BY PAUL LIOTTI
This season, Section V broke from tradition and engaged a Power Seeding Points system to determine its Sectional combatants.
The complicated system seeds teams based on the strength of each teams’ schedule, as opposed to the previous +/- system based on opponents’ classification.
The top seeds in three of the classifications – A, B and D – probably would have been the same in either scenario, as undefeated Canandaigua, Batavia and Alexander took the respective top slots in those classes. Class AA more than likely would have been the same with Aquinas, McQuaid, Hilton in the top three spots, but Class C was definitively decided by the Power Points System. Additionally, a number of slots were earned by a team’s outright strength of schedule, which may not have been earned based on the old system.
All classes feature rematches of in-season games in the first round, none as fresh as Class B’s four-versus-five game between Honeoye Falls-Lima and UPrep which is a repeat of a game played just this weekend. There are also some intriguing match ups, such as Fairport-Pittsford in Class AA
Fun-Facts on this year’s field: Class C and D will crown new champs, as last year’s victors did not make the field. Additionally only 27 of the 40 teams in this year’s field are repeat participants of last year’s tournament.
So let’s get to it, class by class:
CLASS AA
McQuaid’s win over East (6-1) on Friday night propelled the Knights (6-1) from fifth place a week ago into the No. 2 slot. Aquinas (6-1) retains its top ranking and logged a Section-high 50 points, while Hilton (6-1), Pittsford (5-2), Fairport (6-1), Penfield (1-6), Rush Henrietta (1-6) and Edison (1-6) round out Nos. 3 thru 8.
First-round games will be contested when Edison travels to defending champion Aquinas, Rush Henrietta to McQuaid, Penfield to Hilton, and Fairport to Pittsford.
There were no tie-breaking actions in this classification, but Pittsford did finish with more points than Fairport, despite finishing with one more loss. The difference was two-fold: A head-to-head win and a stronger schedule. In Week 4, Pittsford defeated Fairport 20-17 and the Panthers played a schedule of teams that finished with a collective 25 wins, whereas the Red Raiders’ opponents finished with an aggregate of 18 wins.
Which, of course, makes the Fairport-Pittsford game the top game of the first round. The other rematch in the first round in AA is Penfield-Hilton, a game won by the Cadets 28-21 in Week 3.
Unlike the other brackets, Class AA is extremely top-heavy. With only nine teams, it was a foregone conclusion that some teams would make the playoffs with losing records. However, three teams finished with identical 1-6 records.
A potential semifinal matchup could pit No.1 Aquinas versus No. 4 Pittsford. Those teams met in the final a year ago with Aquinas topping the Panthers, 20-14. However, Edison and Fairport will have a say in whether that match up plays out.
Here are the final Class AA Sectional standings:
| # | Class AA | GP | Rec | Pts | Avg | LW |
| 1 | Aquinas | 7 | 6-1 | 50 | 7.143 | 1 |
| 2 | McQuaid | 7 | 6-1 | 46 | 6.571 | 5 |
| 3 | Hilton | 7 | 6-1 | 42 | 6.000 | 2 |
| 4 | Pittsford | 7 | 5-2 | 41 | 5.857 | 3 |
| 5 | Fairport | 7 | 6-1 | 40 | 5.714 | 4 |
| 6 | Penfield | 7 | 1-6 | 26 | 3.714 | 6 |
| 7 | Rush Henrietta | 7 | 1-6 | 25 | 3.571 | T7 |
| 8 | Edison/SWW | 7 | 1-6 | 24 | 3.429 | T7 |
| 9 | Leadership Academy | 7 | 1-6 | 23 | 3.286 | 9 |
CLASS A
As with Class AA, the Power Seeding Points tie-breaking system did not come into play in Class A. However, it’s the only classification where all eight teams that qualified had winning records. Going into the season, Class A was thought to be the most competitive, and it surely turned out that way.
Canandaigua (7-0) earned the top seed over fellow-undefeated Irondequoit (7-0), but did so by the slimmest of margins in accumulated points, 48-47. Each team beat Victor, Eastridge and Rush Henrietta, but the rest of the schedule for the Braves collectively had 10 wins, while the balance of the Eagles’ schedule only had 8 wins. So that gave the edge to the Braves.
First-round pairings in Class A will see Canandaigua host No. 8 Webster-Schroeder (4-3); Irondequoit host defending Class A champ and No. 7 Wilson (4-3); No. 3 East (6-1) host No. 6 Greece Arcadia (5-2) and No. 4 Victor (5-2) host No. 5 Eastridge (5-2).
There is one rematch in Class A from earlier this season: Canandaigua defeated Webster Schroeder 34-8 in Week 1.
The first round also features a rematches of Wilson-Irondequoit, a game the Wildcats won 40-19.
