By Paul Wisniewski
DEPEW — The Lancaster-Depew football game ended the way it has for more than a decade, with a lopsided Lancaster win. The difference this time is that there is no rematch on the calendar.
Lancaster beat Depew 48-8 on Friday night at Depew, according to scores posted on MaxPreps and the Lancaster football site golancasterfootball.com, in what The Buffalo News called the final game of a 107-year-old rivalry. The Legends led 28-8 at halftime and scored 20 unanswered points after the break.
The result left Lancaster at 7-1 overall and 5-1 in Section VI Class AA, tied in the standings with Bennett, a team the Legends beat 29-12 the week before. Depew, a Class B program, finished the regular season 6-2.
A decision only one side made
The end of the series was set in motion in March 2025, when the Depew Union Free School District told its board it would play Lancaster for only two more seasons, WGRZ reported at the time. That arrangement let Lancaster host once more in 2025 and Depew host the final game this fall.
Slides shown at the Depew board meeting, as quoted by WGRZ, cited the competitive gap between the programs and the difference in the number of athletes on each team over the past decade.
“Most recently, there has been a significant concern raised about the balance of competition between the two programs and therefore, Depew approached Lancaster in January and finally met last week, to discuss options moving forward,” one slide read.
“Depew will always celebrate and honor our traditions, but needs to be laser focused on our current and future student body,” the Depew board said.
Lancaster made clear it did not agree. A district spokesperson told WGRZ there was no agreement to phase out the game and that Depew had acted unilaterally.
Lancaster: ‘No intention of ending this rivalry’
In a statement posted by the Lancaster Central School District, Superintendent Andrew Kufel said the district wanted the game to continue.
“Recently, we were approached by Depew regarding the possibility of discontinuing or phasing out the game,” Kufel said. “To be clear, we have no intention of ending this rivalry and homecoming week.”
Lancaster High School Principal Michael Candella said in the same release that the school wanted more traditions like it, not fewer.
“Lancaster is committed to leaning into these experiences that bring a tremendous amount of joy and pride to our students and the community, not moving further away from them,” Candella said.
Athletic Director and head coach Eric Rupp argued the series had swung both ways before.
“The rivalry has always had its ups and downs,” Rupp said. “From 2006 to 2014, Depew won six out of nine games—the largest enrollment differential since 1998. It’s not just about who wins; it’s about the communities coming together year after year.”
The scoreboard behind the decision
The recent results help explain Depew’s position. The year-by-year series record kept on golancasterfootball.com shows Depew’s last win came in 2014, 13-6. Lancaster has won every meeting since, 11 straight not counting 2020, when no game was played. Most were decided by 30 points or more.
The older history is closer. The same record lists the series going back to 1919, with long stretches of Depew success in the 1950s and 1960s and again from the late 1970s into the early 1980s.
The Lancaster district’s release describes a full week built around the game: a bonfire, a powderpuff game, spirit days, a motorcade, pep assemblies and junior varsity and freshman games ahead of the varsity matchup.
What to watch
Neither district has announced what will replace the game on its schedule or its homecoming calendar. At a Lancaster board meeting in March 2025, Kufel said the district would “welcome the opportunity to work together to ensure this rivalry continues for another 106 years,” according to WGRZ. The Buffalo Chronicle has asked both districts whether any talks to revive the series are planned.
For more from Lancaster, read our story on the new pavilion stage at Cayuga Creek Park.
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