football

 There was a conference call this morning between the leaders of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, and there could be some very bad changes coming in the near future for New York State athletics.

 NYSPHSAA President began the meeting by asking members of different sections for suggestions as the state is having financial problems, like the Empire State Games, which we wrote about yesterday.

Jen Simmons of Section 1 simply noted that the section has changed the number of contests that will be held in Westchester County and will be using higher seeds to cut down the number of teams that play in the sectional tournaments.

Fred Gula of Section 2 and Dawn Field of Section 3 both had a lot of suggestions.

According to the minutes of the meeting:

Fred Gula - Expressed the need to look at quality and not quantity in the NYSPHSAA Championship events.

He had may suggestions, that many will find disturbing.

His first suggestion was that instead of the four-team format for state tournaments, only two teams should be playing for the championship.

Only the elite should be going to the Championships. Possibly restructure brackets so in team sports only two teams in each class go to the Championships.

This basically puts an emphasis on sectional tournaments and instead of teams from all over New York State going to PAETEC Park for the football semifinals, games would be more regionalized. Currently the final four teams play in Rochester and the finals are played at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

He also suggested using conference calls for NYSPHSAA meetings and eliminating allowing the Executive and Assistant Directors to travel to state events, to save on travel costs.

Individual sports would take the biggest hits.

Gula suggested getting rid of competitor t-shirts for track and cross country athletes and using numbers to go along with their school outfits.

Wrestling teams have worn singlets for each section for years, and Gula has proposed that in order to save money for the sections, wrestlers should wear their own school uniforms. He also says "individual sports" like skiing, swimming, wrestling and track should no longer be competing against schools their own size.

He sees no difference in a small school vs. a large school. For example, a track athlete from a Class D school like Notre Dame should be competing against an athlete from a Class A school like Rush-Henrietta.

He is also against increasing officials but does suggest that there should be investigations by each section.

Field suggested approving cheerleading as a sport, a move which I fully support. In fact, I'm pretty sure we already consider cheerleading a sport in Section 5.

My problem with Field's suggestion is eliminating the open sectional policy. Instead of all-inclusive tournaments for basketball, baseball and softball, she believes the top 40-percent should only be allowed to compete in the sectional tournaments.

Field is also for cutting down on split class tournaments (Class C1 vs. C2), putting a travel cap for teams playing during sectional competition and sharing bus opportunities for longer trips.

Julie Maney of Section 4's main concern was travel costs for officials while Section 5's Rick Admunson suggested the NYSPHSAA take a leadership role and work with school districts to reduce costs. Mark Ward of Section 6 had similar suggestions as Admunson.

Karen Lopez of Section 7 thinks there should be less NYSPHSAA meetings to reduce costs.

Section 8's Mike Mahoney speaks about a tax cap and a cut in preseason scrimmages. He also says that the state should look into reducing the amount of games each team is allowed to play during a season.

Ed Cinelli of Section 11 would like to see the number of classes in the state tournaments reduced to one. That would mean schools like Elba or Oakfield-Alabama would have no shot to beat teams like Aquinas for state titles. He also wants to reduce the number of athletes participating in individual sports and centralizing sites for state championships.

The financial problems are bad enough that Bob Munn, who is in charge of budget and finance, suggests asking congress for a bail out. He would like to see no changes in the state tournaments over the next two years and believes NYSPHSAA meetings should be done via telephone conference calls or web cam meetings.

Others have similar suggestions to ones already mentioned, but Executive Director Nina Van Erk would like to see a reduction in the number of contestants. 

Sports with 24 would be reduced to 20; 20 would go down to 18; 18 would go down to 16.

Wrestling and football tournaments would also see reductions in participation.

The committee very much supports a significant reduction in the NYSPHSAA budget.

Committee members will be seeking imput from local sections and looking for more ways to reduce spending. 

The next meeting is scheduled for January 20 at 9 a.m., and will be done via conference call.

 Congratulations to Le Roy wide receiver Mike Humphrey for making the Democrat & Chronicle All-Greater Rochester football first team.

Humphrey is very deserving of the honor and had one of the best seasons any receiver has had in area football in many, many years.

The senior caught 63 passes for 892 yards and made it in the end zone a whopping 15 times, while guiding the Oatkan Knights to the Section 5 Class C championship.

Humphrey should excel at the University at Bufalo, Brockport or Cortland.

But the D&C again failed to give any love to our local teams, especially the Genesee Region League.

