Gridiron Notes: Teams make last second pushes for Sectionals

BY PAUL LIOTTI

News and notes from around the Section after Week 7.

Not Much Drama this week, but…

The way the schedule broke this year, many games featured teams that had gaudy records against those that had zero or one win. And the results of those games were, well, you can guess. But there were couple drama-packed games worth noting:

• The Drive: A last-second touchdown pass from Turner Wilson to Mitch Slymon gave HFL a 14-8 win over UPrep. The win was critical as it turned out: By winning, HFL secured the fourth seed in Class B and will now host UPrep in the first round in a rematch. A loss would have sent HFL to UPrep for the game.
• Aquinas ended up being the last man standing in its finale Saturday night. In the last regular season 11-man game played this season across the entire Section, the Irish outlasted St. Francis 55-49. The 104 points tied for the second-most combined points in one game in the Section this year (Alexander over Geneseo 90-14 was the other).

We Are the Champions My Friend

The last week decided all league titles, but one finished in a legitmate three-way tie:

• Monroe County I: Fairport (6-1) by virtue of its 20-17 win over Hilton (6-1) in Week 1
• Monroe County II: Victor (5-2) since it beat Pittsford (5-2) 16-0 in Week 1
• Monroe County III: Canandaigua and Irondequoit finished as co-champs, both at 7-0
• Monroe County IV: Eastridge (5-2) won it outright
• RCAC: McQuaid (4-0/6-1) ran its stranglehold to four straight conference titles
• Finger Lakes East: Three-way tie between ER-G, Penn Yan and Wayne. Each finished with identical 6-1 records, and each had a 1-1 record in round-robin games against the other two.
• Finger Lakes West: Mynderse (4-2) didn’t play this weekend, but still had enough wins to take the title
• Livingston County I: Batavia (6-0/7-0) was untouchable
• Livingston County II: Letchworth/Warsaw (6-1) won it outright, its only loss to Batavia
• Livingston County III: Canesteo-Greenwood (5-1/5-2) won by two full games
• Livingston County IV: Alexander (5-0/7-0) ran away with it.

Not Today Zurg

Two teams finished the season on a high note, winning their first games of the year to end up 1-6:

• Spencerport, which topped Greece Athena 42-24
• Leadership Academy, which shut down Bishop Kearney 12-6

That leaves only two teams that could not secure a win this season:

• Churchville-Chili, increasing its winless streak to 10 games
• Midlakes, increasing its winless streak to 12 games

Been a Long Time Coming

Perry/Mount Morris and Canisteo-Greenwood have done something that hasn’t been done since Bill Clinton was in office – host a playoff game. There hasn’t been a playoff game in Perry since 1996 and in C-G since 1998. Canisteo-Greenwood’s 5-2 record also gives it back-to-back winning records for the first time since 2005.

BY THE NUMBERS

Demolition Men

Oakfield Alabama/Elba dropped 75 points over the weekend (second-most in the Section this year) to securely put it on the top of the heap. Alexander is the top 11-man scoring offense.

Team	Div	CL	GP	W	L	PF	AVG
Oakfield/Elba	8M	–	5	5	0	317	63.4
Alexander	LC4	D	7	7	0	308	44.0
Batavia	LC1	B	7	7	0	306	43.7
Marcus Whitman	8M	–	5	2	3	210	42.0
McQuaid	RCAC	AA	7	6	1	283	40.4
Wayne	FLE	B	7	6	1	282	40.3
Penn Yan	FLE	C	7	6	1	281	40.1
Aquinas	IND	AA	7	6	1	279	39.9
E.Rochester/Gananda	FLE	C	7	6	1	266	38.0
CG Finney/Northstar	8M	–	5	2	3	186	37.2

 

Shutting the Door

Alexander takes over the top spot after East, which owned stingiest defense all year, ran into a McQuaid buzz saw and gave up 56 points. Eight-man football is not known for defensive scoring, but Oakfield-Alabama/Elba ranks 26^th in scoring defense with 20.4 points per game allowed.

Team	Div	CL	GP	W	L	PA	AVG
Alexander	LC4	D	7	7	0	47	9.4
Fairport	MC1	AA	7	6	1	72	10.3
Batavia	LC1	B	7	7	0	73	10.4
Letchworth/Warsaw	LC2	C	7	6	1	74	10.6
Canandaigua	MC3	A	7	7	0	76	10.9
Hilton	MC1	AA	7	6	1	81	11.6
East	RCAC	A	7	6	1	87	12.4
Irondequoit	MC3	A	7	7	0	93	13.3
Victor	MC2	A	7	5	2	96	13.7
Attica	LC4	C	7	5	2	97	13.9

 

Uh, Did I Just Read That?

