Brandon Harris, Canisius head football coach was named the Buffalo Bills' High School Coach of the Week after his Crusaders upended powerful Cathedral Prep (Erie, Pa.) 30-20 last weekend.
Quarterback Travis Eman led the offense as he rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown. Eman also passed for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Mercer Timmis added 140 rushing yards to the offense as the Crusaders came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the Pennsylvania power.
"It was a huge win for our school," Harris said, "But we are not done yet. No one gave us any trophies and we still have some work to do."
Cathedral Prep, a program with a national reputation as a football power, had not lost to a team from New York State since 2002. Last year Cathedral Prep crushed all three WNY Catholic teams.
"We aren't there yet, but we want to be a great program like they are," Harris said.
Cathedral Prep beat Canisius 55-20 one year ago but Harris said his players were confidant during the week leading up to the game.
"Our kids believed we could play with them," Harris said. "We played with them last year. We put up 500 yards of offense but we just couldn't stop them."
This year, the defense stepped up and held Cathedral Prep to 20 points and forced a three-and-out on the game's most important drive with nine minutes to play.
Josh Perez led the defensive unit with 11 tackles while Kyril Threats made 4 tackles, including three QB sacks. Nate Farrar was in on five tackles.
"I think our unsung heroes are the two defensive coaches," Harris said.
Rich Robbins is the defensive coordinator while Brian Taylor also works with the defense.
"Those guys do a phenomenal job with the defense," Harris said. "Our defense played really well."
Harris played football at Leuzinger High School in California and was named an all-state tailback and defensive back. He played wide receiver at the University of Idaho and was named an All-Conference player.
He has coached for 17 years and Canisius is the first school where he has been the head coach. Harris was previously the offensive coordinator for Brophy College Prep in Arizona, helping the school win two straight Arizona state championships.
This is the 14th consecutive year of the Buffalo Bills High School Football 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 will receive an official certificate from the commissioner of the NFL, plus a Bills Coach of the Week cap and a $1,000 donation to the school's football program from the Buffalo Bills Youth Foundation. Recognition of the winning coach will 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.
2010 Coach of the Week Winners:
Week 1 - Rich Harris (Kenmore West Blue Devils)
Week 2 - Tom Goddard (Clarence Red Devils)
Week 3 - Ed Wilson (McKinley Macks)
Week 4 – Brandon Harris (Canisius Crusaders)
