SWC75
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CLASS AA
Aquinas Institute of Rochester, (Secition 5) is kind of similar to CBA in Syracuse. They are a private schools with an enrollment well below Class AA, (they would be in Class B by enrollment, CBA would be Class C), but they have no formal “School district” and can thus do some informal ‘recruiting’ and they stress football success enough to compete with larger schools. Except the “Little Irish” have been even more success than the Brothers, winning six state titles to CBA’s one. All season long Aquinas and CBA were #1-2 in the state rankings and I envisioned a confrontation between them in the semi-finals. But CBA couldn’t make it, in part because of some key injuries. Aquinas won that 6th title by easily beating Monroe-Woodbury of Section 9, who won the 2005 title but has now finished second four times since then, 48-13.
This was Aquinas’s first Class AA title after five Class A titles from 1998-2010. Quarterback Jake Zembiec threw to Alonzo Turney for three touchdowns of 53, 7 and 47 yards. "He's unreal," Aquinas senior running back Luch Pietropaolo said. "Physically, he's a 20-year old, he throws the ball like Tom Brady.(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) Pietropaolo ran for 86 yards and a score of his won. Ernest Edwards had a 60 yard pick six. M-W’s highlight was a 75 yard punt return by Brandon Lewis that gave them a short-lived 7-0 lead. Aquinas scored the next 27 points to take complete control of the game. Their final line:
Section 5- Aquinas Institute 13-0 (442-122) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 1/142 20-5, 6 titles
CLASS A
John Irion used to be the coach at Central Square, a perennial Section III also-ran or worse. He’s now got a much better gig at Section 2’s Queensbury, who won the state Class A title with a dominating 36-7 victory over Section 6’s Williamsville North. It was quite a contrast. Queensbury had used a powerful ground game, running from a formation so tight that it looked like the “victory” formation and using multiple running backs on pitch-outs and inside reverses, (somewhere Ben Schwartzwalder is smiling), to plow their way to a 12-0 record and a #1 state ranking. Williamsville was the only team to make the state finals with a spread-out passing offense and had been a Cinderella team, reaching the state finals after 3 losses. Their coach turned into a pumpkin as Queensbury rolled to an easy 36-7 victory and their first state title. Queensbury out-rushed Williamsville 273-21. Williamsville Quarterback Ryan Majewski, under heavy pressure the entire game, was just 14 for 39 for 233 yards and one touchdown. Kody Bruno caught a 40 yard TD pass, ran another over from the 3 and blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown for the winners, who dedicated their win to teammate John Vasiliou who had died of an infection last year.
Both teams were named the Spartans, as were the Class B champions, Maine-Endwell. All three teams could have pitched in for one mascot and saved some money. The final line for the Queensbury Spartans:
Section 2- Queensbury 13-0 (494-158) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 8/567 7-2, 1 title
CLASS B
Three of the state finals were blow-outs. The other two were classics. Section 4’s Maine-Endwell came in seeking its third straight state title, (the first of which was in Class A) and its 38th straight victory. Schalmont of Section 2 came in having totally destroyed its first two opponents, 60-6 and 66-0, the later over the #2 team in the state, Section 9’s Marlboro, a game that was 60-0 at halftime. Those games were fueled by a sea of first half turnovers by the losers. Incredibly, the same thing seemed to be happening to Maine-Endwell, who suffered three first half turnovers and seemed to be playing as if they were shell-shocked in falling behind 0-14 at the half. But 0-14 is not 0-60. These Spartans gathered themselves together and totally shut down the Schalmont offense in the second half. The contrast is this game was about the size of the players. Maine-Endwell’s players were noticeably bigger but slower than Schalmont’s at every position. Scott Shafer would have loved the Sabres: after every play they had more helmets in the picture than the Spartans, at least in the first half.
