Gowanda Small Town Times

The following was posted online regarding a Youth Football Cheerleader competition held on Sunday, October 29.

UB GRAND CHAMPIONS!!!

First place! Best stunts! Best gymnastics! Best choreography! Highest score of the entire day!!!
We cleaned house!!! This is the same group of gals that won as freshman!!!

We are Gowanda!!!

Back on Friday, October 20, the Gowanda/Pine Valley Varsity football team hosted Randolph at Hillis Field. With tied records, both teams knew that they would face each other again the following week as playoffs started. The only thing to be determined was who would have home field. It was a run-heavy Randolph attack that prevailed over a Gowanda air campaign.

A week later on October 27 those tendencies were the same as was the outcome, but the story of the game was much different. Gowanda received the opening kickoff and went 3-and-out. Randolph’s first possession saw them move from their own 38 to the Gowanda 40 only to fall a yard short on a 4th-and-2 play. Gowanda got into high gear with their 2nd possession. After a penalty set them back 5 yards on the first play, it was full speed ahead. Gowanda quarterback, Carter Capozzi, got it started. After breaking free from a tackle in the backfield, he bolted out to the left advancing the ball 28 yards to the Randolph 38. Evan Fort took it from there, first with a 9-yard run and, then with a 29-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it 7-0. The following Randolph series lasted only two plays before they fumbled the ball away. It was Fort, again, making the fumble recovery. From there, a 9-play Gowanda touchdown drive had them up 14-0. The final play in that drive was a 27-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Center. With just under a minute left in the quarter, Gowanda seemed to have things going their way.

The tide turned in the 2nd quarter. Randolph started picking up yardage in big chunks on the ground. They drove for three scores in the quarter. Meanwhile, Gowanda stalled. First it was a hike over the quarterback’s head that, eventually, forced Gowanda to punt on a 4th-and-24. Then it was a punt after a 3rd-and-5 dropped pass. Halftime arrived with the identical 21-14 Randolph lead seen at that point the week before, but, this time, those points had been scored in the opposite order.

Gowanda got a quick break as the 2nd half started. Randolph returned the kickoff to start the quarter and fumbled the ball back to Gowanda at the 44. The fumble recovery was credited to Connor Elliott. Another 3-and-out for Gowanda saw a punt that was returned back to the 44. It took Randolph 5 plays to score. Another Gowanda 3-play series ended on 4th-and 6 after a sack. The Gowanda punter bobbled the snap for the punt resulting in a kick that went only 15 yards and out of bounds. Another fast Randolph score was followed by a Gowanda drive that ended in an interception. As the 3rd quarter wound down, Gowanda got another break. Randolph took a shot at the end zone on a 2nd-and-20 play. The pass was intercepted at the goal line. In the entire game, Randolph only attempted four passes, none of which were caught by their own players. Gowanda scored in 5 plays. Once again the touchdown reception was made by Fort. With the extra point kick Gowanda was down 35-21 with 10:06 left in the game. Randolph and Gowanda both went 3-and-out before Randolph was able to score again. It was now 42-28 with 5:25 left in the game, but Gowanda was not yet done. Gowanda scored in three plays with a 47-yard touchdown reception by Winter Mentley-Peters. The following Gowanda kickoff cruised all the way to the 10, but went out of bounds giving Randolph a drive start at the 35. A 3-play touchdown drive set the score to 48-35 as the extra point kick was blocked. There was still 3:00 left in the game. A pick-six on Gowanda’s next play put Randolph up 56-35 after a 2-point conversion run. Gowanda’s next possession consisted of a dropped pass and another interception. With 2:22 still left, it just took three Randolph short runs an a kneel down to close out the game. No Gowanda statistics were available from the game.

Also on October 27, the CCAA Cross Country Championships were going on at Bemus Point. Gowanda was one of 17 schools represented. For the boys, Gowanda (104) was 4th as a team with Jamestown (42) 1st and Dunkirk (265) 12th in the small schools group. In a field of 139 runners, Gowanda’s Top 5 boys were Cashis Montour (19th, 17:57.05), Dustin Mohawk (23rd, 18:21.38), Chase Bolen (24th, 18:22.30), Joseph Fernandez (29th, 18:40.73) and Nathan Warrior (47th, 19:13.61).

