SWC75
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CLASS AA
Unfortunately, both big school finals were blow outs altho9ugh the Class AA final didn’t star tout that way. Liverpool led at halftime 7-6 in the expected defensive duel. The second half was all Henninger, 38-0 for a 44-7 final. The Black Knights scored on their first five possession of the second half while holding the Warriors to 20 yards in the same number of possessions. Romero Collier threw to receiver Keisean Scott for three scores. "We haven't seen a defense like that in years," Liverpool coach Dave Mancuso said. "Our kids didn't play bad at all. They just wore us out."
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...re-the-best-in-section-iii-class-aa-football/
CLASS A
East Syracuse-Minoa’s Cinderella run ended as they turned into pumpkins in the final. Indian River rolled over them 40-6. They were easily the best Class A team in the section all year, having beaten the Spartans 41-21 earlier in the year.
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...that-its-the-class-of-class-a-in-section-iii/
CLASS B
It was too much Alex Bush and too many turnovers for Cazenovia that sent Homer to the state playoffs after the most anticipated match in the sectional finals. Bush, the state’ leading rusher and scorer, rushed for 287 yards and two touchdowns, (giving him 2,326 and 33, respectively), while the Lakers drown in a sea of 7 turnovers in a 38-24 Trojan victory. Swimming uphill all day, the Lakers were still within 24-31, (after being down 6-17 at the half and 12-31 in the third quarter), before the Trojan decided it with an 80 yard drive.
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...24-win-over-caz-in-class-b-section-iii-final/
CLASS C
Kevin Warmack of Utica-Notre Dame won his duel with Mitchell Scherer of Herkimer in leading the Jugglers to a 32-20 victory. Both quarterbacks had big plays in the game but Warmack, the better pass-run option, had more of them. He had “a 19-yard leaping catch in the corner of the end zone, a 41-yard Hail Mary throw to Joe Sullivan as time expired at the half, and another long run of 47 yards” before clinching the deal with a 74 yard run. Scherer had TD runs of 70 and 7 runs. In a game of big plays, UND’s other score came on a run of 73 yards by Jack Heaton. A clear difference was that the Magicians could only advance the ball by running while the Jugglers, (quite a circus) were more balanced. But the UND defense that held Herkimer to two first downs in the first half as UND to an 18-8 lead was a big factor as well.
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...eful-victory-over-herkimer-for-class-c-title/
CLASS D
In one of the best games in the history of the sectionals, Dolgeville barely-out lasted Sandy Creek, 26-25. The Blue Devils were down, 18-19 with 2:45 left to play. On a 4th and 7 from their own 34, Reid Johnson threw deep down the sidelines to Johann Doerrer, who, struggling with a Comet defensive back, managed to tip the ball in the air, then catch it as his defender fell down, (similar to a play the Duke Blue Devils scored on the next day on a pass to Isaac Blakeney, except Blakeney didn’t tip the pass to himself), and run to the end zone. Johnson passed again to Doerrer for a two point conversion to give Dolgeville a seven point lead. Sandy Creek then engineered an 85 yard scoring drive capped by a nifty 4 yard fake handoff and keeper by quarterback Kyle Fayette.
Comets coach Mike Stevens “went out on the field after the Comets scored and talked to his players about going for two: "I looked at all my kids and said, 'I trust you. I love you. I'm putting it in our hands,'" he said. "Everybody can judge us later, but let's win this ballgame or go home. I wanted to win the game and I trusted that we could do it. It didn't happen."
Doerrer timed Fayette’s throw perfectly, stepped in front of the receiver and picked the ball off. He could have run for two points to make it 28-25 except they don’t’ have that rule in high school. Dolgeville still had to sweat out an onside kick, which they recovered to seal their 16th sectional title. Breaking their own record, but their first since 2008, when Reid Johnson was their ball boy. "We met them inch for inch," Stevens said. "It's tough that somebody's got to lose."