But big guys can swarm, too when they set their minds to it. And small, quick guys can turn the ball over, too, Schalmont fumbled the second half kick-off. But they held on downs. The Spartans forced a punt and went to the air, Kyle Gallagher hitting Trevor Garbleman for a 45 yard gain to the Sabre’s 21 and then scrambling for a touchdown from the 17. The kick made it 7-14. M-E forced another punt but fumbled the ball away for a fourth time. The Sabres punted to the M-E four yard line. Darnell Woolfolk broke away for a huge run down to the Schalmont 8 but the Sabres held on downs. On the first play, they went to the air and Michael Palmer leapt in the air to grab the ball before it could reach a receiver who had no one between him and the goal line. This time the Spartans went in to score, Gallagher going over from the 1 to tie it, (after the conversion- Maine-Endwell had a real good kicker).
Schalmont fumbled again but forced a punt. Trevon Perez-Tucker, the Sabre’s star halfback, took the punt and ran into some traffic, bounced off a couple of guys and then went all the way in a play that reminded me of Mike Hart in the Onondaga days. Schalmont had a 21-14 lead with only 1:38 left. Maine Endwell fans must have felt like Syracuse fans when Boston College made that interception the day before. It ain’t over till it’s over.
75 yards from the goal with a team that primarily runs the ball, Gallagher turned into Terrel Hunt, driving his team down the field. They got a first down on the Schalmont 6 with 25 seconds left. A penalty put it on the three. Two runs were stuffed but Gallagher found Jake Sinicki for the score on third down and then passed for the winning two point conversion with four seconds left. A kick-off went into the stands after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the frustrated Sabres and a pass play went nowhere. Maine Endwell had its third straight state title. Their final line:
Section 4 Maine-Endwell 13-0 (591-156) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 7/540 12-2, 4 titles
Fun fact: Schalmont isn’t named after some long-dead French explorer or general, as you might expect. It’s short for Schenectady-Albany-Montgomery County.
CLASS C
Chenango Forks of Section 4 won its third state title by the same margin that their Section 4 comrades, Maine-Endwell won their title with a two point conversion also being a key play, but this time a failed one. Down 21-28, Section 9’s Rye Neck scored with 4 minutes remaining and went for two to take the lead but a running play was stuff short of the end zone. Forks’ Isaiah Zimmer had a busy day, running for 175 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries. The game featured a wild second quarter in which five of the game’s 8 touchdowns were scored. Down 0-7 after the first quarter, Zimmer scored from the 1 to tie it. After a fake punt fizzled, Colm Sweeney hit Andrew Ziegenfuss for a 30 yard score. Rayna Morningstar answered with an 88 year kickoff return to tie it again. Forks took the lead again on Zimmer’s 7 yard run. Thomas Pipolo hit Jakob Calvini form the 9 to make it 21 all at the half. The third quarter was scoreless but Zimmer put his team ahead permanently with another 7 yard run in the fourth quarter. He then helped his team run out the clock after the failed two pointer and secure the title.
Fork’s line:
Section 4 Chenango Forks 12-1 (513-158) NYSSWA #2 Max Preps 17/1312 20-9, 3 titles
CLASS D
Randolph of Section 6 rolled to its second straight state championship and fourth overall on the wheels of Chris Doubek, who rushed for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns . Doubeck set a Western New York record of 2,536 rushing yards this season. Doubek had 164 yards and all three of those touchdowns in the first half as the Cardinals established a 27-7 lead and were never headed. Section 9’s Chester had a couple moments of glory, scoring on a 53 yard pass play and a 75 yard run but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Randolph’s line:
Section 6- Randolph 13-0 (551-103) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 6/471 11-2, 4 titles
The overall records for each section that participated in the state playoffs:
Section 1 2-5, no titles
Section 2 6-4, Class A title
Section 3 0-5, no titles
Section 4 9-3, Class C and B titles
Section 5 3-4, Class A title
Section 6 7-4, Class D title
Section 7 1-2, no titles
Section 9 6-5, no titles
Section 10 0-2, no titles
Section 3 is now 2-13 in the last three state playoffs. Here is an article that addresses this but which doesn’t provide any real answers to the problem:
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...has-no-teams-in-state-football-championships/
Is it really just “cyclical”? Cycles usually occur for reasons. Are we falling behind in facilities or youth programs? Have we lost some top coaches and not adequately replaced them? Or is 3 years not enough of a sample to be worried about it?