The Gowanda girls team finished 7th with a score of 157. Allegany-Limestone (62) was 1st and Olean (225) was 9th in the small schools group. Individually, out of 90 runners, the following were Gowanda’s Top 5: Calie Hudson (8th, 21:05.67), Autumn Pupo 21st, 22:19.66), Marissa Beaver (56th, 25:29.23), Alhanna Gabel (66th, 26:19.64) and Jaylenn Elliott (68th, 26:54.44).

[photo] Gowanda’s Addison Kota (#12) goes up to tip the ball over a defender during the Quarter-Final home game against Tapestry on October 26.

The wind down week of the Fall Sports season has been very good to Gowanda teams. On Monday, October 23, the Gowanda Cross Country teams closed out their regular season with a non-league meet at Silver Creek. Also represented were Falconer/Cassadaga, Dunkirk and Olean. The Gowanda boys finished in 1st Place with a score of 17 with Silver Creek-Forestville(69) and Falconer/Cassadaga (74) coming in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Other teams were incomplete. Leading the Gowanda boys was Jason Twoguns who finished in 3rd Place. Also finishing in the Top 10 and scoring for Gowanda were Cashis Montour, Dustin Mohawk, Joseph Fernandes and Nathan Warrior. Gowanda was the only team present with a full team of at least 5 girls and won the girls race by default with a score of 15. Led by Seniors Calie Hudson and Autumn Pupo, the Gowanda girls also had strong efforts from Jaylynn Elliott, Marissa Beaver, and Alhanna Gabel who also scored for the team.

On October 26 the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team hosted Tapestry for a Section 6 Class C2 Quarter-Final game. Gowanda got off to a slow start in Game 1. After taking the first two points, Gowanda slid into an early 5-4 deficient. That would prove to be Tapestry’s only lead of the night. Gowanda tied things at 5 and went on a 15-point rampage with Aubrie Heron serving. The run stalled at 20-5. Gowanda went on to close out a win at 25-8. Game 2 was similar. Gowanda slowly built a 9-5 lead. Jillian Gernatt added 8 service points taking the Gowanda advantage to 17-5. Gowanda grew the gap to 15 points with a 25-10 win. Game 3 was much the same story and Gowanda was able to easily take a 3-0 match win with a 25-11 Game 3 win.

The less competitive that usual game left Gowanda with less impressive stat than usual as follows:

Corrina John 8 kills
Elizabeth Green 8 kills, 1 dig
Holland Browning 5 kills, 3 aces, 12 digs
Addison Kota 4 kills, 4 aces, 4 digs
Aubrie Heron 3 kills, 3 aces, 2 digs, 2 blocks
Lauren Kelly 3 kills
Jillian Gernatt 1 kill, 2 aces, 1 dig
Ella Luther 1 assist, 5 digs
Tessa Kohn 3 digs

Gowanda, as the #4 seed, got a big break as #8 Cassadaga Valley knocked of #1 seeded MST by a 3-2 score, also on the 26th. That gave Gowanda one more playoff home game for the Semi-Finals. During the regular season Cassadaga Valley lost both games they played against Pine Valley, a team Gowanda swept. That should make Gowanda a huge favorite to make it to the finals.

Football 4-4, 1-4

Friday, October 20

Randolph at Gowanda/Pine Valley
- Senior Night -
Gowanda 26, Randolph 42

Girls Volleyball 14-4, 12-2

Tuesday, October 17

Gowanda at Cattaraugus-Little Valley
Gowanda 3, Catt.-L.V. 1
25-22/26-24/22-25/25-18

Thursday, October 19

Salamanca at Gowanda
Gowanda 3, Salamanca 0
25-20/25-18/25-10

Cross Country

Tuesday, October 17

Gowanda at Maple Grove
boys
1st Maple Grove 26
2nd Gowanda 38
3rd Franklinville/Ellicottville 88
4th Fredonia 95

girls
1st MapleGorove 25
2nd Fredonia 50
3rd Gowanda 69
Franklinville/Ellicottville incomplete

