Gowanda Small Town Times

On September 19, the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball was at Randolph. With a scheduled September 14 home game against Silver Creek pushed back to the 25th, it had been a week and a half since Gowanda had seen any action. That showed in this match-up with one of the top teams in the league.

Both teams started out a bit slow with ties at one and two in Game 1. From there Gowanda’s competition drought became evident. Randolph quickly moved out to a 9-2 advantage. Eventually that grew to find Gowanda in a 20-8 hole. Gowanda was able to put together a few short spurts at the end of Game 1, but not enough to avoid a 25-17 loss.

Gowanda gave up the first three points in Game 2 before tying things at five. While they never saw a lead in the game, Gowanda did tie the score again a 10-10. A 6-point run moved Randolph into an 18-12 lead. Outscoring Gowanda in 3-1 spurts, Randolph nailed down a 25-14 win.

Down 2-0 in the match Gowanda put together their best game overall in Game 3. They even held a 4-2 advantage in the early going. While it was a hard fought, close game most of the way, Gowanda fell victim to service errors. Five Gowanda serves into the net plus two that landed out of bounds hampered their chances in the game. Quite often these free points were given up just as Gowanda had evened the score. In the end, giving one of the best teams in the league seven free points left Gowanda a 25-20 loss and a 3-0 loss in the match.

Through it all the Gowanda defense put up a valiant effort as evidenced by the number of bullets they dodged in the match. In all Gowanda players totaled 57 digs. Leading the way were Ella Luther (17 digs), Addison Kota (4 kills, 16 digs, 1 block) and Holland Browning (1 kill, 12 digs). Also having noteworthy stats were Elizabeth Green (6 kills, 1 ace, 4 digs), Corrina John (3 kills, 1 dig, 3 blocks) and Jillian Gernatt (1 kill, 15 assists, 1 ace, 5 digs). Additionally, Lauren Kelly had 1 kill and Tessa Kohn contributed 2 digs.

Meanwhile, at Allegany-Limestone the Gowanda Cross Country teams were facing off against Frewsburg, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley and Cattaraugus-Little Valley in addition to the host team. The Gowanda boys earned took 1st Place with 3rd, 4th and 5th place finishes towards a score of 27. Frewsburg was 2nd with 32. Falconer/Cassadaga, Cattaraugus-Little Valley and Allegany-Limestone did not figure in the scoring. Scoring for Gowanda were Jayson Twoguns (3rd, 17:45), Chase Bolen (4th, 18:06), Dustin Mohawk (5th 18:23), Joseph Fernandez (7th, 18:55) and Cashis Montour (8th, 18:57). Right behind them were Maddox Hudson (9th, 19:38) and Owen Farner (10th, 20:15).

In the girls race, Allegany-Limestone captured 1st place with a score of 25. Gowanda was right behind in 2nd Place with 45 edging out Frewsburg (50 points). Again, Falconer and Cattaraugus-Little Valley were not included in the scoring. Finishing in the Top 5 for Gowanda were Calie Hudson (2nd, 20:25) and Autumn Pupo (5th, 21:30). Also scoring for the Gowanda girls were Karice John (11th, 25:08), Alhanna Gabel (13th, 26:17) and Willow Mentley-Peters (14th, 26:28).

Finally on the 19th the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team hosted Portville. It was another tough day for the Pine Valley boys. Down 1-0 after the 1st quarter, they were in a 2-0 hole at halftime. Portville doubled their score in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley failed to score in the game and Portville padded their score in the final quarter with three more goals for a 7-0 final.

[photo] Screenshot from the Franklinville live stream of the September 18 girls soccer game with Pine Valley/Gowanda (in white).

The Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity girls soccer team got a huge win at Franklinville on September. They picked up their first win of the year in a shutout.

While the ball control issues haven’t been solved, Pine Valley/Gowanda was able to keep the ball in the Franklinville end of the field for a majority of the game. That translated into more shots on goal and more points scored. It was a sluggish 1st half with the ball going up and down the field without many shot opportunities for either team. Just over 28 minutes into the game and with 11:56 on the clock, Pine Valley got the break they needed. The Franklinville goalkeeper moved way out to the front of the goal area trying to grab the ball only to have it kicked off to the side. That gave Pine Valley nearly an open goal to shoot at. Ashley Irwin took the shot. The Franklinville goalkeeper rushed back making a diving attempt at a save only to have the ball land in the net. Lauren Hostetter was credited with an assist. Pine Valley/Gowanda was up 1-0. The score remained unchanged into halftime.

Just 2:03 into the 2nd half, a corner kick set up a Pine Valley score by Samantha Collins with assist from Alexa Harvey. Less than a minute later Sarah Kruszka made the score 3-0 with an assist from Katie King. That score would stand until there was just 9:28 left in the game. Lauren Hostetter launched the ball over the Franklinville goalkeeper’s head and into the net. The 4-0 score held up as the final.

It was a relatively easy day for Pine Valley goal keeper, Destiny Lindquist. Instead of facing the usual 20+ shots during a game, Franklinville only managed 9 shots on goal. In contrast Pine Valley/Gowanda targeted the goal 13 times to get 4 scores.

At this point in the season, the team point leaders include representation from both Pine Valley and Gowanda. Pine Valley’s Sarah Kruszka has 13 points on 5 goals and 2 assists. Not far behind, Gowanda’s Samantha Collins has 7 points with 3 goals and 1 assist.

