgard Bulldogs
Week 3 - Chuck Tilley, Eden Raiders
Week 4 - Jay Sirianni, Southwestern Trojans
Week 5 - Len Jankiewicz, Lancaster Trojans
Week 6 - Scott Zipp, Cheektowaga Warriors
Week 7 - John Faller, Sweet Home Panthers
Week 8 - Dean Santorio, Grand Island Vikings
Week 9 – Eric Jantzi, North Tonawanda Lumberjacks
Week 10 - Pat Slater, Randolph Cardinals
Week 11 – Brandon Harris, Canisius Crusaders
