By JOHN LIKANJE
Fourteen Section V football teams were recognized in the first installment of the New York State Sportswriters Association weekly poll since the end of the winter sports season in 2020. Fourteen more were selected as Honorable Mentions. Although most of the selectees came as no surprise, there were a few which stood out due to their rank in their respective class. Some of the Honorable Mentions are most likely questioning how they couldn’t break the official rankings over other teams in the state as well.
McQuaid (No. 3 NYSSWA Class AA) being the highest-ranked Section V team is a no-brainer. The back-to-back sectional champions are off to another fast start with a pair of convincing victories over Hilton and Monroe. The most surprising detail about the Knights is their explosive offense. With the graduation of Joe Cairns and Andrew Passero over the past two seasons, other players have stepped up and helped the team score 42 and 49 points, respectively. The most notable player who has fit into his role seamlessly is senior quarterback John Mahar (322 passing yards and seven touchdowns). Xaye Collier has excelled as a wideout and punt returner as he has recorded a pair of touchdown catches and an 80-yard kickoff return to the end zone. Finally, John Harding (100 rushing yards against Monroe) and Sean Oberlies (120 rushing yards against Hilton) have shored up the ground game. The defense has been steady and stingy as well, holding both opponents to a combined 26 points. Senior linebacker Kendall Bruno has been the leader with 21 tackles so far.
The Knights’ new-look offense and sound defense will be tested this week against Victor (Honorable Mention Class AA) in a rematch of the sectional finals. After a tough overtime defeat to Aquinas (No. 13 NYSSWA Class AA), Victor rebounded with a 26-0 shutout of Hilton last Friday. This rematch is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Victor High School.
Aquinas must’ve been relieved to have had to not face McQuaid in the first game of the season yet again. Fans will have to wait until October 15th for that matchup. But the L’il Irish did have to face Victor on the road. After grinding out the overtime victory, the L’il Irish pummeled Fairport, 42-14, in their home opener by scoring 35 unanswered points. Will Benjamin, the team’s leading rusher over the past two seasons, has bullied his way to 212 yards and three touchdowns. With the graduation of Tyler Szalkowski, Mykel White has stepped up and thrown three touchdown passes. Eimaj Giddens has emerged as another dual threat alongside Benjamin, catching the game-winning touchdown at Victor and running for 101 yards and a score on only seven carries against Fairport. Jahlil Johnson leads a much-improved defense with 26 tackles.
The L’il Irish host a motivated Pittsford (Honorable Mention Class AA) squad in an undefeated clash this week. The Panthers defeated Monroe in overtime and held a Rush-Henrietta squad which scored 34 points in its season opener to six. Yet they couldn’t crack the Class AA Top 25 over teams such as winless Cardinal Hayes (Catholic High Schools Athletic Association) and Saint Anthony’s (Catholic High Schools Athletic Association). This will be the Panthers’ third consecutive road game to start the season as well. Game is slated for Friday at 6 p.m. at the Aquinas Institute.
Spencerport (No. 25 NYSSWA Class A) is another team which enters this week with more motivation. The Rangers were one of three Section V squads (Canandaigua at No. 3 and Brighton at No. 17) to make the Class A rankings. Although the Braves (back-to-back Class A sectional titles) and Bruins (dominant shutout victory over Churchville-Chili and stunning road win over UPrep) both earned their way to the Top 25, the Rangers outscored both of their opponents (East High and Greece Olympia/Odyssey) by a combined score of 81-20. This included a 34-12 rout of the Eagles, the two-time sectional runner-ups. Three players (Joey Marcello, Cam Mesh and Brenten Sheffield) have all rushed for over 100 yards as well. Marcello leads with 222 yards and two touchdowns. Sheffield follows up with 158 yards and three scores. Then Mesh has 129 and a team-high four touchdowns. Marcello is the team’s leading tackler with 11 as well.
The Rangers take on Eastridge, Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Eastridge High School.
Batavia and Honeoye Falls-Lima being the only Section V representatives in Class B was no surprise. Both of these squads combined for a 14-1 record and clashed as undefeated teams in the sectional final in the spring season. Batavia has opened the season with 41 points in back-to-back contests while holding both of its opponents to a combined eight. Expect a similar result when the Blue Devils travel to Geneva on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Honeoye Falls-Lima looks primed to win back-to-back sectional titles thanks to a stingy defense and balanced offense. The Cougars opened the season with a convincing 28-8 win over reigning Class C champ, Livonia, then raced past Newark/Marion, 49-6, this past Friday. Ben Carson (three touchdown catches through two games) and Brody Young (133 passing yards and three touchdowns against Livonia) have paced the offense thus far. The Cougars have another favorable matchup in Wilson Magnet this upcoming weekend. Game is slated for Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School.
Don’t be surprised if Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton or Wayne crack the Class B Top 20 next week. Both teams were Honorable Mentions in this week’s poll and are set to meet in an undefeated matchup on Friday night. This will be both squads’ first real test of the season due to a relatively easy schedule early on (the teams they have defeated sport a combined record of 1-6). Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton feature a balanced offense led by Nikolas Belanger and Evan Pruonto, both of whom each have a three-touchdown game so far. Wayne is led by multi-sport star Mason Blakenberg with 222 passing yards, 121 rushing yards and four touchdown passes.
It’s a testament to Livonia (No. 7 NYSSWA Class C) that it made the Class C rankings as a top 10 team despite a difficult start. That’s what happens when your first two opponents are Honeoye Falls-Lima (reigning Class B champions) and Bath-Haverling (Class C sectionals runner-up). The Bulldogs are coming off a big win over the Rams and will look to carry that momentum to Midlakes, Friday night. Meanwhile, East Rochester/Gananda is definitely a team to watch out for after a pair of impressive wins over Letchworth/Warsaw/Perry and Le Roy. The victory over Le Roy was especially important since that’s a team which has had the Bombers’ number over the past two seasons. The Bombers are another balanced offensive squad led by Carter Lathrop (318 passing yards and six touchdowns) and Manuel Sepulveda (229 receiving yards and six touchdown catches). The Bombers host Bishop Kearney/Rochester Prep/Rochester Academy, Saturday night at 7 p.m.
You’d think a team which has opened the season scoring 60-plus points in back-to-back games would be a lock for the state rankings. That doesn’t seem to be the case for Oakfield-Alabama/Elba in Class D. The Aggies, who scored 248 points in seven games in the spring, have already exploded for 132 points in two contests so far. With the graduation of Ty Mott, Gaige Armbrewster has stepped up as the leader of the rush-heavy offense with 315 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. The defense has done its job as well, allowing only six points through eight quarters. Yet the Aggies only received an Honorable Mention and couldn’t crack the Top 15 over schools such as Bolivar-Richburg and Franklinville/Ellicottville (VI). This should give them extra motivation going into Saturday afternoon’s matchup with Notre Dame Batavia.
NYSSWA RANKINGS
CLASS AA
No. 3 – McQuaid (2-0)
No. 13 – Aquinas (2-0)
CLASS A
No. 3 – Canandaigua (2-0)
No. 17 – Brighton (2-0)
T-No. 25 – Spencerport (2-0)
CLASS B
No. 5 – Honeoye Falls-Lima (2-0)
No. 7 – Batavia (2-0)
CLASS C
No. 7 – Livonia (1-1)
No. 9 – East Rochester/Gananda (2-0)
CLASS D
No. 3 – Avon (2-0)
No. 8 – Alexander (2-0)
No. 15 – Bolivar-Richburg (1-1)
8-MAN
No. 1 – Red Jacket (2-0)
No. 5 – Pembroke (2-0)
For the full list of rankings, go here.
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