As impressive as his 346-yard, five-touchdown effort was — it will be remembered as one of the finest in the history of the sectional finals at the home of the Buffalo Bills — Wright was quick to deflect the attention to his buddies up front.

“I was just trusting my line, trusting my blocking and just being the player I can be,” he said. ” … I always have to give love to them, because without them I wouldn’t be the player I am.”

In a season where Southwestern has raced to a 10-0 record and a No. 2 ranking in the New York State Sportswriters poll, it has been the work of the linemen that has helped put the Trojans in the Far West Regional for the first time since 2011. They’ll meet Section V Warsaw/Letchworth at noon today at SUNY Brockport for the right to play in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Western semifinals next week.

“We’re very excited about it,” Southwestern interim head coach Jake Burkholder said. “We’re taking a business-as-usual approach to it. We just have to execute and do our jobs.”

The Southwestern Trojans will play in their first NYSPHSAA Class C Far West Regional since 2011 this afternoon. P-J file photo by Tim Frank

Wright’s 1,252 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns, in tandem with Aidan Kennedy’s 23 TD passes, and the receiving tandem of Dom Certo (nine TDs) and Garrett Swan (six TDs), wouldn’t have been accomplished without the stellar play of the unit that blocks for them.

Take a bow Conrad Thomas, Calvin Ricker, Chris Quinn, Dontae Hoose, Drew Wigren, Cooper Pannes and Charles Bailey.

“They’re always helping each other,” Burkholder said. “There’s senior leadership with Cooper and (Quinn), Ricker has stepped in and has done a great job for us. They all just help each other. If you make a mistake, they pick each other up.”

Mistakes have been few and far between for the Trojans, who have scored more than 40 points in every game, save for the 20-0 forfeit victory over Gowanda. Furthermore, until last week’s game against Wilson, the starting defense hadn’t yielded a point, thanks to Pannes, Thomas and Seth Bennett, among others.

So imagine how the Trojans felt when they found themselves tied with the Lakemen, 21-21, midway through the third quarter?

“It’s tough when your first adversity is Week 10,” Burkholder said. “(But) these kids are more focused than any group I’ve worked with.”

All Southwestern did in the final 18 minutes was score the last 32 points to win going away and set up a meeting with Warsaw/Letchworth (9-1), which knocked off top-seeded LeRoy in the Section V title game, 26-6, for its second straight championship.

“They look like a very solid team from what we’ve seen on film,” Burkholder said. “They’ve got some athletes that we have to make sure we know where they are at all times. We just have to take care of business.”

The Indians, who lost to Cleveland Hill 54-6 in the 2018 Far West Football Regional, built a 14-0 halftime lead against LeRoy on a 1-yard TD run by quarterback Brett Vasile and a 36-yard interception return for a score by Will Shearing. LeRoy cut the deficit to 14-6 early in the fourth quarter, but Warsaw/Letchworth put the game away, courtesy of a Vasile-to-Dalton English touchdown moments later.

Josh Andrews (424 yards) leads a balanced rushing attack — seven players have more than 100 yards — followed by English (330), CJ Hallopeter (327) and Vasile (267). Vasile has also scored nine touchdowns, two more than Hallopeter.

Through the air, Vasile has completed 69 of 98 passes for 575 yards and five touchdowns. He’s been intercepted twice. English (19 receptions) and Eddie Stores (18 catches) are Vasile’s favorite targets.

Defensively, Warsaw/Letchworth, the sixth-ranked team in the state, has given up 85 points, so something will have to give today.

The battle along the line will be a good place to watch.

“I’ve been calling them the ‘road graders’ for the last couple weeks,” Burkholder said. “If they can live up to that name, it’s a good thing.”