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...sion-try-to-win-class-d-football-title-26-25/
So Section III sends the following teams into the state playoffs against our recent nemesis, Section IV:
Class AA: Henninger 10-0 (376-105, #5 in this class in the NYS sportswriter’s poll, #5 overall in the state and #418 in the country according to MaxPreps 7 sectional titles)
Class A: Indian River 10-0 (407-142, #5 NYSSWA, #26/1605 MaxPreps 2 titles in this section plus 6 in Secition 10)
Class B: Homer 10-0 (531-116, #3 NYSSWA, 14/1017 MaxPreps 4 titles)
Class C: Utica-Notre Dame 9-1 (378-161, #5 NYSSWA, #52/2667 MaxPreps 6 titles)
Class D: Dolgeville 9-1 (391-131, #5 NYSSWA, #65/3055 MaxPreps 16 titles)
Here have been our annual records vs. Section 4 since the state playoffs began in 1993:
1993: Section III won A&B, didn’t compete in C or D, (there was no Class AA yet) 2-0
1994: Section III won A&B, Section IV won C&D 2-2 (cumulative: 4-2)
1995: Section III won B&C, Section IV won A&D 2-2 (6-4)
1996: Section III won AA, A, C&D, Section IV won B 4-1 (10-5)
1997: Section III won AA, B, C&D, Section IV won A 4-1 (14-6)
1998: Section III won AA, A&D, Section IV won B&C 3-2 (17-8)
1999: Section III won AA, A, B&D, Section IV won C 4-1 (21-9)
2000: Section III won AA, A, C&D, Section IV won C 4-1 (25-10)
2001: Section III won AA, A&D, Section IV won B&C 3-2 (28-12)
2002: Section III won C&D, Section IV won AA, A&B 2-3 (30-15)
2003: Section III won AA, C&D, Section IV won A&B 3-2 (33-17)
2004: Section III won AA&D, Section IV won A, B&C 2-3 (35-20)
2005: Section III won AA, Section IV won A, B, C&D 1-4 (36-24)
2006: Section III won AA, C&D, Section IV won A&B 3-2 (39-26)
2007: Section III won AA, A&C, Section IV won B&D 3-2 (42-28)
2008: Section III won B, Section IV won AA, A, C&D 1-4 (43-32)
2009: Section III won AA, A&B, Section IV won C&D 3-2 (46-34)
2010: Section III won AA, A&C, Section IV won B&D 3-2 (49-36)
2011: Section III won B Section IV won AA, A, C&D 1-4 (50-40)
2012: Section III won AA, Section IV won A, B C&D 1-4 (51-44)
2013: Section III won nothing, Section IV won AA, A,B, C&D 0-5 (51-49)
I see three eras here: From 1993-2003 Section III dominated, (33-17). Back then our major concern seemed to be if we could match up with the champions of powerful Sections 5, (the Rochester area) and 6, (the Buffalo area). Them from 2004-2010, the rivalry heated up and both sections had plenty to cheer about (16-19). But the last three years, Section II has been a bug on the windshield of Section IV, (2-13). Favorites have been upset, underdogs blown out. Deficits mounted and leads dwindled away to nothing. I thought West Genesee’s undefeated 2011 team was much better than their 2007 state champs who had two losses but they lost a three touchdown lead to Binghamton and were defeated by a single point, 35-36. I thought last year’s CBA team was poised to get a second state title after making it to the semi-finals the year before but suddenly everybody was injured and they went down to Elmira, 18-24. Tioga blew out an impressive-looking Westmoreland team 55-34 in 2011 without ever attempting a pass.
There have been so many disappointments and embarrassments the last three years that at this point, I’s consider any victory by a section III team to be an upset. But some of the match-ups certainly look winnable. All will take place at Cicero-North Syracuse on Friday and Saturday:
Friday, 11/14:
5PM Class D: Dolgeville vs. Tioga 9-1 (448-107, #3 NYSSWA, #42/2338 MaxPreps)
8PM Class A: Indian River vs. Union Endicott 3-6, unranked by NYSSWA, #170/6225 MaxPreps)
(U-E lost their first four games but somehow managed to make the playoffs, probably due to a lack of Class A level schools in the area, and beat turnover-prone Vestal for the sectional title. But they have a good program that swamped Section III”s Carthage last year, 43-7)
Saturday, 11/15:
NOON Class C: Utica Notre Dame vs. Chenango Forks 9-1 (363-96, #1 NYSSWA, #19/1213 MaxPreps)
3PM Class AA: Henninger vs. Corning Painted Post East 9-1 (377-174, unranked by NYSSWA, #39/2195 MaxPreps)
6PM Class B Homer vs. Maine-Endwell 10-0 (531-116, #1 NYSSWA, #4/412 MaxPreps)
Surely Henninger and Indian River can beat unranked teams, one with a losing record? (Don’t be surprised if it turns out to be harder than you’d think.) The other three match-ups will be tougher. Tioga has beaten Section III teams by a combined 152-39 the last three years. Since 2001, Chenango Forks is 11-1 vs. Section III, losing one game by one point. 7 of those victories came in Class B. They are ranked #1 in the state in Class C. #1 in Class B is Maine-Endwell, who has won 46 games in a row and three consecutive state titles, the first one in Class A. MaxPreps has them ranked above Henninger. But Cazenovia almost beat them last year, losing 34-35 on a disputed goal-line call. Homer has outscored it’s opposition by 531-116 so maybe they can pull off the big upset there.
But after three years of being on that windshield, I’m going to mute my optimism in hopes of being pleasantly surprised instead of “devastated”.
