Week 8 football: Regular-season finales fine-tune playoff mentality

Bob Chavez, MPNnow
·4 min read
Tysheed Crockton and Canandaigua close their regular season at home against Hilton.
Tysheed Crockton and Canandaigua close their regular season at home against Hilton.

The time is now for final tuneups.

Week 8 of the 2022 Section V football season is here and area teams are gearing up for one final game to tweak, adjust and see what works. Or doesn’t work.

Because next week for most, the playoffs get underway and then the game is for keeps. Here’s a look at what our local teams — all of whom play Friday night — are preparing for this weekend.

Hilton (6-1) at Canandaigua (6-1), 7 p.m.

Canandaigua is in a comfortable spot with the No. 2 seed in Class A2 and even if that changes with a loss to the Cadets or another scenario, it’s likely that CA will open with a home playoff game.

It won’t be easy against a Hilton team that lost its opener to Schroeder by a touchdown and has since been on quite a roll. Hilton is averaging 37 points a game behind the running of Jeff Broadnax and the passing of Colton Thorpe, whose favorite target appears to be Luke Lockhart. Senior lineman Karl Kuhns is a big part of clearing the running paths for the Cadets but could wreak even bigger havoc defensively against the Braves because of his ability to get through blocks.

Canandaigua has progressed quite a bit as a young team but the youth still shows from time to time. Slow starts have been frequent, but QB Drew Williamee and the rest of the CA offense with Tysheed Crockton downfield and the running of Tre’mell Coleman have helped support a defense that’s made big strides.

Adam Ruffalo (5) is a versatile threat for the Victor offense.
Adam Ruffalo (5) is a versatile threat for the Victor offense.

Victor (6-1) at McQuaid (6-1), 7 p.m.

Victor has won six straight since losing its opener to UPrep and McQuaid has won five straight since losing to UPrep in Week 2. So yes, something’s going to give this week

The Blue Devils have been tremendous on defense, giving up just 10 points a game while the Knights are at 16 per game, essentially an extra TD per game compared to Victor.

It’s no secret that the running game is Victor’s calling card and Sam Gotham takes care of that while QB Brady Robinson connects with Adam Ruffalo enough to make defenders respect both aspects of the Victor offense.

Speaking of no secrets. John Harding is the power of McQuaid’s effective running game. He had 233 yards on 29 carries in last week’s win over Rush-Henrietta.

Midlakes (4-3) vs. Lyons/Sodus (4-2) at Newark, 7 p.m.

With Lyons/Sodus at No. 6 in the Class C seedings and Midlakes at No. 7, this is a big game in terms of securing a postseason berth.

Lyons/Sodus has won three straight, although two of those wins are against South Seneca and Waterloo, two teams that have struggled. Still, the team has a balanced approach on the ground with Stefonn Pinkston and Devyn Williams leading the way while Darius Wood-Asberry has completed 53% of his passes.

Midlakes will have its hands full against a Lyons/Sodus team that has the flexibility to hurt opponents in different ways. The Screaming Eagles are 1-3 since a 3-0 start and the last two losses, by a combined 68-7, no doubt sting a bit, so here’s the opportunity for Midlakes to not only right the ship, but pick up some momentum heading into the postseason.

Red Jacket (4-3) at Bolivar-Richburg (5-2), 7 p.m.

Red Jacket has been waiting a long time for this rematch after the Wolverines opened the season with a 42-26 win. RJ brings a three-game win streak into this matchup and QB Micah Harshfield has been the clear leader of this surge.

He scored the winning TD with 31 seconds left against Holley last week and has rushed for 144, passed for 139 and had 320 total yards in the last three games.

Bolivar-Richburg opened with five straight wins but has since lost two straight, one to top-ranked Canisteo-Greenwood and last week to Pembroke.

Micah Harshfield has been on a tear the last three games for Red Jacket.
Micah Harshfield has been on a tear the last three games for Red Jacket.

East Rochester/Gananda (6-1) at Marcus Whitman/Bloomfield (1-6)

The home game against ER/Gananda has been cancelled. The Wildcats are dealing with several injuries and won’t have enough players to field a team this week but have scheduled a home game against Hornell for Thursday at 7 p.m. to close the regular season and honor the seniors.

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Week 8 football: Regular-season finales fine-tune playoff mentality