New attitude for West Seneca West football team.

By: Jennifer Orr

“We can expect a hardworking, physical team,” coach Joe Cantafio said of his varsity players that make up this year’s West Seneca West Indians Football roster.

There were equal parts optimism and anticipation as he spoke of the teenage players that have gone through painstaking training while most of their friends were at the beach this summer.

The WSW Indians have victory on the team’s collective mind, which is only natural when considering the extensive practicing that governed the group over recent months. Between daily work out and training sessions, attending a team camp out of Depew High School, and bringing in two coaches from Sienna Heights University in Michigan, it’s safe to say that the players work as a unit – and a collaborative one at that.

“I think we have great team chemistry and a young, enthusiastic team that is very unselfish,” Cantafio explained. “There’s a great ‘team first’ attitude.”

Cantafio emphasized the unity that surrounds this year’s varsity football team, adding that each player is an important link in the chain that is the West Seneca West football team.

However, all teams do have their star players – which is only natural in the world of sports. And among the leading Indians on this year’s football roster are captains Steve Koepnick and Pat Braunscheidel. Koepnick, an offensive guard and linebacker, and Braunscheidel, a fullback and linebacker, will be guiding their teammates through the season with one objective: victory as a team effort.

Other key players include Andy Huegel, running back and linebacker; Steve Riggs, quarterback and linebacker; Matt Wheelock, tight end and defensive end; and Tyler Perna, receiver and corner back.
As for the opening game, which took place on Saturday at the Syracuse Carrier Dome against Eastern Syracuse Menoa, enthusiasm was in the air. Between the anticipation surrounding the start of a new season and the naming of WSW graduate Dennis Hartman, ’76, as honorary captain, things seem bright for the Indians.

“We’re excited and honored to be representing Section 6 in Western New York at the Carrier Classic,”  Cantafio concluded.