Oakfield-Alabama offensive/defensive lineman Chris Williams has been an all-state selection and has been the most dominant lineman in the GR since Pembroke's Chris Lauzze, who started at center this year for the MAC champion UB Bulls.

Here is the list of the Genesee Region League honorable mentions:

Genesee Region: Craig Campbell (Oakfield-Alabama), Chris Williams (Oakfield-Alabama), Graham Jensen (Pembroke), Craig Houseknecht (Batavia Notre Dame), Derek Hicks (Oakfield-Alabama), Ken Babcock (Pembroke), Kevin Francis (Batavia Notre Dame), Andrew Wright (Pembroke), Andy Ruddock (Attica), Tim Smith (Oakfield-Alabama), Brad Riner (Oakfield-Alabama), David Kleckler (Pembroke), Noah Seward (Oakfield-Alabama), Matt Klotzbach (Pembroke), Ray Paul (Barker), Tyler Kowalczyk (Oakfield-Alabama), Kevin Gallinger (Attica), Rick Lair (Batavia Notre Dame), Josh Hanel (Pembroke), John Koening (Oakfield-Alabama), Shawn Dupuis (Attica), A.J. Kehlenbeck (Oakfield-Alabama), Mike Dibble (Pembroke), Matt Thompson (Batavia Notre Dame).

I can't see how Williams, Smith, Wright and Ruddock (and maybe others) didn't get consideration for at-least second team.

Williams not making first team, heck, not making second team - is about the biggest joke and yet another example of the D&C blowing off the small schools and only caring about the big city schools.

Oh yeah, there was one local second team selection; Le Roy's Jordan Casper. Casper was an excellent offensive lineman and well deserving of an honorable mention selection. But where is Travis Fenstermaker?

Fenstermaker had an amazing career at Le Roy and is one of the top quarterbacks to ever play for the school. As great as Humphrey is - and trust me, he has some of the best hands I've ever seen - he is nowhere where 892 yards and 15 touchdowns without Fenstermaker getting him the ball.

I have a message that I really want the D&C and Section 5 officials to hear. I've said it before, and I'm going to keep saying it.

There should be two All-Greater Rochester teams, so the large school and small school kids can be honored. And the Eddie Meath game has turned into a joke, with coaches only playing the large school kids and giving the kids from the GR and smaller Livingston Conference schools little to no playing time. It is also time for two Eddie Meath games.

Come on. Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke had great teams with an epic battle in the semifinals, O-A lost to Le Roy in the finals and Notre Dame advanced to the finals as well. Not a single GR player even earned second team honors. 

UPDATE: This has become a very heated debate on Talksback.

When Chris Lauzze filled out information for his University at Buffalo football profile, he put that one of his dreams was to play in a bowl game.

After red-shirting one year, Lauzze is a fifth year senior at UB and now that dream is going to come true as the Bulls will be playing in the International Bowl on Jan. 3. It is the first Bowl game UB has played in since becoming a Division I school in 1999.

"This is really amazing," said Lauzze, who is a Pembroke graduate. "I said on my profile that it was my goal to play in a bowl game. It's kind of fun to accomplish that. It wasn't the easiest trip - there was a lot of losing in my first three years, but to win a MAC championship and go to a bowl game is huge."

Lauzze graduated from Pembroke in 2003 when he led the Dragons to a share of the Genesee Region League title. He is one of the most dominant offensive lineman ever to come out of the GR.

He redshirted his freshman year and worked out with the UB scout team. Lauzze spent the next season working with the scout team, but was considered a freshman on the team.

As a sophomore, he appeared in five games, and then earned the back-up center position in his junior year. He played in 11 games that year and was the team's long-snapper.

"It was kind of a weird situation," Lauzze said. "I was going into winter workouts last January and I was competing with another kid. During spring ball I was battling with him and after spring I had a meeting with coach (Turner) Gill, and he said I was the clear-cut winner. That was a great thing."

Lauzze has been the team's center all season long as the Bulls compiled a 7-5 record en route to earning a trip to the MAC title game. Buffalo shocked previously undefeated Ball State 42-24 to claim the first title since joining D1.

"It was real crazy because we were big underdogs," Lauzze said of playing the 12th ranked team in the nation. "I keep thinking about how far we've come, with this being my fifth year here. It is crazy."

A big reason why the Bulls have turned around is coach Turner Gill, who has completely turned the program around.

