Frewsburg's Chase Haglund gets away from an Allegany-Limestone defender during the Section VI 8-man football championship game Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

SALAMANCA — Frewsburg has found its niche in the Western New York high school football community.

The Bears are the best 8-man team around.

Chase Haglund ran 13 times for 232 yards and five touchdowns as No. 1 Frewsburg beat No. 2 Allegany-Limestone 57-22 in the Section VI championship game Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park.

“I told the kids their names are going to be on the plaque forever,” Frewsburg head coach Rob Collver said. “The things they’ve done over the last couple of months will live on in our school’s history and our program’s legacy. That is something that goes beyond stats, and wins and losses, which is pretty cool.”

Frewsburg led 14-0 early on touchdown runs of 1 and 46 yards by Haglund. After the Gators’ Vincent LaBella connected with Dylan Schultz for a 70-yard score, Haglund added two more touchdown runs of 19 and 58 yards.

Frewsburg's Trent Lewis leaps an Allegany-Limestone defender during the Section VI 8-man football championship game Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“Allegany had no answer for Chase,” Collver said. “He’s such a dynamic player and the fastest kid on the field.”

Caleb Strade caught a touchdown from LaBella, but Blake Weaver answered with a 50-yard touchdown run for the Bears, who led 36-16 at halftime.

“Coach (Marcus) Grove had a really nice game plan. They came in and did a lot of line stunts and things like that. The first couple of series that got us a little bit and our guys haven’t seen that before. The offensive line did a great job of adjusting and adapting to what they were trying to do to us,” Collver said. “When you have such great athletes at the skill positions like we have with Chase, Blake, Mason Eckman and Trent (Lewis), those kids will make the linemen better just as the linemen make them better.”

After halftime, Drake Beckstrom added a 1-yard touchdown, Haglund scored from 72 yards out and Weaver scored on a 54-yard run.

“Our line was super good today. Allegany blitzed a lot. They weren’t sitting back. Our guys adjusted to it. We always talk about being prepared for the unexpected,” Collver said of Greyson Lewis, Branden Francis, Jaden Collver and Trenton Benson. “There are things we can’t game plan and practice for. Our guys understand that, are smart, and adapted to it really well. We ran outside in the first half and in the second half … we started running back inside again.”

Frewsburg's Blake Weaver tries to break the tackle of an Allegany-Limestone defender during the Section VI 8-man football championship game Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

Frewsburg ran for over 400 yards with Haglund and Weaver (11 carries, 131 yards) leading the way.

Pembroke plays Holley for the Section V championship Friday at Pittsford-Sutherland High School. The regional championship will take place a week later. During the regular season, Pembroke beat Frewsburg 52-22, while the Bears beat Holley 42-28.

“Our success in 8-man, I hope gives other schools with small populations and smaller teams some hope that they don’t have to look for a merger, necessarily, if there is nothing available,” Collver said. “We went through a few years where we struggled and the players were down and dejected. We’ve been using 8-man as a tool to bring it back. Frewsburg Football will live on through the 8-man game, which is what we want to have other schools realize.”

Fre–Haglund 1 run (Haglund run)

Fre–Haglund 46 run (run failed)

A-L–Schultz 70 pass from LaBella (Harmon pass from LaBella)

Fre–Haglund 19 run (BWeaver run)

Fre–Haglund 58 run (run failed)

A-L–Strade pass from LaBella (Gleason pass from LaBella)

Fre–BWeaver 50 run (Haglund run)

Fre–Beckstrom 1 run (BWeaver)

Fre–Haglund 72 run (run failed)

Fre–BWeaver 54 run (GWeaver kick)

A-L–Schultz 26 pass from LaBella