SANBORN — Niagara Wheatfield lost several key players to graduation following the 2024 season. But within the Falcons’ nest now plenty of players are ready to step in, and step up.
It wasn’t always like that. When head coach Erik O’Bryan first took the reins of the football program three years ago, there were only seven players signed up by that mid July. Entering his fourth season at the helm, there’s no desperate search for players. As of the first week of practice, there were 48 varsity, 51 junior varsity, and 40 modified players beginning preseason workouts.
That raises hopes for the varsity squad, which finished with a 2-7 record overall in 2024, including a 1-4 record in Class A1.
“We see the positives, and we’re excited about that. For the first time, the focus almost is solely on winning,” O’Bryan said. “Finally, we’re not worried about this or that. That’s something that the kids have noticed and they have seen, and they’ve been working hard since December.”
The Falcons’ offseason workouts included Sunday sessions at Sportsplex in North Tonawanda, where 30 to 40 student athletes gathered to workout under the watchful eye of JV coach Dan Meissner, and under O’Bryan when he wasn’t coaching Niagara Wheatfield’s boys basketball team.
“And then we followed up during the summer. We’ve been coming out here, doing the same things, just working on our skills pretty much, and just becoming a better team,” said Mason Meissner, who enters his senior year.
Meissner was versatile for the Falcons’ offense last season, leading the team in rushing in 2024 with 344 yards gained on 87 carries. He also caught 17 passes for 205 yards and one touchdown in his junior year, ranking third on the team in receiving yards behind seniors Garrett Chase and Cameron Gruarin. He also threw for 38 yards and one touchdown as a backup quarterback.
He has emerged as one of the team leaders, along with starting quarterback Chase Richards.
“Last year, we didn’t really have too many leaders. It was more like, everyone wanted to be doing their own thing. So this year, me and Chase have really stepped up,” Meissner said. “Over the offseason, we’ve been getting guys out on the field to put in work. Chase and I have definitely become, I would say, more the leaders of the team, and I feel like that will really help us a lot this year.”
Richards led the team in passing last season, completing 65 of 122 passes for 983 yards, completing 13 touchdown passes. He admitted that last season, he didn’t have full confidence in his game. But he credits his teammates for picking him up. He now believes in himself, and in his team.
“We definitely are hungry. We haven’t got what we wanted the past few years, but I think that’s why we’re super hungry right now,” Richards said.
Also returning is senior Dee Lewis, who caught ten passes for 195 yards in 2024, scoring four touchdowns among those catches.
“He’s another addition on the outside for us. He’s our top corner as well. He’s a versatile kid,” O’Bryan said. “I actually think he’s going to play college football somewhere, and he’s got that speed on the outside. He’s also done a nice job this offseason learning how to run routes better and break off routes. He can read that coverage a little bit better, maybe sit in that zone and give Chase a target. He did a nice job this offseason with that.”
Wins have been hard to find for Falcon football in recent seasons. But there are players on this year’s roster who know how to win… in other sports, including basketball, baseball, wrestling, and lacrosse. O’Bryan’s goal is to help these players apply those winning attitudes from their other sports to their roles on the football team.
“We have athletes. I love athletes. I want kids to play as many sports as they possibly can,” he said. “You don’t get to see them all the time, but I want athletes, and I want to share our athletes with all the other sports here. Now, if we can take those other programs that are winning and put it into this one, I think you’re going to find out the right recipe for that success.”
The Falcons open their season at home Friday, September 5 against Class A-1 rivals Sweet Home. Other league opponents this season include Clarence, Frontier, Kenmore West, West Seneca West, and Williamsville North.
“One game at a time. We’re not worried about anything else other than week one,” said Richards. “We want to win. Get that out of the way, and we’re gonna keep moving, week by week.”