Kayvon Agee had a soft voice whispering in his ear.
Agee came from a basketball background, with his father, Kelvin, starring for Niagara Falls High School before playing for Canisius University and St. Bonaventure. Kayvon’s football experience was limited to one season of bench warming as a kid.
But Niagara Falls head coach Don Bass convinced Kayvon that his 6-foot-4, 280-pound body might have better post-high school prospects in football. Kayvon finally decided to try football as a sophomore and now enters his senior season with interest from Division III schools.
The Wolverines are never hurting for running backs and wide receivers, but they needed linemen. And now they are starting to get them. It led to Niagara Falls going from 2-7 in 2023 to 4-5 a year ago.
It has been a trickle-down effect, as a taste of success has given the Wolverines a thirst for more. They started spending more time together away from the football field and developed a greater commitment to improving during the offseason.
Now Niagara Falls has high expectations, something that hasn’t been there since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“My first year, we didn’t really do anything,” Agee said. “Once the season was over, we probably had our banquet, and then maybe a few guys would go to the field here and there. But I’d say now we were all year-round. So it’s definitely a change. I think it’s going to help a lot of us. A lot of us have been in the weight room, a lot of us getting a better connection with each other.”
After leading rusher Kenauri Armstrong graduated, Niagara Falls turned to senior Myking Dolson to be its workhorse. But a big change this year is that the Wolverines aren’t beholden to running the ball.
Senior Michael Taylor emerged last year as the team’s unquestioned starting quarterback after a few years of bouncing between players. Taylor threw for 1,134 yards and 11 touchdowns last season and was voted to the top quarterback in Section VI Class AA.
Instead of relying on his athleticism, Taylor is learning to become a field general and the team’s leader. He’s seeing the field more clearly, and more importantly, seeing it the same way Bass does on the sidelines.
“I see the game way better,” Taylor said. “The game is very slow for me now and easier for me. And I can read a defense better.”
Taylor’s life is made easier with receiver Darryl Smith outside. After one season at Canisius, Taylor returned last year to catch 38 passes for 814 yards and four touchdowns.
His biggest value, Bass said, is cornerback. Bass called Smith Niagara Falls’ Travis Hunter, recording four interceptions and seven pass breakups last season.
Bass believes Smith can take away one half of the field, allowing to skew coverage to the opposite side and let a defense anchored by defensive end Paul Harris IV do the rest. Smith enters his senior season with a scholarship offer from Temple and could be the first Falls player to earn an FBS scholarship since James Starks did 20 years ago.
But what Smith can do off the field is just as valuable. During his time at Canisius and his recruitment process, Smith has gotten to see what the standard is within a premier program and he can relay that to his teammates.
“Most kids go to Canisius for their sport, so they already know what they want,” Smith said. “Most kids at Niagara Falls, they don’t. They’re just not getting into football. So you get to teach them what to do or what not to do or how to get better at the sport. It was a big jump coming from Canisius, but it’s a good thing.”
The next step for the Wolverines is finishing with a winning record, something they haven’t done in a decade. Bass felt his team actually underachieved last year, dropping games to Lancaster and Orchard Park by six points apiece.
But it was a big jump because those teams had beaten Niagara Falls by an average of 29 points per game over the previous five seasons. Now the Wolverines have to turn close losses into wins and close the gap with Bennett and Jamestown.
Bennett, the perennial Class AA powerhouse, beat them 44-0 last season, while Jamestown won 40-14 and 41-14, respectively, in the final two games. Both schools have beaten Niagara Falls 259-64 in six games since 2021.
Many coaches would try to simmer expectations, but not Bass. He wants his players to embrace the idea of being good, not run from it.
“I don’t pump the brakes,” Bass said. “I encourage it, absolutely. I’m a man of faith and I believe all things are possible to those who believe.”