SABRES COME BACK TO BEAT BLUES LAST NIGHT
The Buffalo Sabres had to battle against the St. Louis Blues along with the NHL rulebook and its interpreters in stripes last night, but the blue and gold came out on top, defeating the visitors 4-3 in Overtime.
Without Tage Thompson, the Sabres clawed their way back multiple times throughout the night, at one point thinking they had tied the game at three during the final period. Upon review, the goal was taken off the board due to contact between Buffalo’s Zach Benson and the St. Louis goalkeeper Jordan Binnington. That disallowed goal caused controversy across the hockey world, igniting the age-old debate: what exactly constitutes goaltender interference?
Buffalo persisted despite that challenge being successful for the Blues, as Alex Tuch netted the game’s tying goal off a beautiful feed from Ryan McLeod, who filled in on the top offensive line for the injured Thompson. McLeod ended the night with a goal and an assist in the 17 minutes of ice time he saw. On a power play in overtime, the Sabres’ JJ Peterka drew in two defenders, sent a nifty pass across ice to Rasmus Dahlin, who unleashed a one-time clapper top shelf. Buffalo wins their fourth game in the last five played. The Sabres head to the city of brotherly love tomorrow night as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night at 7PM.
CSP, SALAMANCA, SWEET HOME EACH DOMINATE IN SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS LAST NIGHT
After a week of upsets in the Section VI Semifinal, the higher seeds dominated night one of Championship Weekend at Highmark Stadium, as CSP, Salamanca, and Sweet Home all blew out the competition to claim sectional championships.
The Clymer-Sherman-Panama Wolfpack defeated Franklinville/Ellicottville 33-8 to claim back to back section VI Championships. With a handful of seniors from Panama HS starting on both sides of the ball and a coaching staff that has ‘been there, done that,’ led by Ty Harper, CSP showed exactly why they have state title aspirations this season, making light work of their once-rivals in Class D. CSP will face Section V’s Champion, to be determined Saturday afternoon between Avon and Alexander Central. The Far West Regional will be hosted by Section V in Rochester next weekend.
Unbeaten this season, the Salamanca Warriors marched on to victory last night, beating Portville 40-14 in the Class C Championship. Xavier Peters’ touchdown run on Salamanca’s first play from scrimmage was just the start of an onslaught of offense from the Warriors, who didn’t take the 8th-seeded Panthers lightly for a second, given Portville's upset victories the last two weeks. The Warriors will take on the Section V Class C winner in the Far West Regional next weekend.
In the nightcap, the Sweet Home Panthers claimed their first sectional championship in over a decade, and it was really never in doubt, as the blue and gold beat McKinley 34-0 in the Class A Title game. The powerback Daquan Stone had one heck of a performance for the Panthers, who controlled the game on the ground, found their bursts through the air with speedy receivers, and shut down the Macks’ rushing attack on defense. Sweet Home will take on the winner of Section V’s Brighton vs Canandaigua next week in the Far West Regional.
CLASS B AND CLASS AA TITLE GAMES ARE TONIGHT
Tonight, two more sectional champions will be crowned on the gridiron, as Highmark Stadium is the sight of both the Class B and Class AA Championships this evening.
The Health Sciences Falcons have made it tradition to play in the Sectional TItle game, having played in the Championship game in five of the last six seasons. At 5:00 this evening, the Falcons will take on the explosive South Park Sparks in the Class B Title game at the home of the Bills. South Park, 9-1, comes into this game after a thwarting of the previously unbeaten Pioneer Panthers on the road in the semifinal. Bam Nunes goes head to head with Health Sciences’ Kavon Pitts under the brightest lights of the season in WNY.
At 8PM, the heavy-weight match gets under way, as the Lancaster Legends face the Jamestown Red and Green in the Class AA Sectional Championship. Lancaster has one of the most balanced programs in the area, with sound, effective players on both sides of the ball, and plenty of playmakers. The Legends have the longest active streak of consecutive appearances in the title game, with this being their ninth straight punched ticket to the championship game in WNY. The last three seasons, the Legends fell to Bennett in this game, but last week, Jamestown defeated Bennett in the semifinal, ending the Tigers’ season.
Jamestown played a flawless game vs Bennett last week, becoming the only WNY team to commit zero turnovers against Bennett in a game this season. The Red and Green have gotten better and better, week after week this season, with their last loss coming back in week six; a 20-13 loss at Lancaster. The Legends are much healthier than they were in week six, but Jamestown is playing much more connected and cleaner than they were five weeks ago.
It’s shaping up to be an all-time classic between two of the best programs in the area. Don’t miss any of the action tonight, join PJ Cauley and myself for Friday Night Lights on WBFO and WNED Create for the 8PM kickoff from Highmark Stadium.
BILLS HOST CHIEFS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON
For the eighth time in their careers, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
KC has yet to be beaten this season, finding a way to win the last three weeks by just one possession each game. Buffalo, on the other hand, has dealt with injuries to some of their best players, and have overcome a sub-par wide receiver core to sit second in the AFC entering week 11.
In the previous seven meetings, Allen has won three of their four regular season clashes, but the Chiefs have come out on top in each of the three games against each other in the playoffs. As much as Bills fans want to be the ones to end the Chiefs’ perfect season, they all know that these games won’t mean half as much as a meeting in the postseason would. A win on Sunday, though, would certainly put the Bills in a positive position at the top of the AFC standings.
The Bills could be without a few key offensive players, as both Dalton Kincaid and Amari Cooper are listed as Questionable for the rivalry game on Sunday. Kickoff from Highmark Stadium is just before 4:30 PM.