On Saturday, September 16, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team hosted Silver Creek for a non-league game. Three and a half minutes into the game Silver Creek got the first goal of the game. They went on to grab a 2-0 lead through the 1st quarter. That score held through a scoreless 2nd quarter to the halftime intermission. Pine Valley narrowed the gap to 2-1 in the 3rd as Jack Sheldon scared at 31:00 assisted by Jarrett Meyers. Silver Creek answered with a pair of goals of their own. After a scoreless 4th quarter, the final score stood at 4-1 with Silver Creek taking the win.

Football 2-1/1-1

Friday, September 15

Franklnville/Ellicottville at Gowanda/Pine Valley
Gowanda 12, Franklinville 35

Girls Volleyball (2-1/2-0)

- no games -

Boys Soccer (0-6/0-2)

Tuesday, September 12

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Cassadaga Valley-Falconer
Pine Valley 0, Cassadaga 7

Thursday, September 14

Salamanca/Catt.-L.V. at Pine Valley/Gowanda
Pine Valley 2, Salamanca 3 double overtime

Saturday, September 16

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Silver Creek
- non-league -
Pine Valley 1, Silver Creek 4

Girls Soccer (0-5-1/0-2-1)

Monday, September 11

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Randolph
Pine Valley 1, Randolph 7

Wednesday, September 13

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Cattaraugus-L.V.
Pine Valley 2, Cattaraugus 2

Friday, September 15

Westfield/Brocton at Pine Valley/Gowanda
Pine Valley 3, Westfield 4

Cross Country

Tuesday, September 12

Jamestown at Gowanda
with Randolph & West Valley (partial)
boys
1st Jamestown 15
2nd Gowanda 44

girls
1st Jamestown 22
2nd Gowanda 33

[photo] Winter Mentley-Peters (#20) turns the corner early in the Gowanda home football game against Franklinville.

The Gowanda Varsity football team saw its first action at Gowanda’s Hillis Field on September 15. Visiting team for the game was Franklinville/Ellicottville. While Gowanda had opened the season with a pair of easy wins against weak teams, this night the competition was against one of the best. Although the game eventually collapsed into a 35-12 Gowanda loss, it was a much better game than the score suggests.

In the early going this was a largely defensive battle. Franklinville opened with a 7-play 18-yard drive that ended with a diving Gowanda interception as the ball was about to hit the ground. Gowanda’s first play was a 22-yard pass to Quentin Centner. They eventually stalled and turned the ball back over on downs on a 4th-and-2 on the Franklinville 22. The next two series for each team that ended in punts as the game pushed into the second quarter. With 4:35 left in the half, Franklinville had the ball back again. On the second play of that drive, Franklinville connected on a pass and run down the left side for 58 yards and a touchdown. It was 0-7 after the extra point kick. The next Gowanda series consisted of a 5-yard penalty, a 5-yard quarterback run, an incomplete pass and quarterback fumble that was returned to just barely reach the end zone. The Franklinville lead was now 14-0 with 2:26 left in the half. Gowanda answered driving from their own 20 all the way to the end zone. That drive opened with a 33-yard Winter Mentley-Peters reception of a pass that was initially bobbled before being pulled in. There was a 21-yard reception by Winter Rivera that moved the ball to the Franklinville 19-yard line. From there another pass was grabbed by Centner for the touchdown. That brought the score to 6-14 after a failed 2-pt conversion with 1:09 left on the clock. Gowanda kicked off one last time in the half. Franklinville fielded that kick on their 18 and returned it to the Gowanda 45. A Gowanda penalty at he end of the run gave Franklinville the ball on the 35. That set them up for one additional score in the half. Franklinville took a 21-6 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Gowanda continued to struggle. Franklinville, on the other hand, seemed to be newly inspired by the ending events of he first half. They started picking up yardage in big chunks adding another two touchdowns to their tally. Gowanda did manage one final 60-yard drive in the closing minutes of the game. That drive nearly stalled on 4th-and-13 on the Gowanda 43 when Gowanda quarterback, Carter Capozzi, connected with Rivera for 44 yards to the 9. Cameron Slade ran the ball in from there. The 2-point conversion pass was knocked away leaving the score at 12-35. Time ran out in the game with a couple of Franklinville kneel-downs.

At quarterback for Gowanda, Carter Capozzi completed 9 of 21 passes for 176 yards and 1 touchdown with 1 interception.

Scoring for the Panthers were Quentin Centner (3 receptions, 82 yards, 1 touchdown) and Cameron Slade (14 carries, 79 yards, 1 touchdown). Also prominent for Gowanda were Winter Mentley-Peters (3 carries for 16 yards; 1 reception for 33 yards) and Winter Rivera (3 carries for 23 yards; 3 receptions for 49 yards). Also figuring in the offensive statistics were Evan Fort (7 carries, 20 yards) and Trelin Warrior (2 receptions for 9 yards).

Back at Pine Valley, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity girls soccer team hosted Westfield/Brocton in a non-league contest. In a strong effort by the Pine Valley/Gowanda girls, they fell just short 4-3. It was a particularly strong 1st half for Pine Valley. Lauren Hostetter scored for Pine Valley six minutes into the game assisted by Samantha Collins. A minute later Sarah Kruszka scored with assist credited to Katie King. Pine Valley was up 2-0. Westfield answered with goals at 22:00 and 33:00 to tie the game at 2-2 by half time. Collins scored three minutes into the 2nd half to put Pine Valley back in front. Westfield tied things back up just past the midpoint of the second half. The final, and deciding goal came with five minutes left. Westfield went up 4-3 and held that lead for the final score. Once again Destiny Lindquist was strong in goal for Pine Valley facing 22 shots. The Pine Valley offense was also unusually productive managing to get 17 shots on goal.