Gowanda Small Town Times

Football 2-0/1-0

Thursday, September 7

Catt./Little Valley at Gowanda/Pine Valley
- played at Pine Valley
Gowanda 63, Cattaraugus 0

Girls Volleyball (2-1)

Tuesday, September 5

Gowanda at North Collins
Gowanda 3, North Collins 0
25-11/25-12/25-15

Friday, September 8

Pine Valley at Gowanda
Gowanda 3, Pine Valley 0
25-12/25-14/25-22

Saturday, September 9

Gowanda at Falconer tournament
- no results reported -

Boys Soccer (0-3)

Tuesday, September 5

Westfield-Brocton at Pine Valley/Gowanda
- non-league -
Pine Valley 0, Westfield 8

Thursday, September 7

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Silver Creek
- non-league -
Pine Valley 1, Silver Creek 9

Saturday, September 9

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Westfield-Brocton
- non-league -
Pine Valley 10-0

Girls Soccer (0-3/0-2)

Friday, September 8

Ellicottville at Pine Valley/Gowanda
Pine Valley 0, Ellicottville 4

Cross Country

Saturday, September 9

Red Dragon Invitational
- at Bemus Point Golf Course -

boys (Small Schools)
1st Newfane 64
8th Gowanda 196
10th Alden 232

girls (Small Schools)
1st Mapel Grove 79
5th Gowanda 135
12 Silver Creek 299

On Saturday, September 9, the Gowanda boys and girls cross country teams were at the 2023 Red Dragon XC Invitational. The meet was hosted by Maple Grove and held at the Bemus Point Golf Course. A total of 42 schools participated in the event in various categories. Gowanda participated in the 5000 Meter Run for small schools.

The Gowanda boys ran against eleven other schools. Taking 1st Place was Maple Grove with a total of 79 points. Gowanda was 5th with 135. Silver Creek (299) was 12th. In a field of 136 boys, Frewsburg’s Cody Kent (16:15:14) came in first. Finishing in the Top 50 were Chase Bolen (19th, 18:12:51), Jayson Twoguns (24th, 18:31:01), Dustin Mohawk (33rd, 19:07:59), Cashis Montour (34th, 19:07:59), Maddox Hudson (44th, 19:45:60), Joseph Fernandez (49th, 20:16:69) and Owen Farner (50th, 20:28:02). Also running for the Gowanda boys were Randall John, Marcus Gamble, Kory Degenfelder, Nikolas Ondus and Jeffrey Whipple. The 136th Place runner was from CSP with a time of 37:07:00.

The Gowanda girls ran against nine other schools. Newfane was number one with a score of 64. Gowanda was 8th with 196 and Alden took 10th Place with 232. In a field of 99 girls, Top runners for Gowanda were Calie Hudson (12th, 21:56:73) and Autumn Pupo (18th, 22:21:82). Also running for Gowanda were Alhanna Gabel (27:24:77), Willow Mentley-Peters (29:18:08), Isabelle Graham (29:19:14) and Jaylynn Elliott (29:28:50). Allegany-Limestone had the 99th Place runner with a time of 34:27:18.

Elsewhere, The Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team was at Frewsburg for a multi-school tournament. No results were available at this writing.

[photo] Gowanda’s Aubrie Heron (#9 blue) goes up on attack during the September 8 home game against Pine Valley.

The Gowanda High School gym was resurfaced over the Summer and just reopened for use. On September 8 the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team got the honor of being the first to use the redone gym as they hosted Pine Valley. While the two schools compete together in the Fall for football and soccer, this was an occasion to face off against each other. In what was a relatively easy win for Gowanda most of the regular starters sat out the third game of the match.

Gowanda started out fast with Holland Browning serving into a 3-0 lead. After a service miscue, Addison Kota added three additional service points putting Gowanda up 6-1. Pine Valley then went on a 4-point run narrowing the Gowanda lead to 6-5. Gowanda worked their way back to rebuild their lead to 18-8. From there Gowanda coasted to a 25-12 win. Closing that out, was Kota with four straight aces. One of those landed in the left corner of the court completely untouched.

Game 2 started out close as the score was tied at 1, 2 and 3. Then Gowanda made a gradual move into an 18-8 lead. Even play from there saw Gowanda take Game 2 by a 25-14 score. The final point came as a Pine Valley block at the net landed just wide of the court. With things seeming well in hand, Gowanda sat all of their starters except for Senior Ella Luther going into Game 3. Pine Valley grabbed the first two points in the game before Gowanda pulled back into a 3-all tie. With the help of a pair of Corrina John aces Gowanda built a 10-4 advantage. The score stood at 23-13 when Gowanda slipped into a slump. Pine Valley took the next eight points closing the gap to 23-21. At that point, Gowanda took a timeout to regroup and put two more of the regular starters into the game. It was enough for Gowanda to pull out a 25-22 game win taking a 3-0 victory in the match.

Top performances for the Gowanda girls included Addison Kota (5 kills, 6 aces, 5 digs), Holland Browning (3 kills, 3 aces, 6 digs), Aubrie Heron (5 kills) and Corrina John (3 kills, 4 aces). Providing strong support were Lauren Kelly (3 kills), Jillian Gernatt (1 kill, 2 aces, 3 digs), Elizabeth Green (1 kill, 2 digs), Ella Luther (14 digs, 1 ace) and Tessa John (2 aces, 3 digs).

