ROCHESTER — The fans of Chenango Forks brought some banners with them to Marina Auto

Stadium ready to taunt a team from Jamestown. One banner asked: "James-who?"

"They didn't know our name," said Southwestern senior Ryan Buzzetto. "But they know our

name now. Definitely."

Southwestern continued to brand itself as one of the top programs in the state as it beat

one that is definitely on that list. The defending Class C state champions shut out Chenango

Forks, 21-0, to earn a second straight trip to the state championships a few more exits down

the Thruway.

Southwestern (12-0) is headed back to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for next Saturday's 3

p.m. Class C championship game. It will face Section I champion Bronxville (12-0) of

Westchester County, which beat Section II (Albany area) champion Hoosick Falls, 28-27,

Saturday afternoon.

"I think our guys took a little bit of offense to the signs that said, "Jamestown who?' and

"Jamestown this,' " said Southwestern coach — and alum — Jay Sirianni. "We're not

Jamestown. I think there was a little confusion there — our name is Southwestern, and

we're proud to wear that on our jerseys and our kids did a nice job today."

A crowd of about 1,000 in the downtown Rochester stadium watched Southwestern (which is

referred to as Jamestown-Southwestern as an identifier in the state rankings, which caused the

confusion) come up with tremendous defensive stops against a Blue Devils program which dropped

from Class B to Class C this year, a move the Trojans made a year ago.

Chenango Forks (11-1) has won six of its nine state semifinals and owns two state titles.

It won its eighth Section IV (Binghamton area) championship in the last nine years by running

down opponents — it only attempted 12 passes all season.

"They have a great program — any program in the state is going to model itself after

Forks," said Sirianni. "Our defense just stepped up big. [Forks] played smashmouth football.

We're more of a finesse team, but we can get down and dirty, too. Our defense refused to let

them run up and down the field all day. They did a great job up front."

Southwestern had 15 first downs while it limited Forks to four. It outgained Forks,

262-121, and forced the Blue Devils to throw three passes (it completed one) and call for

others as the Trojans had two sacks.

"They kept us off-balance — we couldn't get anything going," said Forks coach David

Hogan. "We had a couple of big plays, but we just couldn't put two or three or four together.

That's what we were looking to do and we just weren't able to do it."

Southwestern senior quarterback Zack Sopak was effective on the ground (25 carries for 91

yards) and through the air despite two interceptions (10 for 19 for 113 yards). He threw for

two touchdowns and ran for another.

Forks' first possession ended with a fumble, and four plays later Southwestern took a 7-0

lead it would hold at halftime. A pretty pass by Sopak on third-and-5 resulted in a pretty

falling catch by Levi Bursch for a 12-yard score.

On Southwestern's first drive of the second half, Sopak hit Bursch again on a 4-yard pass

on third-and-goal — to complete a 32-yard drive that was set up with a 57-yard kickoff

return by Jake Swan.

From there, the Trojan defense took over. On fourth-and-4 at the Southwestern 12, Corey

Carlson ended the Blue Devils' third-quarter threat with a sack. On fourth-and-goal at the 2,

Will Sleggs had a sack. Bursch had an interception that would lead to Sopak's 8-yard run with

2:53 left.