Buffalo had won just 10 games in seven years before Gill was hired. The Bulls went 2-10 in his first year, then 5-7 last season. UB had not won five or more games since 1996, when the team went 8-3 while playing a Division I-AA schedule.

Gill - who is one of just three black head coaches to lead a Division I team - is now getting serious looks from a lot of schools. He played football and was an assistant coach on NCAA championship teams at the University of Nebraska. 

The head coaching job was open for the Cornhuskers last year and Gill was one of the top candidates. Right now he is being considered as a top choice for the Syracuse and Auburn jobs.

"He brought a different attitude to the (UB) program," Lauzze said. "In terms of building relationships with players, he did that. He brought in new coaches and a new system. He's a players coach, I'd say."

Lauzze has been taking one class this semester, finishing up his business degree. He already has job offers and is continuing to look for what's best for his future.

But right now, he's enjoying being one of the few Genesee Region League athletes to play sports at the Division I level.

"There aren't that many guys playing college football at any level." Lauzze said. "Many guys play Division III for a year and then quit. To play Division I and start in my final year is definitely rewarding."

 It must have felt like hell for the Hornell community.

It has been exactly one month since the tragic death of Hornell football player Dillen McCormick, a loss that devastated a town, a football family and all of Section 5.  The passing was a total shock and under circumstances that are as tough as can possibly be for a family to deal with.

But Dillen's family has been able to survive the crushing loss of a son, and a brother, in do so in many ways because of the love and support shown by the football program and fans from all throughout Section 5.

News of Dillen's death quickly spread as a thread was started on Section 5 Talksback, just hours after the news broke in the town of Hornell. Athletes and fans from everywhere from Bath to Oakfield-Alabama to Geneva and all over one of New York State's largest sections delivered classy, touching and supportive messages. McCormick's passing made an impact on people that were related to him, were friends with him and had never met him.

If you had never met the young man, you very well have heard enough about him by now to feel like you did. One message sent to me personally by one of Dillen's good friends described him as a weight lifter, a class clown, a daredevil, athletic, funny and a kid that loved his family and his friends more than anything else.

Whatever the reasons for Dillen's tragic death, it could never take away from the person that he was and the amount of people he touched in his life can never be in doubt. The evidence is in the Talksback thread, and when you look at the 279 members that are members of a Facebook group set up in his honor.

Or just pay attention on I-390 when you drive past Hornell, where you will see a rock decorated for Dillen. 

The football team rallied around Dillen as well, with the Section 5 Class B semifinal game against Geneva played the weekend after his passing. Legendary coach Gene Mastin asked his players if they wanted to forfeit the game or play, and Dillen's friends took the field in honor of their fallen friend. The Red Raiders lost the game, 21-12, but the result was more than could be expected as football was probably the furthest thing from those kid's minds.

Those closest to Dillen, his family, have been through a lot but are doing okay as well. Darrin and Carol - Dillen's parents - are back to work, doing well and have presumably had the pain of a son's death eased by the kids that are showing support. In the message I mentioned earlier, Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are described as "the most kind, loving, welcoming people you could ever meet." In this hard time, they have opened their home to many of Dillen's friends, giving them as much support as they are receiving in return.

Anybody with a brother or sister could only imagine what Dillen's brother Pat has had to go through. He was pulled out of a football practice and informed of his brother's death. The two were very close.  But he is back to school and playing on the Hornell jayvee basketball team this winter. Pat has seen some great relationships develop with friends of his older brother, which has hopefully helped him through this difficult time.

It is always tough when a high school kid loses his life and it is easy to look at the negatives of a devastating loss. But in just a month, there are a lot of positives to come out of a big negative. Dillen may be gone, but he has united a town, a football community and all of Section 5.

With just four minutes left in the game, something clicked for the Le Roy football team. In a situation where the Oatkan Knights had turned the ball over six times and was trailing by 18 points, they didn't quit.

There was a sudden burst of momentum as the team that hadn't lost all season long wasn't about to take its first defeat lying down.

Le Roy came back and had a shot to win the game in the final minute, but turned the ball over a seventh time and walked off the field with a crushing 38-35 defeat against the most skilled team it has seen all year, Jamestown Southwestern.

The start to the game was strange as the teams took the field and there was a penalty on the kickoff, then had to wait four minutes to re-do the kick because of the television coverage.

But the Oatkan Knights received the ball on the kick and fumbled the ball away on their third play. Southwestern quickly scored as Levi Bursch scored on a 19-yard run.