In case you glossed over it: Alexander owns the Section’s top 11-man scoring offense AND the top 11-man scoring defense. It’s the sixth consecutive year the Trojans have finished in the top 10 in defense. Their averge margin of victory? 44-9. Watch out Class D.

Longest Active Win Streaks

• 7 – Alexander, Batavia, Canandaigua, Irondequoit 
• 6 – East Rochester/Gananda, Hilton, Honeoye Falls-Lima

Thy Will Be Done – Still

Penn Yan’s Will Rogers played only two quarters, but it was enough to log some more impressive passing numbers. Rogers went 13-for-19 for 271 yards and with five touchdowns, giving him 2,372 yards passing and 30 touchdowns. He currently ranks 63rd on the state’s all-time season passing yards list and is tied for 40th on the all-time touchdown tosses chart for a season. He is also moving up the Section V passing records list here’s where Rogers is and who’s he’s chasing:

• No. 3 in passing yards, behind Aquinas’ Jake Zembiec (3,030 in 2015) and Bishop Kearney’s Todd LaRocca (2,448 in 2015).
• No. 5 in touchdowns, behind Zembiec (37 in 2015), Newark’s Shawn Mizro (31 in 2002), Clyde-Savannah’s Tom Molisani (31 in 2013), and Bishop Kearney’s Tyler Kirton (33 in 2013). Rogers just passed LaRocca (29 in 2013).

Jayden Watch

In a 43-14 win over Pal-Mac, East Rochester/Gananda’s Jayden Castrechini averaged a whopping 23.3 yards per carry – 10 rushes, 233 yards and two touchdowns all in the first half – putting him at 1,453 yards (167 touches) and 18 touchdowns on the season. He’s added 155 yards and four scores through the air, for 1,608 and 22 touchdowns on the season.  His career totals are 3,866 rushing, 536 receiving (4,429 total) and 57 touchdowns. He may not get to 2,000 yards rushing for the second-consecutive season, but he has a very good shot at topping 4,000 for his career.

Defenders of the Universe

• York/Pavilion held Pembroke to just 111 total yards of offense.
• East Rochester-Gananda held Pal-Mac to 149 yards total offense.
• Canandaigua held Greece Olympia to just 35 yards rushing.
• Penn Yan’s Mekhi Mahan had 16 Tackles and Connor Fingar 12.
• Wayne’s Jonah Pullen had 14 tackles (4 behind the line) and 2 ½ sacks.
• Attica’s front linemen Hayden Kehl and Logan White combined for 24 tackles.
• Fairport’s Clay Stuver logged 12 total tackles and forced one fumble.
• Fairport’s Clay Stuver was in on 12 tackles and forced one fumble.
• Irondequoit’s Jimmy Clements registered 10 tackles.
• Red Jacket’s Hunter Fizpatrick had 10 tackles (four behind the line) and three sacks.
• Duante Horton had nine tackles, two sacks and the interception to seal the game for Aquinas.
• Amir Buckhannon registered nine tackles, two behind the line.

Just Give Me The Ball

• Notre Dame’s Gabe McDonald and Jed Reece combined for 30 carries, 283 yards and four scores.
• Canandaguia’s Casey Herod returned two kickoffs for touchdowns (both 85 yards) and had 61 yards receiving.and another score giving him 231 total yards and three touchdowns.
• Fairport running back Dante Coccia finished with 23 carries for 263 yards and one score.
• Wilson’s Rickey Gamble and Desi Floyd Jr. combined for 25 carrries, 226 yards and touchdowns.
• Jayden Castrechini carried the ball 10 times for 233 yards and two scores.
• York/Pavilion’s Nate Swede rushed 21 times for 221 yards and a score.
• Aquinas running back Rueben Torres returned from the injury list and 19 touches for 186 yards and one score.
• Cal-Mum/BB’s Bryce Yockel carried the ball 15 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns.
• East’s Freddie Brock showed his jets, finishing the game with 161 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.
• Terrez Smitih ended the night with 122 yards on 24 carries for Alexander filling in for Chris McClinic.

 Arms Race

• Penn Yan’s Will Rogers went 13-for-19 for 271 yards and five touchdowns in two quarters of action.
• McQuaid’s Hunter Walsh hit 16-of-27 passes for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns.
• Aquinas’ Tyler Szalkowski got back to his form, completing 10-of-14 passes for 213 yards and three scores.
• Canandaigua’s Jack Johnston finished 12-for-20 for 187 yards and four touchdowns.
• HFL’s Turner Wilson, completed 15-26 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, including going six-of-eight for 84 yards in the final 1:24 to end the game in dramatic fashion.

 Better to Receive

• Wayne’s Grayson Zenelovic finished 13-for-17 with 186 yards and three touchdowns.
• Penn Yan wide receiver Conner Fingar caught six passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
• Connor Zamiara was on the receiving end of seven catches for 157 yards and three scores for McQuaid.