#BeyondTheKeystone: New York (Maple Grove v. Cattaraugus-Little Valley)

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos-Videos

Sykotyk | September 25, 2018

Monday included a trip north once again to Bemus Point. A spot on the map I know well with several trips over NY17 and now I-86 over Chautauqua Lake. After taking in a game at the north end of the lake on Saturday, it was now time for a game on the southern end.

Maple Grove is located on a hill overlooking the lake. A small sliver of which is visible from the home stands. Maple Grove Stadium (not Field), as it’s called in the program, is entirely concrete poured on the hillside south of the high school. Included are two soccer fields, above and behind the stadium and at the east end level with the football field.

Monday Night Football: Maple Grove v. Cattaraugus-Little Valley at Maple Grove Field in Bemus Point, NY. #31 @PaFootballNews #BeyondTheKeystone pic.twitter.com/SxSRjHoKrJ

— Sykotyk (@Sykotyk) September 24, 2018

Catt/Little Valley, as they’re nicknamed, came out overpowered by the Maple Grove offense. Two quick touchdowns set the tone for the game. The Timberwolves managed a few good plays and scored a TD, but were quickly treading uphill.

Maple Grove 20, Cattaraugus-Little Valley 6 – End 1st #31 CLV scores on 69 yard pass with 4 seconds left in quarter. @PaFootballNews #BeyondTheKeystone pic.twitter.com/W98tTvy6zX

— Sykotyk (@Sykotyk) September 24, 2018

Maple Grove 40, Cattaraugus-Little Valley 6 – Half #31 @PaFootballNews #BeyondTheKeystone pic.twitter.com/hmC9GDkSzj

— Sykotyk (@Sykotyk) September 24, 2018

A light sprinkle of rain in the second half, combined with the high winds amplified by the location on the hillside made the fans huddled and muted. A one-sided game didn’t help. The two soccer games that were running at the same time on the adjacent fields also helped thin the crowd. Both Boys and Girls soccer games against Pine Valley AND Boys and Girls Modified Soccer games were going on one after another. Admissions was free for all the games, and fans could mingle from one field to the other depending on what they wanted to see. The only problem was that the late start times on the adjacent fields meant darkness enveloped those other games and made watching them very difficult.

Like the famed Homer in the Gloamin’, a huge cheer erupted from the adjoining soccer field where the Maple Grove’s girls team (regular or modified, I wasn’t sure) scored the winning goal with 4 seconds left in the game in near total darkness. They won, 3-2. A few of their fans meandered over to the football field. While some went over to the boys game taking place at the other field.

Being a Class D teamin NY, these are small schools. Yet, Maple Grove had a great old concrete stadium. And a decent, albeit small, supportive crowd for a rescheduled Monday homecoming game going up against four other games. The Red Dragons had previously played as a co-op with Chautauqua Lake, the team I saw Saturday night. The “Thunder Dragons” as they were called as a combination of Thunderbirds and Red Dragons, were perennial powers. However, with numbers improving, Maple Grove jettisoned their co-op partner and are now playing solo.

Cattaraugus-Little Valley, however, is not a co-op. But, it is a consolidation of the two schools in the two towns of Cattaraugus and Little Valley. The two towns are only 6.7 miles apart. Along with the triple co-op of Clymer/Sherman/Panama and Salamanca, these four schools make up all of Section 6 Class D. Due to so many co-ops bumping teams higher up, the four-team Class will play a double round-robin schedule with two inter-class games. Unlike other classes, they play an 8-week season instead of 7 weeks. And, all four teams will automatically enter the Class D semifinals. The winners will play at New Era Field in Orchard Park for the Class D championship.

Despite New York only playing a 7 game regular season schedule, virtually every team can play a post-season game. Either in the sectional tournament OR in a post-season at-large tournament. Those games were usually played on a Wednesday or Thursday night. Section 6 will host all five sectional finals at New Era Field over two days in what would be the first weekend in November.

Full write-up of my weekend travels available HERE.