NEWFANE — Enrollment numbers at the school prompted the change. But coach Chuck Nagel doesn’t look upon the switch to Class D as a demotion.
After two winning seasons in Section VI Class C North, including a share of the league championship last season, Newfane has dropped to Class D this season. It’s one of the competitive leagues in the section, but also requires far more travel.
Aside from traveling to rival Wilson to wrap the season, Newfane’s Class D trips to Franklinville/Ellicottville, Randolph and Silver Creek/Forestville average 166 miles roundtrip, with the furthest being Randolph at 192 miles. It’s a drastic change from a Class C North slate that averaged 52 miles, with the furthest being Alden at 71.
“They’re tough, tough schools. Lots of them are combined with two or three other schools. One might say that Class D is just as tough, or tougher, than Class C,” Nagel said. “Knowing that, preparing for that all offseason, these guys, they’re not looking at, ‘Hey, we moved down a class, we went to a different class.’ Those kids are gonna be ready, ready for war.”
Senior Mac Capen provided plenty of offense for the Panthers, both as a passer and as a rusher. At quarterback last season, he threw 46 complete passes on 84 attempts for 533 yards, including five touchdowns. He also carried the call 93 times for 821 yards, scoring nine touchdowns.
Newfane also gets back Camlo Flowers and Camryn Stover, who ran for 272 and 194 yards, respectively, both scoring two touchdowns. At the receiver position, Nagel says they’ll have plenty of targets to choose from including senior Isaiah Gerstung and juniors Nasir Spencer, Michael Henning and Jake Morello.
“We have a handful of other guys, too, that could squeeze in some playing time,” Nagel said. “With nearly 40 kids on our roster, I think we’re gonna be in pretty good shape. If we can rest a guy on one side of the ball a little bit, this might be the year we’ll be able to do that.”
On defense, the Panthers lose key players Khalil Golden and Richard Doxey, but bring back seniors Aiden Cronkhite and Colin Doxey, the latter being the younger brother of Richard. Colin Doxey, who was a starter as far back as his sophomore season, had 59 solo tackles in 2024, seven sacks and recovered two fumbles. Cronkhite made 44 solo tackles, sacked a quarterback once, and picked up a fumble.
Nagel also pointed out senior Dominic Makuch, who in his words had a “spectacular” offseason practicing at cornerback, and can fill a spot that was made vacant due to graduations.
“We’re going to miss Khalil Golden. We’re going to miss Richie Doxey. Luckily, we’ve got some young kids that were able to sit back and watch those guys last year play, and play at a good level,” he said. “So far so good throughout the spring and summer. It looks like we’ll be able to fill those spots.”
Capen will be considered a team leader. Nagel says he was already a good leader last season but has noticeably matured during the offseason, holding players accountable and serving as a voice in the locker room.
Learning how to become a leader was, according to the player, one of his biggest lessons last season. He wants to put up better numbers this year, but he stresses that it’s not about him, but about the team.
“Try to get the team lots of wins and make a run in the playoffs. That’s the plan,” he said.