The Dragons have outscored their opponents 1,736-740 — an average of 52.6-22.4 — during a 33-game winning streak since that loss to Canisteo-Greenwood.

Running back Caleb Felski is a big reason why.

The 5-10, 200-pound senior has rushed 220 times for 3,050 yards and 46 touchdowns this season to push his four-year totals to 440 carries, 5,352 yards and 78 touchdowns.

There is no mistake what Pembroke is going to do on offense. The Dragons will run the ball, run it again and then run it some more.

Frewsburg’s Blake Weaver will help the Bears as they take on Pembroke in the 8-man football quarterfinals on Saturday. Photo by Stephen Garvey

“Pembroke is big and they have a pretty simple philosophy,” Frewsburg head coach Rob Collver said Wednesday evening following the Bears’ practice at Falconer’s Bill Race Field. “It’s the oldest story in sports: you have to take away what they do best. If we can do that, we’ll be successful.”

Nobody has been able to stop its offense over the past several years as Pembroke won back-to-back regional championships in 2022 and 2023. New York state has yet to recognize 8-man football with a bona fide state championship yet because not enough sections have the required number of teams.

Pembroke beat Section III’s Frankfort-Schuyler 107-64 in last year’s West semifinal before topping Section IV’s Moravia 36-0 in the regional championship, essentially the state final.

Frewsburg has been on a pretty good run of its own the past two years. Since a Week 1 loss to Bolivar-Richburg last season, the Bears have won 11 of their last 15 games.

But three of those four losses have been to Pembroke. On Sept. 22 of last year, then-senior Tyson Totten ran 13 times for 166 yards and four touchdowns, while Felski ran five times for 102 yards and a touchdown. In the 2023 Far West Regional, Totten ran 12 times for 343 yards and five touchdowns, while Felski carried the ball eight times for 98 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s the ultimate team game. The front four are going to do the dirty work, they’re not going to get stats, they’re not going to get headlines,” Collver said. “Hopefully, our back four will be able to get the tackles, forced fumbles and things like that. It’ll be the front four that make the whole thing happen.”

Pembroke handed the Bears their first loss of this season after a 4-0 start with a 52-22 win Oct. 11. In that game, Felski ran 23 times for 321 yards and four touchdowns, while senior quarterback Vijay Dhanda Jr. carried the ball 13 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

“Caleb is a really talented running back. He’s patient and he waits for his holes to open up,” Collver said. “We have to be sure tacklers and we have to hit him. He’s pretty much run clean all year. We have to get a couple of guys to give him a couple of shots and see where we can go from there.”

Frewsburg has a fairly potent offense itself between senior running back Chase Haglund, junior quarterback Trent Lewis and senior running back Blake Weaver.

“Our speed is our strength and we’re going to play to it. We’re going to utilize what we do best,” Collver said. “Hopefully we can get enough positive plays and enough things to break our way that we can pull it out.”

Lewis has run for 684 yards and thrown for 696 yards with 13 combined touchdowns; Haglund has run for 697 yards and picked up 366 receiving with 18 touchdowns; and Weaver had 321 rushing yards and 221 receiving with a pair of touchdowns.

“They go on long drives … we can’t allow that defensively. We have to get some stops,” Collver said. “Offensively, we have to hold the ball. We have to keep it in our hands, but we’re not going to do that with our power game. We’re going to have to use our speed and maybe dink and dunk a little bit. … Maybe, if some of our explosive guys can make big plays out of little plays, we’ll take it.”

The winner of Saturday’s game will take on either Section V wild card Holley or Frankfort-Schuyler in the state’s West semifinal at noon Friday, Nov. 29 at Vestal High School. Wild card Moravia is taking on Section IX’s Sullivan West and Section X’s Tupper Lake is playing Section IV’s Charles O. Dickerson in this Friday’s East quarterfinals.

“No. 1, we have to believe that we can win. You can’t do anything without hope, without belief,” Collver said. “We have to represent Section VI, represent Frewsburg Football, and all of our community members who have come out and supported us all year long. Our effort has to match that intensity.”