TURIN, New York (WWNY) – We continue our coverage of high school football teams preparing for the upcoming football season by looking at the South Lewis Falcons, one of two teams is competing in 8-Man Football this season.
Coach Mike Absolom’s Falcons will look to take the next step in 2022 after falling 1 game short of the championship game at the Dome last season.
In 2021, the Falcons finished with a 4-5 record overall, 2-1 in the 8-Man West Division.
South Lewis advanced to the Division 3 8-Man Semifinals where they lost to Morrisville Eaton.
This season, Absolom feels that his team has all the right ingredients to have a chance to reach the Dome.
“We lost some key players from last year, in the past, so guys are stepping up. We have good players. Clayton Kraeger is going to be at quarterback, he’s an athletic guy. , he’s been with me for a few years now. The lineup is a group of seniors so it’s going to be good. We have a really good guy this year. It’s going to be good. . I think we’ll be fast. I think everything will be fine. The defense, narrow, changes the position, so we have to play with that, see what what’s best for our team and our players we have,” said Absolom.
The Falcons finished last season on a roll, winning 3 of their last 4 games. And the players said they feel there will be many keys to able to carry that power in this season.
“Just being united and coming in every day and having good chemistry in the locker room and just working hard,” Bruce Weiler said.
“I think staying healthy is definitely the best thing this year. We are always injured and on the line, especially. That’s where we need healthy people on the line,” said Clayton Kraeger.
“Getting along well and working as a team and keeping up,” said Aidan Highers.
With their first 2 games at home and their final 3 games of the season on the road, along with trips to Morrisville Eaton, West Canada Valley and Bishop Grimes, Absolom knows it will make this year’s series a challenge for his team.
“Every year it seems that the teams are getting more and more difficult. There are no easy teams. Everyone has a lot of competition. We are looking forward to it, the 8-Man is a great game, a great season for us, great teams we play. “Competition brings out the best in us and we hope to bring out the best in our players and the best team will win,” said Absolom.
The Falcons open their season on Friday, September 9 when they host Cooperstown for a 6:30 PM kickoff in Turin.
Turning to hockey, the NCAA is proposing major changes to the transfer process for men’s and women’s hockey.
Under the proposal, players can play more than once without penalty, meaning players can play immediately without sitting out a year.
In addition, the entry window will open the day after the announcement of the composition of the NCAA competition and will remain for 60 days.
The biggest change will be that transfer schools that have financial aid at the school they leave will have to carry over that financial aid package, which in some cases, can be more than what they offer, cut by the amount of their financial aid. .
The men’s coach of St. Lawrence, Brent Brekke and Clarkson men’s coach Casey Jones may make the transfer difficult.
“Yes, it changes a lot of things. I mean, you have to make sure you have that money in your scholarship section in your budget. So, it’s like budgeting anything else. You have to be available in order to perform. But things change. Maybe you have a plan. Maybe a player comes with another qualification to go back to play in the youth. Maybe it’s a situation. where you say ‘Hey, we want you to play another year because the transfer student is coming so we can still make money.”There are different ways. it depends on how you approach it. It’s not easy to manage, that’s for sure, because it’s a constantly changing puzzle,” Brekke said.
“That’s the definition. It will be interesting how it plays out here because it will make it difficult for players who are on a significant bankroll to jump into that door. I think that everything is situational and you can do it in unlimited times. I think it’s something we all have to adjust to while we’re here,” Jones said.
The Watertown Wolves will be back in October with a new head coach after the team announced Wednesday that coach Brent Clarke has stepped down as head coach and GM to take over. head coaching job with Knoxville of the SPHL.
Justin Coachman was named interim coach.
Fresh off retirement as a player after helping the Wolves win the FPHL championship this past season, Coach says though there is a change behind the the seat, the Wolves do not plan to miss a beat and will try to be champions again this season.
“I mean, there’s always a bit of a problem with being the defending champion no matter who’s the coach. Coming off a winning season, the pressure will always be on the repeat type. We will go there, work hard, try to get as many wins as we could last year, and of course, the main goal is the championship every year,” he said. said Coachman.
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