For comparison’s sake, here are the champions of the other New York State Sections and Federations:
On Long Island, they have four classes. They use numbers, rather than letters. Roman numerals, actually.
Class I was won by Sachem North, 10-2 (379-237). They are ranked #11 among the state’s Class AA teams by the New York State Sportswriter’s Association. Max Preps has them the #30 team in the state and #1801 nationally. Aquinas would be the clear favorite to beat them if they played.
Class II was won by Carey 12-0 (456-94). They are ranked #2 among Class A teams by NYSSWA and 43/2458 by Max Preps. Queensbury would be the favorite here, but not by a loot.
Class III was won by Lawrence 11-1 (493-235). NYSSWA also ranks them with the Class A teams as #3. Max Preps has them at 89/3946. Again, Queensbury would be the favorite.
Class IV was won by Babylon 12-0 (510-138). Babylon has won the last two Class IV titles and 24 games in a row. NYSSWA ranks then as the #1 Class C team in the state, (they beat Roosevelt in the final, which was the #3 Class B team). Max Preps has them as #70/3345, which is well below Chenango Forks. Take your pick.
The New York City Public School Championship will be played on 12/10 between Abraham Lincoln High School and Tottenville. Both are ranked with the Class AA schools by NYSSWA. Lincoln 12-0 (474-125) is #3 with Max Preps ranking them at 23/1493. Tottenville 10-2 (372-158) is #8, Max Preps: 46/2662. Aquinas would be favored over either but Lincoln would appear to be the more formidable opponent.
Buffalo has its own Catholic League playoffs, the Monsignor Martin Association, which was won by Canisius, 9-2 (306-43). NYSSSWA has them at #7 in Class AA. Max Preps rates them very highly at 4/353. One of their losses was to Aquinas but by only 0-3.
Maybe someday they’ll all be in the State tournament. Or maybe not.
Aquinas Institute of Rochester, (Secition 5) is kind of similar to CBA in Syracuse. They are a private schools with an enrollment well below Class AA, (they would be in Class B by enrollment, CBA would be Class C), but they have no formal “School district” and can thus do some informal ‘recruiting’ and they stress football success enough to compete with larger schools. Except the “Little Irish” have been even more success than the Brothers, winning six state titles to CBA’s one. All season long Aquinas and CBA were #1-2 in the state rankings and I envisioned a confrontation between them in the semi-finals. But CBA couldn’t make it, in part because of some key injuries. Aquinas won that 6th title by easily beating Monroe-Woodbury of Section 9, who won the 2005 title but has now finished second four times since then, 48-13.
This was Aquinas’s first Class AA title after five Class A titles from 1998-2010. Quarterback Jake Zembiec threw to Alonzo Turney for three touchdowns of 53, 7 and 47 yards. "He's unreal," Aquinas senior running back Luch Pietropaolo said. "Physically, he's a 20-year old, he throws the ball like Tom Brady.(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) Pietropaolo ran for 86 yards and a score of his won. Ernest Edwards had a 60 yard pick six. M-W’s highlight was a 75 yard punt return by Brandon Lewis that gave them a short-lived 7-0 lead. Aquinas scored the next 27 points to take complete control of the game. Their final line:
Section 5- Aquinas Institute 13-0 (442-122) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 1/142 20-5, 6 titles
CLASS A
John Irion used to be the coach at Central Square, a perennial Section III also-ran or worse. He’s now got a much better gig at Section 2’s Queensbury, who won the state Class A title with a dominating 36-7 victory over Section 6’s Williamsville North. It was quite a contrast. Queensbury had used a powerful ground game, running from a formation so tight that it looked like the “victory” formation and using multiple running backs on pitch-outs and inside reverses, (somewhere Ben Schwartzwalder is smiling), to plow their way to a 12-0 record and a #1 state ranking. Williamsville was the only team to make the state finals with a spread-out passing offense and had been a Cinderella team, reaching the state finals after 3 losses. Their coach turned into a pumpkin as Queensbury rolled to an easy 36-7 victory and their first state title. Queensbury out-rushed Williamsville 273-21. Williamsville Quarterback Ryan Majewski, under heavy pressure the entire game, was just 14 for 39 for 233 yards and one touchdown. Kody Bruno caught a 40 yard TD pass, ran another over from the 3 and blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown for the winners, who dedicated their win to teammate John Vasiliou who had died of an infection last year.