Friday, October 20

Lake Shore Stampede at Lakeview,NY
- 25 schools represented -
boys - 106 runners -
Gowanda Top 5 finishers
Jayson Twoguns (6th, 17:57.61)
Chase Bolen (9th, 18:17.22)
Dustin Mohawk (10th, 18:18.19)
Cashis Montour (11th, 18:19.35)
Joseph Fernandes (13th, 18:38.356)

girls - 63 runners -
Gowanda Top 5 finishers
Calie Hudson (7th, 20:52.66)
Autumn Pupo (13th, 21:38.89)
Jaylynn Elliott (45th, 26:220.37)
Alhanna Gabel (47th, 26:30.84)
Willow Mentley-Peters (50th, 26:38.30)

Boys Soccer 1-16, 1-9

Tuesday, October 17

Silver Creek at Pine Valley/Gowanda
- Class C pre-quarter finals -
Pine Valley 0, Silver Creek 3

Girls Soccer 3-12-2, 3-7-2

Wednesday, October 18

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Silver Creek
- Class B2 pre-quarter finals -
Pine Valley 0, Silver Creek 3

[photo] Senior Class members of the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team on Senior Night. In a mid-court photo op, pictured are (from left to right) Aubrie Heron, Madilyn Pawlak, Ella Luther and Chloe Luther.

On October 19 the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team closed out their regular season schedule at home hosting Salamanca. As is always the case for a team’s last regular home appearance the team celebrated Senior Night introducing the Senior Class members of the team and their parents before the game. Those Seniors were Aubrie Heron, Ella Luther, Madilyn Pawlak and Chloe Luther. Ten girls on Salamanca’s 14-player roster were also Seniors and they were recognized as a group. Although they had managed only a single win in the division during the season, Salamanca was not about to go down without a fight.

Gowanda grabbed the first point and held a lead through the first half of Game 1 that peaked at 6-3. It was a tight battle throughout with a tie score coming at 2, and again at 11. Salamanca took over the lead for most of the second half of the game. Gowanda stayed within three points as the game fell back into a tie at 14, 16 and 20. That 20-20 score came on an Ella Luther ace. Gowanda nailed down the next five points to take a 25-20 win.

Game 2 was even tighter in the early going with both teams having leads that did not exceed two points. The game saw ties at 1 through 4 and again at 8 and 10 through 14. From 14-all Gowanda moved into an 18-14 advantage then slid back into a tie at 18. After securing the next point, Holland Browning was up to serve. Gowanda went on a 6-point blitz that included 3 Browning aces. Gowanda’s 25-18 win had them fully in control up 2-0 in the match.

Game 3 was briefly close with ties at 1 through 3. Salamanca never had a lead in the game and Gowanda took off from the 3-3 tie while Salamanca faded. Gowanda steadily grew their lead. Madilyn Pawlak’s first ace of her Varsity career had Gowanda up 10-5. That advantage grew to 17-8 with Holland Browning coming up to serve again. Three more Browning aces fueled a Gowanda 5-point spurt to 22-8. Salamanca interrupted that surge scoring twice to bring their total to 10 before Gowanda locked down their final three points. The 25-10 win gave Gowanda a 3-0 match win.

The team is now waiting for news of their playoff seeding and to find out who the will be playing next. For now, the stats from this game are below.

Aubrie Heron 11 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks
Elizabeth Green 7 kills, 2 digs
Holland Browning 4 kills, 7 aces, 13 digs
Addison Kota 3 kills, 3 assists, 3 aces, 8 digs, 1 block
Lauren Kelly 1 kill
Jillian Gernatt 22 assists, 3 digs
Madilyn Pawlak 1 ace, 4 digs (1st ace)
Ella Luther 3 aces, 14 digs
Corrina John 1 dig, 1 block
Tessa Kohn 1 dig