The unbeaten Frewsburg Bears hope to have more to celebrate after Saturday’s Section V 8-man football championship game. P-J file photo

In the fall of 2016, Frewsburg’s football program was at a crossroads.

A 27-player roster was laden with eight seniors and the writing was on the wall: the 2017 season was in doubt.

In August, the Bears joined a merger with rival Randolph that would last two years.

Both schools would admit it didn’t work.

Frewsburg wanted its own identity and own program so it turned to 8-man football, something no other school in Section VI had tried.

As an outlier in Section V’s league, the Bears went 3-4 in 2019 and lost a playoff game to eventual champion Oakfield-Alabama/Elba, 55-0.

Last spring, Frewsburg played just two games due to COVID-19 cancellations, quarantines and scheduling conflicts.

But the Bears pressed on and their patience is paying off this fall.

Now the No. 1 seed in the Section V playoffs, undefeated Frewsburg will take on No. 2 Red Jacket at noon Saturday at Caledonia-Mumford High School in search of its first outright football sectional title since 1993.

“When you consider we went from a good playoff run, to diminishing numbers, to a forced merger, to 8-man … it’s been a while,” Frewsburg head coach Terry Gray said Thursday afternoon after a practice at Strider Field in Jamestown.

The winner of Saturday’s game will take on the Section III champion at 6 p.m. next Friday, Nov. 19 at Westhill High School in Syracuse.

“You get out there with these guys in a playoff week … this is their first sectional championship,” Gray said. “It rejuvenates you from that same mundane eight weeks of practices. … We went to Southwestern on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Strider today … they loved being up there, the change of scenery.

“Our practices have been really focused,” Gray added. “I couldn’t ask for anything more as far as preparations.”

The Bears have done much of their offensive damage this fall on the ground, thanks to a record-setting season from senior Zach Winters. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder has rushed 167 times for 1,595 yards and 20 touchdowns.

A lof of Frewsburg’s success can be attributed to an offensive line made up of Kole Stelmack, Landon Bragg, Jon Alianell and Kole Bender. Tight ends Joel McLaughlin and Harrison Eckert have also been added to the blocking mix.

“We lost Kole for four weeks with an injury,” Gray said. “He’s back and looks strong.”

Since moving to 8-man last spring, Red Jacket has won 12 straight games, including last spring’s title.

“Whether it’s on offense or defense, we have to rise to the level of a sectional team,” Gray said. “I don’t think one side of the ball will play well and the other won’t. It’ll be whether we match up on both sides of the ball.”

In a 52-12 semifinal win over Pembroke last week, Indians quarterback Kyle DaMore accounted for four touchdowns.

DaMore ran 12 times for 166 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing touchdown passes of 34 and 37 yards to Daltyn Hanline.

Hanline finished with three touchdowns — one on a punt return — and 110 receiving yards.

Senior running back Parker Moore scored on runs of 9 and 3 yards.

“They are a very high-powered offense,” Gray said. “We run an offense that can help our defense by grinding the ball out.”

Senior linebacker Ethan Lenney finished with eight tackles and a pair of sacks while Matthew Allen and Micah Harshfield each had seven tackles.

Defensively for the Bears, junior Patrick Spencer has 43 tackles and two interceptions; sophomore Vincent Sanfilippo has 39 tackles and an interception; and Winters has 30 tackles.

Frewsburg won its first two games of the season with relative ease, 52-6 and 31-0 over Holley and CG Finney/Northstar Christian, respectively, but gave up a lot of points throughout the middle of its schedule.

Gray feels the Bears have rectified the defensive side of the ball in their last two games, a 59-24 victory over Pembroke and last week’s 47-16 semifinal win over Canisteo-Greenwood.

“We started the year strong on defense and had a little lull. I joke that our kids fell in love with offense,” Gray said. “Playing the same 12 kids in eight positions, we’ve refocused and only given up a couple of scores per game the last couple.”

Last week, the Redskins ran just five offensive plays in the second half, including none in the third quarter.

“We haven’t changed anything. We are continuing to do what we do,” Gray said. “Sometimes teams will be a little tricky in the playoffs, if they are reaching to a team up a level, they’ll be creative. … We’ll be right there, hopefully not turning the ball over and being aggressive on defense. We’re trying to win the turnover battle … basically do what we do a little better than we have.”

On Saturday, Frewsburg will see if that defense can compete with an undefeated Indians team it hasn’t faced this season.

“I’m a big history guy. We went from playoffs to two down years, to a merger that didn’t work. It was a real risk going to 8-man and convincing our community,” Gray said. “Here we are, undefeated and playing for a sectional title.

“You can’t tell anybody in Frewsburg that 8-man is not football. We are excited and the booster club is excited,” Gray added. “It’s football. I’m really blessed to stick through this and make it out the other side. Frewsburg football is in a good place.”

NOTES: Frewsburg won a Section VI Class DD championship in 2013.