VIEW MORE KRISTIN WILLIAMS PHOTOS HERE.
Here are the final Class A Sectional standings:
| # | Class A | GP | Rec | Pts | Avg | LW |
| 1 | Canandaigua | 7 | 7-0 | 48 | 6.857 | 1 |
| 2 | Irondequoit | 7 | 7-0 | 47 | 6.714 | T2 |
| 3 | East | 7 | 6-1 | 43 | 6.143 | T2 |
| 4 | Victor | 7 | 5-2 | 41 | 5.857 | 4 |
| 5 | Eastridge | 7 | 5-2 | 39 | 5.571 | 6 |
| 6 | Greece Arcadia | 7 | 5-2 | 36 | 5.143 | 5 |
| 7 | Wilson | 7 | 4-3 | 34 | 4.857 | 7 |
| 8 | Webster Schroeder | 7 | 4-3 | 32 | 4.571 | T9 |
| 9 | Webster Thomas | 7 | 3-4 | 30 | 4.286 | 12 |
| 10 | Brockport | 7 | 3-4 | 30 | 4.286 | 8 |
| 11 | Greece Athena | 7 | 2-5 | 27 | 3.857 | T9 |
| 12 | Brighton* | 7 | 2-5 | 26 | 3.714 | 13 |
| 13 | Gates-Chili | 7 | 2-5 | 26 | 3.714 | 11 |
| 14 | Greece Olympia/Odyssey | 7 | 2-5 | 22 | 3.143 | 14 |
| 15 | Spencerport | 7 | 1-6 | 22 | 3.143 | 15 |
| 16 | Churchville-Chili | 7 | 0-7 | 20 | 2.857 | 16 |
| * Head to Head Tie Breaker | ||||||
CLASS B
Undefeated Batavia (7-0) edged out Livonia (6-1) to get the #1 seed and will host Newark (3-4). Newark and Geneva finished tied for eighth in the class, but Newark gets the nod thanks to a touchdown pass with :33 left in the game. No. 2 Livonia will host No. 7 Monroe (3-4) while No. 3 Wayne (6-1) will host defending champion and No. 6 Hornell (3-4) and No. 4 Honeoye Falls Lima (6-1) will host No. 5 UPrep (5-2).
Wayne and HFL finished tied with 44 points, but Wayne won the third tie breaker because it beat six-win East Rochester/Gananda in overtime in Week 1. Honeoye Falls-Lima’s best win of the year was against UPrep on Saturday. So the first-round game is a rematch of a game HFL won with a touchdown pass with 5.9 seconds left.
There are no rematches from last year’s Class B Sectionals in the first round.
Livonia came oh-so-close to winning the title last year, dropping a 22-20 decision to Hornell.
Here are the final Class B Sectional standings:
| # | Class B | GP | Rec | Pts | Avg | LW |
| 1 | Batavia | 7 | 7-0 | 52 | 7.429 | 1 |
| 2 | Livonia | 7 | 6-1 | 50 | 7.143 | 2 |
| 3 | Wayne | 7 | 6-1 | 44 | 6.286 | 3 |
| 4 | Honeoye Falls-Lima | 7 | 6-1 | 44 | 6.286 | 4 |
| 5 | University Prep | 7 | 5-2 | 37 | 5.286 | 5 |
| 6 | Hornell | 7 | 3-4 | 32 | 4.571 | 6 |
| 7 | Monroe | 7 | 3-4 | 31 | 4.429 | 7 |
| 8 | Newark* | 7 | 3-4 | 30 | 4.286 | 8 |
| 9 | Geneva | 7 | 3-4 | 30 | 4.286 | 9 |
| 10 | Palmyra-Macedon | 7 | 1-6 | 22 | 3.143 | 10 |
| 11 | Midlakes | 7 | 0-7 | 19 | 2.714 | 11 |
| * Head to Head Tie Breaker | ||||||
CLASS C
There will be a new champion crowned in this class, as last year’s winner Cal-Mum/Byron Bergen didn’t make the field. This class also had the highest number of seeding ties, which were broken by the tie-breaking system.
ER-Gananda (6-1), Penn Yan (6-1) and Letchworth-Warsaw (6-1) all finished with 44 points, good for a top seed. In determining the 1-3 slots, Letsaw was the first team out, since the best win it had was against a five-win Wayland-Cohocton squad ER-G then got the nod over the Penn Yan because the Bombers beat the Mustangs 49-36 in Week 3.
Mynderse (4-2) earned the sixth seed over Dansville (4-3) because of its overall average. Averages are determined by total points divided by total games played. Since Mynderse only played six games, its average (31 points divided by six wins) was greater than Dansville’s average which played seven games.
