Fredonia quarterback Ethan Fry will lead the Hillbillies into today’s 6 p.m. Section VI Class C title game against Lackawanna at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. P-J photo by Ashleigh Brown

ORCHARD PARK — Adam Tardiff guided Lackawanna to a perfect regular season and a Class C Central championship this fall.

But when the head coach of the second-seeded Steelers sat down to study film prior to the start of the Section VI playoffs, he predicted that any of the three top teams in Class C South — Southwestern, Salamanca and Fredonia — could win a sectional crown.

His team responded by beating No. 7 Southwestern 30-14 in the quarterfinals two weeks ago.

Last Saturday afternoon, Lackawanna used a time-consuming fourth quarter to put away No. 3 Salamanca 24-6.

Now the Steelers may face their biggest challenge of the season, high-powered No. 5 Fredonia in today’s 6 p.m. Class C title game at Highmark Stadium.

“Each week the teams keep getting better and better,” Tardiff said Tuesday morning. “Now we have Fredonia and if you look at what they’ve done all year, they’re scoring a ton of points and playing good defense. That’s the testament of a good high school football team.”

The winner tonight will take on the Section V champion at noon next Saturday at Batavia High School.

The Hillbillies enter winners of six straight games after a 40-30 Week 4 loss to Salamanca ended up costing them the division’s top seed.

A neutral-site game this evening at the home of the Buffalo Bills will be welcomed by Coach Greg Sherlock’s team because thus far in the postseason the Hillbillies have had to be road warriors.

Fredonia opened the playoffs with a 43-22 quarterfinal victory at No. 4 Depew — a game which it led 29-0 at halftime. Quarterback Ethan Fry went 13 of 16 for 251 yards and four touchdowns with Jameson Quinn grabbing five passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Keegan Whitfield had six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown while running back Micah Davis had 18 carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

Last week, the Hillbillies avenged a 58-6 loss to Medina in last year’s sectional final at snowy Highmark Stadium with a dramatic 29-22 upset of the top-seeded Mustangs on their home field.

“I’m happy for the kids that went through what they did last year,” Sherlock said. “They’ll at least get a chance at trying to redeem themselves.”

“We’ve been in the weight room since we lost at the stadium last year,” Fry added. “The season started last December. … We’ve been grinding. The boys have been working and winning games.”

Fry threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns with senior Jay Hawk the top receiving threat with five catches for 105 yards and a score. Davis added 147 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

On the season, Fry leads Section VI with 2,386 yards passing and is tied with Jamestown’s Trey Drake for the touchdown lead with 25. Whitfield is fourth in receptions with 60 and sixth in yardage with 821 while Quinn is eighth in catches with 47 and 14th in yards with 617.

“Fredonia has a quarterback who can extend plays,” Tardiff said. “They have a good, solid offensive line and their receivers are always catching the ball and getting open.”

Davis is seventh in Western New York with 1,159 yards rushing to go along with 11 touchdowns.

“People thought we were rebuilding, but in reality we were reloading,” Fry said. “Micah Davis replaced (2021 leading rusher Matt) Lotter perfectly. He’s doing great.”

On the less-heralded side of the ball, Samuel Atzrott has been stellar for Fredonia’s defense. The junior has 107 total tackles, including 21 for losses, to go along with 18 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, which put away the Hillbillies’ Week 6 victory at Southwestern.

Davis has 91 total tackles, including 11 for losses, and two sacks to go along with two interceptions and a forced fumble; senior Matt Cash has 85 total tackles, including four for losses, and a sack; while junior Owen Rush is second on the team with five sacks.

That defense will have its hands full with Lackawanna this evening.

The Steelers feature a two-headed monster at running back, led by senior Antwan Threeths with 950 yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomore Amir Douglas has come on strong late in the season with 414 yards and seven touchdown of his own.

Senior quarterback Billy Gechell has thrown for 1,351 yards and 24 touchdowns against just three interceptions while also running for 271 yards.

“Lackawanna is big,” Sherlock said. ” … Their quarterback is a dual threat.”

Senior Shyheim Smalls has 33 catches for 464 yards and 11 touchdowns while classmate Ashlin Alexander-Hall has 25 catches for 424 yards and eight touchdowns.

“I don’t think they present much of a challenge, honestly,” Fry said. “We’ve got a great defensive line, we have great linebackers and corners. We can cover anything on defense.”

Lackawanna is big up front on both sides of the ball, led by senior Sunday Ikegwuonu (73 tackles, 2 TFL, 12 sacks) and sophomore Sammy Ikegwuonu (38 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack).

“Our offense is great,” Tardiff said, “but the defense, I think, is the heart of this team.”

Smalls leads the team with 80 tackles and senior Chamarr Ware has 78.

“They have some good athletes in the secondary with their defense,” Sherlock said. “If you have a weak spot, they are going to find it really quick.”

Newfane’s Nate Snow had the most productive passing day of the season against the Steelers when he completed 11 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns during a 40-14 Week 7 loss.

But Lackawanna has yet to face a team as prolific and with as many weapons as the Hillbillies.

“I don’t think anybody can hang with our offense,” Fry said. “We have the most explosive offense around here.”