SANBORN — Last year, Niagara Wheatfield came close to ending a seven-year playoff drought.
All that separated it and a trip to Health Sciences/BASC/Charter in the first round of the Section VI Class A playoffs was a point-differential tiebreaker.
Unfortunately for Niagara Wheatfield, it lost the three-way tiebreaker and Kenmore West made the playoffs. Now, the team knows it has a chance to end the drought and get back to the postseason.
Last year, Niagara Wheatfield went 2-7 overall — 2-4 in league play — while being outscored 157-127. The team’s season came to an end with a 28-21 loss to North Tonawanda in the first round of the Chuck Funke Bowl tournament.
“Well, expectations are we fell short again,” Niagara Wheatfield head coach Erik O’Bryan said. “We lost a tiebreaker last year and want to go to the playoffs. It’s been a long time in Niagara Wheatfield.”
After going 1-3 at home last year, if the team is to make the playoffs this year, they need to do a better job of defending their home field.
When he looks at the teams they have to play this year, O’Bryan knows that making the playoffs will not be easy but that if they do make the playoffs, it will be because they won their games at home and did enough on the road.
The team will also need to finish drives better than they did last year when it compiled 2,541 yards of total offense, but only scored 157 points. One example of the team’s inability to finish drives came in the opening game against Sweet Home, when Wheatfield had the ball on the Sweet Home 8-yard line and had a touchdown run erased by a holding penalty.
Those six points would have made the difference in a 14-12 loss for Niagara Wheatfield.
“We have to learn to finish drives, put the ball in the end zone, not have something happen,” O’Bryan said. “You get a holding penalty on the 20-yard line, now all of a sudden you’re back at the 30. In high school football, that’s a big difference. We don’t have kickers that kick 47-yard field goals. A lot of us are getting kickers that can kick 37-yard field goals, sure, but that 47 or 48 is pretty special.”
This year, Niagara Wheatfield is starting a new quarterback, Joe Chmaj, as the team looks to replace Chase Richards and his 1,315 passing yards and 11 touchdowns. But Chmaj will not be the only player with the potential to have a breakout season.
He is joined in that club by Ashton Dixon, Matt Bigelow, Logan Robinson and Ryan Dworzanski.
That group has been preparing for this season since December in an attempt to turn the tide of the program and get back to the playoffs. As the players and coaches balanced the multiple sports they are involved in, in the winter seasons.
That work continued into the spring and summer when the team has been participating in camps and working out. While O’Bryan admits the work his team has put in is not unique to them, the fact that they have been doing it helps put them ahead of where they would be had they not been working out.
“I think it’s a plus for us because these guys have shown up the first two days … We’re not looking at plays,” O’Bryan said. “… One group goes, second group goes, boom. Next group run the play, second group run the same play and it’s just go, go, go. Which gets us more reps and gets everyone more reps. So knowing what you’re doing does help practice time.”
In preparation for his final season, senior Ashton Dixon has been working out a tremendous amount in order to get noticed. He is trying to come back this season and be a key piece to the Falcons' offensive attack after only appearing in one game last year. During training camp before his junior season, Ashton Dixon suffered a turf toe injury that eventually morphed into a broken foot.
The injury forced Dixon to miss all but one game and finish the season with a stat line of three receptions for 76 yards and one touchdown.
Now Dixon is back and ready to have a breakout campaign for the Falcons as a running back and wide receiver.
“This summer is the most I’ve ever worked out for football,” Dixon said. “Every week we just get on the field in the morning, condition, run, get the plays in our heads before the season so we’re ready and prepared for the season to come. … I’ve been working on my stamina to really showcase my skills because without stamina you’re going to be burnt out very quickly and not be able to show the skill sets that you have on the field.”
Niagara Wheatfield opens its season against Niagara Falls at 7 p.m. Sept. 3.
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