Class C shapes up then as No. 8 Waterloo at No. 1 ER-G, No. 7 Dansville at No. 2 Penn Yan, at No. 6 Mynderse at 3 Letchworth/Warsaw, and No. 5 Attica (5-2) at No. 4 Wayland-Cohocton (5-2).
The ERG-Waterloo game is a rematch of Week 2 when the Bombers won 46-32.
There are no rematches from last year’s sectionals in this class, at least in the first round.
Here are the final Class C Sectional standings:
| # | Class C | GP | Rec | Pts | Avg | LW |
| 1 | East Rochester/Gananda | 7 | 6-1 | 44 | 6.286 | 3 |
| 2 | Penn Yan | 7 | 6-1 | 44 | 6.286 | T1 |
| 3 | Letchworth/Warsaw | 7 | 6-1 | 44 | 6.286 | T1 |
| 4 | Wayland-Cohocton | 7 | 5-2 | 40 | 5.714 | T5 |
| 5 | Attica | 7 | 5-2 | 39 | 5.571 | 4 |
| 6 | Mynderse | 6 | 4-2 | 31 | 5.167 | T5 |
| 7 | Dansville | 7 | 4-3 | 31 | 4.429 | T8 |
| 8 | Waterloo | 7 | 3-4 | 30 | 4.286 | 7 |
| T9 | LeRoy* | 7 | 3-4 | 28 | 4.000 | T8 |
| T9 | Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen | 7 | 3-4 | 28 | 4.000 | 11 |
| T11 | BK/Rochester Prep | 7 | 3-4 | 23 | 3.286 | 10 |
| T11 | Wellsville | 7 | 1-6 | 23 | 3.286 | T12 |
| T11 | Haverling | 7 | 1-6 | 23 | 3.286 | T12 |
| 14 | SSeneca/Romulus/Tru | 7 | 1-6 | 21 | 3.000 | T14 |
| 15 | Avon | 7 | 1-6 | 20 | 2.857 | T14 |
| * Head to Head Tie Breaker | ||||||
CLASS D
Alexander (7-0) earned the top seed by the widest margin of any class — 10 points — and will host No. 8 Red Jacket (4-3). Second-seed Canisteo-Greenwood (5-2) will host No. 7 Dundee (3-4), No. 3 Notre Dame (4-2) will host No. 6 York/Pavilion (4-3) and No. 4 Perry/Mount Morris (4-3) will host its first sectional game in 22 years as No. 5 Lyons (4-3) comes calling.
This classification will also have a new champion, as last-year’s winner Clyde-Savannah did not make the field.
Dundee had a worse record than Red Jacket but both ended up with the same amount of power points: 32. But two factors played a role in Dundee’s higher seeding – a win over its rival 28-20 in Week 5 and a better strength of schedule which featured more five- and four-win teams than did Red Jacket’s.
Notre Dame finished with less points that Perry-Mount Morris, but finished with a higher seed and the average score came into play . The Irish accumulated only 32 points to P/MM’s 36, but because they only played 6 games to Perry/MM’s seven, the BND average was higher — 5.333 to 5.143.
There is one rematch in Class D’s Round One: Perry/Mount Morris defeated Lyons 28-0 to open the season.
The first round also features a rematch from last year’s playoffs: Alexander defeated Red Jacket in the quarterfinals 42-14.
Here are the final Class D Sectional standings:
| # | Class D | GP | Rec | Pts | Avg | LW |
| 1 | Alexander | 7 | 7-0 | 49 | 7.000 | 1 |
| 2 | Canisteo-Greenwood | 7 | 5-2 | 39 | 5.571 | 2 |
| 3 | Notre Dame of Batavia | 6 | 4-2 | 32 | 5.333 | 3 |
| 4 | Perry/Mt. Morris | 7 | 4-3 | 36 | 5.143 | 4 |
| 5 | Lyons | 7 | 4-3 | 35 | 5.000 | T5 |
| 6 | York/Pavilion | 7 | 4-3 | 33 | 4.714 | T5 |
| 7 | Dundee | 7 | 3-4 | 32 | 4.571 | 8 |
| 8 | Red Jacket | 7 | 4-3 | 32 | 4.571 | 9 |
| 9 | Geneseo | 7 | 3-4 | 32 | 4.571 | T5 |
| 10 | Pembroke | 7 | 2-5 | 28 | 4.000 | 10 |
| 11 | Clyde-Savannah | 7 | 2-5 | 25 | 3.571 | 11 |
| 12 | Bolivar-Richburg* | 7 | 1-6 | 22 | 3.143 | 12 |
| 13 | Cuba-Rushford | 7 | 1-6 | 22 | 3.143 | 13 |
| * Head to Head Tie Breaker | ||||||
Leave a Reply