On Friday, September 11th the Alden Bulldogs stepped on the field to face off against the Albion Purple Eagles. The boys were coming off a big 35-0 victory against Pioneer but this was their first league game. This, along with the fact that Albion was also coming off a crushing 50-14 win the week before against Newfane set the stage for a very important night for the Bulldogs. “I knew us as a team had a lot of momentum going for us. However we needed to stay focused and keep our eye on the prize because everyone knew that Albion would be a tough opponent” is what Lyle Grant said the team’s thought process was going into the game. Despite a choppy week of practice and an unsettling first half, the Bulldogs still pulled away with a 20-7 win.

The game started off with Albion receiving the ball and started their drive on the 25 yard line. After some remarkable deep throws by the Eagles they were able to put seven points on the board. Alden was quick to answer back with a 21 yard pass from Brian Cybulski that connected with Brenden Weierheiser for a touchdown. From then on the game was in gridlock with neither team being able to do much with the ball. “We scored on out first drive. It was poor execution after that. I don’t think we played our best offensively. That stemmed from a poor week of practice” said Coach Rob Currin on the Bulldogs first half performance. “I’m proud of the way we played defensively and I’m certainly happy that we got the win but we’ve got some work to do in the weeks ahead.”

“During half time we made some adjustments and focused up enough to be able to put two more scores on the board and keep them out of the end zone” as said by Grant and it showed, with  Grant himself putting two more touchdowns on the board thus sealing the Bulldogs first league win. The Bulldog defenders were the true heroes of the day as they stepped up and made big plays when called upon. Senior middle linebacker Andy Chowaniec had three solo tackles and six assists along with sophomore free safety Christian Snell who had six tackles, two assists and one interception. Another key player was senior Joe King who on top of having two tackles had two interceptions and a huge fumble recovery when the ball was stripped from an Albion ball carrier by Zach Loper. King and the Bulldog defense came up huge.

Other important role players on the team are the sophomore pull ups, Riley Pastuszynski, Christian Snell, and Brian Cybulski. Most don’t realize they are underclassman due to the intensity they play with. “I felt a lot of pressure as an underclassmen starting on varsity but the confidence knowing I have a team that supports me and has my back makes it a great expereince” Cybulski shared. These three young men show a lot of promise for the future of Alden football. The Bulldogs go into this week to face Barker-Roy Hart at their field on Friday, September 18.