The Alexander/Pembroke head coach remembers Harper at Clymer/Sherman/Panama. The Wolfpack beat Alexander 29-6 on their way to the 2018 state title.

“He used to be at C/S/P, and they used to kick our butt,” Sawyer told The Daily News of Batavia after the Defenders won the Section V Class C championship last weekend with a 30-14 win over Letchworth/Warsaw/Perry.

Harper’s new team, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton, will take on Alexander/Pembroke in the Class C Far West Regional at noon Saturday at All-High Stadium in Buffalo.

The Eagles (10-1) are riding the high of a 21-0 shutout victory over Southwestern/Frewsburg in the Section VI title game at Highmark Stadium last Thursday evening.

Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton’s Asher Olson grabs ahold of Southwestern/Frewsburg’s Roger Markham during last Thursday’s Section VI Class C title game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

Thandon Bensink ran for a second-quarter touchdown before Tristen Gibbs and Clay Smith added scores in the third quarter against the Trojans, but what was even more impressive was the Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton defense holding Southwestern/Frewsburg to just 15 rushing yards and 63 total yards of offense.

The Eagles, who beat Akron 70-12 in the sectional quarterfinals and Barker/Royalton-Hartland 30-13 in the semifinals, outscored opponents 283-106 during the regular season, including three shutouts.

“They’ve been pretty remarkable down the stretch. That’s not surprising. Chris (Payne) does a phenomenal job with them,” Harper said of his team’s defense. “It ultimately comes down to kids and their willingness to be coached. They’ve been very receptive to the things that we’ve asked them to do.”

Trent Houser leads Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton with 93 tackles, including 12 for a loss; Tristen Gibbs has been in on 91 tackles, including 14 for a loss; Asher Olson has 70 tackles, including 12 for a loss, and four sacks; and Clay Smith has 48 tackles, including a team-high 17 for a loss and 11 sacks.

Sophomore Aiden Woodis has intercepted five passes while Carson Fairbank and Devin Hewes each have a pair of interceptions.

The Eagles’ Aiden Woodis intercepts a pass in front of teammate Thandon Bensink (12). Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“The front-seven has been really stout. Trent Houser is a huge piece of it. Walter Lukasiak has been a huge piece of it as well. Kieffer Maytum has played a pretty significant role for us as well,” Harper said. “The first three weeks of the season, I think we were winning games based on the fact that we have a lot of talented kids. Over the course of the last five or six weeks, we are winning games because they are doing things they are coached to do.”

Offensively, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton is about as balanced as any team.

Brayden Gibbs has completed 126 of 206 passes for 1,646 yards and 19 touchdowns with just five interceptions.

Hewes has caught 53 passes for 664 yards and six touchdowns; Olson has 36 catches for 574 yards and eight touchdowns; and Fairbank has 22 catches for 318 yards and four touchdowns.

“If you were to watch us the first three games, we made some big plays, but it just looked clunky. We couldn’t get in and out of shifts cleanly, it didn’t look crisp at all. We weren’t lining up correctly and I just think guys were thinking a lot trying to learn the new offense,” Harper said. “To me now, we’re playing with tempo, we’re getting lined up correctly and opponents look tired defensively.”

Thandon Bensink has rushed 149 times for 894 yards and 11 touchdowns, but Tristen Gibbs and Smith have seen an increased workload in the backfield as the season has continued.

“Coming into the season, when we sat down in August for our first team meeting, one of my goals was that we would become a more physical football team. It’s important this time of year, the weather starts to change, you have to be able to run the ball,” Harper said. “That may be the biggest difference between this year’s version of these kids. I’m not saying they couldn’t run the ball last year, I don’t know if they believed they could run the ball last year. They believe that they can run the ball now. When you feel like you can impose your will and get a first down when you have to get a first down, that breeds confidence.”

Alexander/Pembroke (10-0), which outscored opponents 281-41 and posted four shutouts during the regular season, advanced to its sectional title game with a 38-0 win over Livonia in the Section V quarterfinals and a 27-0 victory over LeRoy/Caledonia-Mumford in the semifinals.

Ryder Reichert leads the Defenders with 155 carries for 1,047 yards and 13 touchdowns while three other players — Brody Heckman, Brett Maloney and Sean Pietrzykowski — have carried the ball at least 40 times.

As a team, Alexander/Pembroke has run the ball 411 times while throwing it just 68 times.

“They want to run the ball and they’re good at it,” Harper said. “They have some talented kids.”

Defensively, the Defenders have scored seven touchdowns and recorded one safety.

Jacob Johnson leads the team in tackles with 47, including 17 for a loss, while Pietrzykowski had 44 tackles, including 17 for a loss. Jacob Bailey leads the team in sacks with four.

“There are a handful of guys who can definitely give us problems if we aren’t fundamentally sound,” Harper said. “It comes down to getting guys blocked, being good tacklers on defense. If we do those things, I like our chances.”