Both teams were named the Spartans, as were the Class B champions, Maine-Endwell. All three teams could have pitched in for one mascot and saved some money. The final line for the Queensbury Spartans:
Section 2- Queensbury 13-0 (494-158) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 8/567 7-2, 1 title
CLASS B
Three of the state finals were blow-outs. The other two were classics. Section 4’s Maine-Endwell came in seeking its third straight state title, (the first of which was in Class A) and its 38th straight victory. Schalmont of Section 2 came in having totally destroyed its first two opponents, 60-6 and 66-0, the later over the #2 team in the state, Section 9’s Marlboro, a game that was 60-0 at halftime. Those games were fueled by a sea of first half turnovers by the losers. Incredibly, the same thing seemed to be happening to Maine-Endwell, who suffered three first half turnovers and seemed to be playing as if they were shell-shocked in falling behind 0-14 at the half. But 0-14 is not 0-60. These Spartans gathered themselves together and totally shut down the Schalmont offense in the second half. The contrast is this game was about the size of the players. Maine-Endwell’s players were noticeably bigger but slower than Schalmont’s at every position. Scott Shafer would have loved the Sabres: after every play they had more helmets in the picture than the Spartans, at least in the first half.
But big guys can swarm, too when they set their minds to it. And small, quick guys can turn the ball over, too, Schalmont fumbled the second half kick-off. But they held on downs. The Spartans forced a punt and went to the air, Kyle Gallagher hitting Trevor Garbleman for a 45 yard gain to the Sabre’s 21 and then scrambling for a touchdown from the 17. The kick made it 7-14. M-E forced another punt but fumbled the ball away for a fourth time. The Sabres punted to the M-E four yard line. Darnell Woolfolk broke away for a huge run down to the Schalmont 8 but the Sabres held on downs. On the first play, they went to the air and Michael Palmer leapt in the air to grab the ball before it could reach a receiver who had no one between him and the goal line. This time the Spartans went in to score, Gallagher going over from the 1 to tie it, (after the conversion- Maine-Endwell had a real good kicker).
Schalmont fumbled again but forced a punt. Trevon Perez-Tucker, the Sabre’s star halfback, took the punt and ran into some traffic, bounced off a couple of guys and then went all the way in a play that reminded me of Mike Hart in the Onondaga days. Schalmont had a 21-14 lead with only 1:38 left. Maine Endwell fans must have felt like Syracuse fans when Boston College made that interception the day before. It ain’t over till it’s over.
75 yards from the goal with a team that primarily runs the ball, Gallagher turned into Terrel Hunt, driving his team down the field. They got a first down on the Schalmont 6 with 25 seconds left. A penalty put it on the three. Two runs were stuffed but Gallagher found Jake Sinicki for the score on third down and then passed for the winning two point conversion with four seconds left. A kick-off went into the stands after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the frustrated Sabres and a pass play went nowhere. Maine Endwell had its third straight state title. Their final line:
Section 4 Maine-Endwell 13-0 (591-156) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 7/540 12-2, 4 titles
Fun fact: Schalmont isn’t named after some long-dead French explorer or general, as you might expect. It’s short for Schenectady-Albany-Montgomery County.
