The Attica Blue Devils eased into the 2026 Section V football season when they faced Bishop Kearney/Williamson in Week 1.
"It was a great game, we got a lot to work off of,” Attica lineman Chase Woodrow, a third-year captain, said after the team's 57-0 win. "I think we showed what we can do, showed everybody in Class D. We're looking for the (Section V championship) block this year.
"That's the goal, obviously, but we're going to work off week by week and just improve, hopefully. We're going to do everything we can."
The Blue Devils (3-2) have gone up and down like a roller coaster.
"I think we're on the way up," Attica coach Robert Cusmano said. "The older guys that we have on this team are sort of mentoring the younger guys (including 10 sophomores).
"So it's a work in progress. If we get better each week, that's an improvement going forward."
Pavilion/York, the No. 1 seed in the 2025 Section V Class D tournament, defeated Attica, 21-14. The Blue Devils then dropped to a 1-2 record after losing 20-14 to Oakfield-Alabama/Elba.
Attica moved back on the winning track Sept. 25, when the Blue Devils defeated two-time defending Class D sectional champion Avon, 28-21. The Blue Devils then made it back-to-back wins last weekend, when they came out on top 32-25 over Geneseo/Mount Morris.
The scheduled game this weekend against Holley/Lyndonville is canceled, so the Blue Devils can look ahead to Oct. 16, when they host Canisteo-Greenwood.
The Canisteo-Greenwood Chargers are state-ranked in Class D and have eight players back in their starting lineups from its 2025 team that lost to Avon in the sectional semifinals.
"I seen the sectional (championship) win in 2022," Woodrow said. "That was a great team.
"We're hoping to build off of that, we want to make Attica known for football."
James Johnson, who grew up in the city of Rochester, has worked as a full-time journalist covering high school sports for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1996. Follow him @jjDandC on X (Twitter). and Instagram. Please contact him at JAMESJ@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Read, watch and vote: Can Attica become a Section V football title contender?