Elsewhere in sports, Ellicottville was at Pine Valley/Gowanda for a Varsity girls soccer match. It was another disappointing day for Pine Valley falling behind 3-0 by halftime. Ellicottville added an additional point in the 2nd half for a 4-0 final score. It was a particularly easy day for the Ellicottville goaltender who did not face a single shot on goal during the game.

[photo] Gowanda’s Quentin Centner (#5) pulls down a touchdown pass against Cattaraugus-Little Valley late in the 1st quarter.

The Gowanda/Pine Valley Panthers Varsity football team hosted the Cattaraugus-Little Valley Timberwolves on Thursday, September 7. The game was played at Pine Valley as it is traditional for the team to play one home game there early in the season. The Panthers scored early and often against a vulnerable Cattaraugus defense while preventing the Timberwolves from posting a single 1st down through the first half of play.

Cattaraugus won the opening coin toss and opted to kickoff to start the game. Gowanda’s 1st possession started at their own 30. A pass to Jon Sheldon advanced the ball to midfield on the first play. A series of passing miscues brought the Panthers to 4th and 10 on the 50. Gowanda elected to go for it on 4th down and connected for a 50-yard touchdown down the left sideline. A good 2-point conversion pass gave Gowanda an 8-0 lead. Cattaraugus saw their first drive start at their 35. After a 1-yard gain on a run, they were set back to the 31 on a false start. That series ended on the next play as Pine Valley’s Connor Elliott intercepted a Timberwolf pass giving the Panthers the ball on the 18. Gowanda quarterback, Carter Capozzi connected with Quentin Centner on the next play for a touchdown. Another 2-point conversion and the score was 8-0. Cattaraugus went 4-and-out losing five yards over three plays. The next Gowanda drive stalled on 3rd-and-17 as a pass flew just off Centner’s fingertips. That resulted in Gowanda’s only punt of the game. The Panther defense continued to create problems for Cattaraugus. After starting with the ball just inside the 50, back to back sacks pushed the Timberwolves back to their own 33. An incomplete pass, that was nearly picked off by Centner, had Cattaraugus at 4th-and-18 and punting again. There was still 2:53 left in the 1st quarter with Gowanda back with the ball. The Panthers scored in five plays ending with a 13-yard Cameron Slade run that was followed by a 21-yard touchdown catch by Centner. The scoreboard now showed 22-0 The following kickoff took a big roll all the way to the Cattaraugus 10. The Timberwolves were punting again by the second play of the 2nd quarter after gaining just six yards.

The 2nd quarter was much the same with the exception that the Panthers were now kicking their extra points. A Cameron Slade 22-yard touchdown reception breaking tackles. A Jon Sheldon interception followed immediately by a 25-yard Sheldon touchdown reception. Another Cattaraugus 4-and out. A 48-yard Winter Mentley-Peters touchdown reception. A failed Cattaraugus fake punt and run on 3rd-and-11. Another 3-play Panther drive capped with a Kaleb Smith touchdown run. Halftime arrives on what would have been 4th-and 1 for Cattaraugus.

With the game all but over at 49-0 at halftime. The clock continued to run without interruption through the 2nd half. Cattaraugus started with the ball in the second half and earned their first 1st down of the game on a run to the 50. Cameron Slade added a 3rd quarter Gowanda touchdown. A Cattaraugus fumble near midfield on 2nd down was recovered for Gowanda by Aiden Ackley on the first play of the final quarter. A 25-yard Nolan Maude touchdown run breaking loose through the Timberwolf defense. That took the score to 63-0 with 4:49 left. The game ended just as Cattaraugus earned their 2nd first down on an 8-yard run.

Gowanda quarterback, Carter Capozzi, completed 12 of 18 passes for 255 yards and 6 touchdowns.

In other sports news, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team was at Silver Creek. It was Silver Creek’s Dean League scoring the first goal in the game at 6:44. The score was tied at 1 27 seconds later as Jack Sheldon scored for Pine Valley with an assist credited to Jarrett Meyers. Silver Creek added three more 1st quarter goals grabbing a 4-1 lead. It was 7-1 by halftime. Silver Creek was up 9-1 after three quarters. A scoreless final quarter left Pine Valley with their second loss on the season.

On August 31, the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team opened against Falconer in the GCS Middle School gym. They fought back from being 2 games down to fall just short, 3-2. On Tuesday, September 5, the Lady Panthers were at North Collins looking a lot more like the team Gowanda fielded last year. It was another non-league game, but a much different result. Gowanda blew past North Collins 3-0 with game scores of 25-11, 25-12 and 25-15.

Leading the way for Gowanda were Elizabeth Green (3 kills, 11 aces, 1 dig), Aubrie Heron (6 kills, 3 aces, 1 dig, 2 blocks), Holland Browning (3 kills, 6 aces, 3 digs) and Addison Kota (3 kills, 3 aces). Showing up strong in support of the Gowanda effort were Corrina John (2 kills), Lauren Kelly (1 kill), Jillian Gernatt (16 assists, 5 aces) and Ella Luther (8 digs).

In other action, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team finally saw their first action on the 5th. They hosted Westfield-Brocton in a non-league game. Pine Valley was down 4-0 by the middle of the 1st period. While things calmed down past that point, Westfield still had no problem recording an 8-0 win. No goaltender stats were reported for Pine Valley.