CLASS C
Chenango Forks of Section 4 won its third state title by the same margin that their Section 4 comrades, Maine-Endwell won their title with a two point conversion also being a key play, but this time a failed one. Down 21-28, Section 9’s Rye Neck scored with 4 minutes remaining and went for two to take the lead but a running play was stuff short of the end zone. Forks’ Isaiah Zimmer had a busy day, running for 175 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries. The game featured a wild second quarter in which five of the game’s 8 touchdowns were scored. Down 0-7 after the first quarter, Zimmer scored from the 1 to tie it. After a fake punt fizzled, Colm Sweeney hit Andrew Ziegenfuss for a 30 yard score. Rayna Morningstar answered with an 88 year kickoff return to tie it again. Forks took the lead again on Zimmer’s 7 yard run. Thomas Pipolo hit Jakob Calvini form the 9 to make it 21 all at the half. The third quarter was scoreless but Zimmer put his team ahead permanently with another 7 yard run in the fourth quarter. He then helped his team run out the clock after the failed two pointer and secure the title.
Fork’s line:
Section 4 Chenango Forks 12-1 (513-158) NYSSWA #2 Max Preps 17/1312 20-9, 3 titles
CLASS D
Randolph of Section 6 rolled to its second straight state championship and fourth overall on the wheels of Chris Doubek, who rushed for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns . Doubeck set a Western New York record of 2,536 rushing yards this season. Doubek had 164 yards and all three of those touchdowns in the first half as the Cardinals established a 27-7 lead and were never headed. Section 9’s Chester had a couple moments of glory, scoring on a 53 yard pass play and a 75 yard run but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Randolph’s line:
Section 6- Randolph 13-0 (551-103) NYSSWA #1 Max Preps 6/471 11-2, 4 titles
The overall records for each section that participated in the state playoffs:
Section 1 2-5, no titles
Section 2 6-4, Class A title
Section 3 0-5, no titles
Section 4 9-3, Class C and B titles
Section 5 3-4, Class A title
Section 6 7-4, Class D title
Section 7 1-2, no titles
Section 9 6-5, no titles
Section 10 0-2, no titles
Section 3 is now 2-13 in the last three state playoffs. Here is an article that addresses this but which doesn’t provide any real answers to the problem:
http://highschoolsports.syracuse.co...has-no-teams-in-state-football-championships/
Is it really just “cyclical”? Cycles usually occur for reasons. Are we falling behind in facilities or youth programs? Have we lost some top coaches and not adequately replaced them? Or is 3 years not enough of a sample to be worried about it?
For comparison’s sake, here are the champions of the other New York State Sections and Federations:
On Long Island, they have four classes. They use numbers, rather than letters. Roman numerals, actually.
Class I was won by Sachem North, 10-2 (379-237). They are ranked #11 among the state’s Class AA teams by the New York State Sportswriter’s Association. Max Preps has them the #30 team in the state and #1801 nationally. Aquinas would be the clear favorite to beat them if they played.
Class II was won by Carey 12-0 (456-94). They are ranked #2 among Class A teams by NYSSWA and 43/2458 by Max Preps. Queensbury would be the favorite here, but not by a loot.
Class III was won by Lawrence 11-1 (493-235). NYSSWA also ranks them with the Class A teams as #3. Max Preps has them at 89/3946. Again, Queensbury would be the favorite.
Class IV was won by Babylon 12-0 (510-138). Babylon has won the last two Class IV titles and 24 games in a row. NYSSWA ranks then as the #1 Class C team in the state, (they beat Roosevelt in the final, which was the #3 Class B team). Max Preps has them as #70/3345, which is well below Chenango Forks. Take your pick.
The New York City Public School Championship will be played on 12/10 between Abraham Lincoln High School and Tottenville. Both are ranked with the Class AA schools by NYSSWA. Lincoln 12-0 (474-125) is #3 with Max Preps ranking them at 23/1493. Tottenville 10-2 (372-158) is #8, Max Preps: 46/2662. Aquinas would be favored over either but Lincoln would appear to be the more formidable opponent.
Buffalo has its own Catholic League playoffs, the Monsignor Martin Association, which was won by Canisius, 9-2 (306-43). NYSSSWA has them at #7 in Class AA. Max Preps rates them very highly at 4/353. One of their losses was to Aquinas but by only 0-3.
Maybe someday they’ll all be in the State tournament. Or maybe not.