Unfortunately, both big school finals were blow outs altho9ugh the Class AA final didn’t star tout that way. Liverpool led at halftime 7-6 in the expected defensive duel. The second half was all Henninger, 38-0 for a 44-7 final. The Black Knights scored on their first five possession of the second half while holding the Warriors to 20 yards in the same number of possessions. Romero Collier threw to receiver Keisean Scott for three scores. "We haven't seen a defense like that in years," Liverpool coach Dave Mancuso said. "Our kids didn't play bad at all. They just wore us out."
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...re-the-best-in-section-iii-class-aa-football/
CLASS A
East Syracuse-Minoa’s Cinderella run ended as they turned into pumpkins in the final. Indian River rolled over them 40-6. They were easily the best Class A team in the section all year, having beaten the Spartans 41-21 earlier in the year.
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...that-its-the-class-of-class-a-in-section-iii/
CLASS B
It was too much Alex Bush and too many turnovers for Cazenovia that sent Homer to the state playoffs after the most anticipated match in the sectional finals. Bush, the state’ leading rusher and scorer, rushed for 287 yards and two touchdowns, (giving him 2,326 and 33, respectively), while the Lakers drown in a sea of 7 turnovers in a 38-24 Trojan victory. Swimming uphill all day, the Lakers were still within 24-31, (after being down 6-17 at the half and 12-31 in the third quarter), before the Trojan decided it with an 80 yard drive.
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...24-win-over-caz-in-class-b-section-iii-final/
CLASS C
Kevin Warmack of Utica-Notre Dame won his duel with Mitchell Scherer of Herkimer in leading the Jugglers to a 32-20 victory. Both quarterbacks had big plays in the game but Warmack, the better pass-run option, had more of them. He had “a 19-yard leaping catch in the corner of the end zone, a 41-yard Hail Mary throw to Joe Sullivan as time expired at the half, and another long run of 47 yards” before clinching the deal with a 74 yard run. Scherer had TD runs of 70 and 7 runs. In a game of big plays, UND’s other score came on a run of 73 yards by Jack Heaton. A clear difference was that the Magicians could only advance the ball by running while the Jugglers, (quite a circus) were more balanced. But the UND defense that held Herkimer to two first downs in the first half as UND to an 18-8 lead was a big factor as well.
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...eful-victory-over-herkimer-for-class-c-title/
CLASS D
In one of the best games in the history of the sectionals, Dolgeville barely-out lasted Sandy Creek, 26-25. The Blue Devils were down, 18-19 with 2:45 left to play. On a 4th and 7 from their own 34, Reid Johnson threw deep down the sidelines to Johann Doerrer, who, struggling with a Comet defensive back, managed to tip the ball in the air, then catch it as his defender fell down, (similar to a play the Duke Blue Devils scored on the next day on a pass to Isaac Blakeney, except Blakeney didn’t tip the pass to himself), and run to the end zone. Johnson passed again to Doerrer for a two point conversion to give Dolgeville a seven point lead. Sandy Creek then engineered an 85 yard scoring drive capped by a nifty 4 yard fake handoff and keeper by quarterback Kyle Fayette.
Comets coach Mike Stevens “went out on the field after the Comets scored and talked to his players about going for two: "I looked at all my kids and said, 'I trust you. I love you. I'm putting it in our hands,'" he said. "Everybody can judge us later, but let's win this ballgame or go home. I wanted to win the game and I trusted that we could do it. It didn't happen."
Doerrer timed Fayette’s throw perfectly, stepped in front of the receiver and picked the ball off. He could have run for two points to make it 28-25 except they don’t’ have that rule in high school. Dolgeville still had to sweat out an onside kick, which they recovered to seal their 16th sectional title. Breaking their own record, but their first since 2008, when Reid Johnson was their ball boy. "We met them inch for inch," Stevens said. "It's tough that somebody's got to lose."
