BILLS BEAT COLTS FOR BEST SEASON START IN 30 YEARS
The road ahead may look weary, but the path the Buffalo Bills just conquered was historic. With their 30-20 victory in Indianapolis yesterday, the Bills moved to 8-2 on the season, their best record to start a season since 1993.
Buffalo began this season with the expectation to contend for a wildcard spot, and perhaps even miss the playoffs due to the players they moved on from over the summer, and the number of questions surrounding their replacements. Ten games in, Bills fans have had a lot to cheer about. Yes, there were two tough losses where a lot went wrong for the red, white, and blue, but they have managed to give themselves such a massive lead in the division, playoffs are inevitable. How will Buffalo fare against postseason competition? Well, we will find out in the next five weeks, as the Bills take on four reputable opponents. With the likes of the one-loss Detroit Lions, the San Francisco 49ers and the LA Rams, no upcoming opponent is better than Buffalo’s rival of the modern day, who is on the docket next week.
The eyes of the nation will be checking in on Buffalo as they host Patrick Mahomes and the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at 4:00.
SABRES FIND A WAY TO EXTINGUISH FLAMES, EXTEND WIN STREAK TO THREE
The Buffalo Sabres took two points from their home game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday, 3-2 in a thrilling shootout victory. The Sabres found a way to erase their second three-game losing streak of the young season by responding with three straight wins for the second time this year.
Buffalo has used fast starts to build this consecutive win streak, as Zach Benson scored on his line’s first shift of the day. It was the sixth straight game where the Sabres struck first, and they kept the pedal to the metal. Buffalo was playing with an attacking mindset through the matinee and were able to double their lead on the power play with a signature Tage Thompson one-timer from the face-off dot, just over halfway into the first frame. The penalty kill was phenomenal again for Buffalo, as they’ve now killed each of their last ten shorthanded attempts. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made nice saves when he needed to, and the team found a way to get two points when they didn’t necessarily play their best. JJ Peterka scored the lone goal in the Shootout to give Buffalo the win.
This afternoon, the 7-7-1 Sabres host the lowest-ranked team in the National Hockey League, as the 4-9-2 Montreal Canadiens roll into KeyBank Center. Puck drop is set for 12:30.
UNDERDOGS OUTPERFORM FAVORITES IN HS FOOTBALL SEMIFINALS
During last year’s Section VI Football playoff, there were only four instances of a lower seed eliminating a higher seed. This weekend alone, five upsets occurred across WNY on Sectional Semifinal weekend.
In Class AA: the Jamestown Red and Green went into All High Stadium and tamed the Bennett Tigers, defeating the three-time defending sectional champions 28-16. Bennett had been undefeated against WNY opponents since 2022, but those six losses were all forfeits due to an ineligible player suiting up for the Tigers. Before this weekend, the last WNY team to beat Bennett on the gridiron was Orchard Park in September of 2021. It’s also the first time Jamestown has beat Bennett since 2010. The Red and Green relied upon their senior running back Chase Bonta, who rushed for over 200 yards and two touchdowns, plus Bonta chipped in with one of the three turnovers forced by the Jamestown defense. This Friday night, Jamestown will face Lancaster in the Section VI Class AA Championship game at Highmark Stadium. That game will be featured on 'Friday Night Lights' on WBFO and WNED Create. Kickoff on Friday is at 8PM.
In Class B: The South Park Sparks handed the Pioneer Panthers their only loss on the season this weekend, knocking off the top seed 35-21. The Sparks get revenge on Pioneer, after the Panthers ended South Park’s season in the Sectional Semifinal one year ago. South Park’s record holding running back Adam Nunes was the best player on the field Friday night, rushing for nearly 190 yards and four touchdowns in the Sparks’ wire-to-wire win.
Facing South Park in the Class B Championship is another team who punched their ticket with a road victory this weekend: the Health Sciences Falcons. On Saturday, the three-seeded Falcons beat the second-seeded Lackawanna Steelers in dominant fashion 40-6. The defending Sectional Champions Health Sciences were led to victory by Junior Kevin Guy, who had two touchdowns rushing and a pick-six on defense. It’s the fifth time in the last six years that the Health Sciences program will play in the Sectional Championship Game. Health Sciences and South Park meet in the Class B Final Friday at 5PM.
In Class C: The Portville Panthers only lost two games in the regular season, but due to all of the tiebreakers, the Panthers were slotted as the 8th seed. In the quarterfinal, Portville upset divisional champion Newfane. This past weekend, Portville went to Chautauqua Lake and beat the 4-seeded Eagles in the semifinal, 32-17. Panther senior running back Maxx DeYoe went off with over 260 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Portville will face the team that ended their season a year ago, as the undefeated Salamanca Warriors take on the Panthers at Highmark Stadium on Thursday night at 6PM.
In Class D: The third-seeded Franklinville/Ellicottville Titans avenged their mid-season loss to Randolph and knocked off the number two seeded Cardinals 32-6. In week six, Randolph beat the Titans 54-17 at Ellicottville. In the first meeting, the Cards dominated on the ground with over 300 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, but this weekend, the Titans limited Randolph’s rushing attack to just 200 yards. Franklinville/Ellicottville capitalized on three turnovers and a three-touchdown performance from Billy Slavinski to stun the Cardinals in the semifinal. The Titans will face the reigning Far West Regional Champion Clymer/Sherman/Panama Wolfpack at Highmark Stadium on Thursday at 3PM.
While it wasn’t technically an upset, I’d be remiss not to mention that the Sweet Home Panthers knocked off the defending Class A Champion Clarence Red Devils, 41-34. On a windy night in Amherst, the quarterback duel was one for the ages, as Sweet Home’s Rocco Panepinto tossed for over 360 yards and four touchdowns; on the receiving end of over 200 of those yards and three scores was Panthers’ senior Niear Patterson. That duo did enough to spoil the efforts of Clarence QB Bryce Tubin, who had over 370 all-purpose yards and four Red Devil scores, along with multiple tackles defensively. The Panthers head to the Sectional title game for the first time since 2014. Sweet Home will take on the McKinley Macks in the Class A Championship at Highmark Stadium Thursday night at 9PM.