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...sion-try-to-win-class-d-football-title-26-25/
So Section III sends the following teams into the state playoffs against our recent nemesis, Section IV:
Class AA: Henninger 10-0 (376-105, #5 in this class in the NYS sportswriter’s poll, #5 overall in the state and #418 in the country according to MaxPreps 7 sectional titles)
Class A: Indian River 10-0 (407-142, #5 NYSSWA, #26/1605 MaxPreps 2 titles in this section plus 6 in Secition 10)
Class B: Homer 10-0 (531-116, #3 NYSSWA, 14/1017 MaxPreps 4 titles)
Class C: Utica-Notre Dame 9-1 (378-161, #5 NYSSWA, #52/2667 MaxPreps 6 titles)
Class D: Dolgeville 9-1 (391-131, #5 NYSSWA, #65/3055 MaxPreps 16 titles)
Here have been our annual records vs. Section 4 since the state playoffs began in 1993:
1993: Section III won A&B, didn’t compete in C or D, (there was no Class AA yet) 2-0
1994: Section III won A&B, Section IV won C&D 2-2 (cumulative: 4-2)
1995: Section III won B&C, Section IV won A&D 2-2 (6-4)
1996: Section III won AA, A, C&D, Section IV won B 4-1 (10-5)
1997: Section III won AA, B, C&D, Section IV won A 4-1 (14-6)
1998: Section III won AA, A&D, Section IV won B&C 3-2 (17-8)
1999: Section III won AA, A, B&D, Section IV won C 4-1 (21-9)
2000: Section III won AA, A, C&D, Section IV won C 4-1 (25-10)
2001: Section III won AA, A&D, Section IV won B&C 3-2 (28-12)
2002: Section III won C&D, Section IV won AA, A&B 2-3 (30-15)
2003: Section III won AA, C&D, Section IV won A&B 3-2 (33-17)
2004: Section III won AA&D, Section IV won A, B&C 2-3 (35-20)
2005: Section III won AA, Section IV won A, B, C&D 1-4 (36-24)
2006: Section III won AA, C&D, Section IV won A&B 3-2 (39-26)
2007: Section III won AA, A&C, Section IV won B&D 3-2 (42-28)
2008: Section III won B, Section IV won AA, A, C&D 1-4 (43-32)
2009: Section III won AA, A&B, Section IV won C&D 3-2 (46-34)
2010: Section III won AA, A&C, Section IV won B&D 3-2 (49-36)
2011: Section III won B Section IV won AA, A, C&D 1-4 (50-40)
2012: Section III won AA, Section IV won A, B C&D 1-4 (51-44)
2013: Section III won nothing, Section IV won AA, A,B, C&D 0-5 (51-49)
I see three eras here: From 1993-2003 Section III dominated, (33-17). Back then our major concern seemed to be if we could match up with the champions of powerful Sections 5, (the Rochester area) and 6, (the Buffalo area). Them from 2004-2010, the rivalry heated up and both sections had plenty to cheer about (16-19). But the last three years, Section II has been a bug on the windshield of Section IV, (2-13). Favorites have been upset, underdogs blown out. Deficits mounted and leads dwindled away to nothing. I thought West Genesee’s undefeated 2011 team was much better than their 2007 state champs who had two losses but they lost a three touchdown lead to Binghamton and were defeated by a single point, 35-36. I thought last year’s CBA team was poised to get a second state title after making it to the semi-finals the year before but suddenly everybody was injured and they went down to Elmira, 18-24. Tioga blew out an impressive-looking Westmoreland team 55-34 in 2011 without ever attempting a pass.
There have been so many disappointments and embarrassments the last three years that at this point, I’s consider any victory by a section III team to be an upset. But some of the match-ups certainly look winnable. All will take place at Cicero-North Syracuse on Friday and Saturday:
Friday, 11/14:
5PM Class D: Dolgeville vs. Tioga 9-1 (448-107, #3 NYSSWA, #42/2338 MaxPreps)
8PM Class A: Indian River vs. Union Endicott 3-6, unranked by NYSSWA, #170/6225 MaxPreps)
(U-E lost their first four games but somehow managed to make the playoffs, probably due to a lack of Class A level schools in the area, and beat turnover-prone Vestal for the sectional title. But they have a good program that swamped Section III”s Carthage last year, 43-7)
Saturday, 11/15:
NOON Class C: Utica Notre Dame vs. Chenango Forks 9-1 (363-96, #1 NYSSWA, #19/1213 MaxPreps)
3PM Class AA: Henninger vs. Corning Painted Post East 9-1 (377-174, unranked by NYSSWA, #39/2195 MaxPreps)
6PM Class B Homer vs. Maine-Endwell 10-0 (531-116, #1 NYSSWA, #4/412 MaxPreps)
Surely Henninger and Indian River can beat unranked teams, one with a losing record? (Don’t be surprised if it turns out to be harder than you’d think.) The other three match-ups will be tougher. Tioga has beaten Section III teams by a combined 152-39 the last three years. Since 2001, Chenango Forks is 11-1 vs. Section III, losing one game by one point. 7 of those victories came in Class B. They are ranked #1 in the state in Class C. #1 in Class B is Maine-Endwell, who has won 46 games in a row and three consecutive state titles, the first one in Class A. MaxPreps has them ranked above Henninger. But Cazenovia almost beat them last year, losing 34-35 on a disputed goal-line call. Homer has outscored it’s opposition by 531-116 so maybe they can pull off the big upset there.
But after three years of being on that windshield, I’m going to mute my optimism in hopes of being pleasantly surprised instead of “devastated”.
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