The Trojans got the ball back on an interception, then gave it back to Le Roy when they fumbled it.

The Oatkan Knights marched right back down the field and was knocking on the end zone door when the ball popped out again, giving Southwestern the ball at their own 20-yard line.

Zack Sopak lofted up a 54-yard pass to Will Sleggs and the Trojans were deep in Le Roy territory. Bursch capped off the drive with a 2-yard dive into the end zone.

Le Roy marched on the next drive, with the highlight being a 35-yard pass to Quentin Humphrey. This time,  the turnover directly resulted in points for Southwestern.

Travis Fenstermaker was trying to get the ball to Mike Humphrey for a touchdown, but Bursch stepped in front and snagged the pass. He took it 97 yards to the house, giving Southwestern a 21-0 advantage.

The Oatkan Knights again were moving the ball as a Fenstermaker pass to Andrew Alexander was a big gainer, especially when you add the face mask penalty.

But, Alexander wound up coughing up the ball inside the red zone.

Southwestern punted and Le Roy finally got on the scoreboard just seconds before the first half ended. Alexander hauled in a pass by Fenstermaker and rumbled 63 yards for the TD.

After making a stop and punting the ball away at the start of the second half, the Oatkan Knights got a turnover when Southwestern fumbled. That led to a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike Humphrey. The extra point attempt failed and Le Roy trailed 21-13.

After a big kick return by Tanner Delahoy, Southwestern didn't take long to make it a two-score game as Sopak hooked up with Will Sleggs on a 29-yard scoring pass.

Le Roy got some major help on the next drive. On a fourth-and-2, Fenstermaker tossed a first down pass to Alexander, but there was a face mask and late hit penalty issued on the play.

The Oatkan Knights faced another fourth down later in the drive and Fenstermaker ended up tossing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Humphrey on the fourth-and-1.

The next 10 points came by the Trojans, seeming to put the game away.

Bursch caught a 3-yard touchdown pass and Dan Imfeld nailed a 28-yard field goal, giving Southwestern a 38-20 lead with just 6:49 left on the clock.

The game appeared to be over. But it wasn't.

Fenstermaker - who ends his high school career with a 20-2 record - capped off a three minute long drive with a 1-yard TD run.

The Oatkan Knights recovered the onside kick and it started to look like something special was going to happen.

But, Mike Humphrey fumbled the ball away after catching a short pass. Again, the game looked to be over - that is, until the Trojans fumbled while trying to run time off the clock. Le Roy recovered with 1:28 left in the game.

Humphrey immediately caught a 42-yard touchdown pass and the impossible, now seemed possible. The Oatkan Knights were only trailing 38-35 and when they recovered the second onside kick, looked like they were going to win the game.

Fenstermaker threw a pass to Mike Humphrey and Le Roy had the ball at the Southwestern 22-yard line and just over 30 seconds to work with.

But the Southwestern defensive backs had the Le Roy receivers covered, forcing Fenstermaker to scramble. He was hit by Eric Mazgaj and the ball popped out, with the Trojans recovering and ending Le Roy's season.

Fenstermaker went 21-of-37 for 283 yards and four touchdowns, with Humphrey hauling in 14 passes for 136 yards and three scores. Alexander rushed the ball 19 times for 61 yards and caught two passes for 91 yards and a score.

Southwestern improves to 11-0 and moves on to the state semifinals next weekend at PAETEC Park.

UPDATE: More photos from Pete Karl.

The LeRoy fans who braved the dismal weather for today’s Western Regional football matchup with Southwestern were treated to an emotional roller coaster ride.

As the rain began to intensify, so too did LeRoy’s turnover problems. Turnovers - in the form of a fumble and interception - on their first two possessions proved frustrating. A sustained drive on LeRoy’s third possession had the Oatkan Knighs faithful cheering. Then, just as suddenly, the LeRoy crowd was silenced as the ball was fumbled away near the Southwestern goal line. LeRoy turned the ball over twice more in the first half, both times after moving the ball deep into Southwestern territory. To compound the problem, the Trojans capitalized on LeRoy’s miscues.

At half time I spoke with LeRoyan John Arneth, a long time Oatkan Knight supporter. “You can’t beat a good team with that many turnovers in one half. Period.” He went on to specify the need to control the ball, particularly at this stage of the season. “This time of year all the pretenders have gone home. Good teams will capitalize on your mistakes.” Southwestern fit’s the latter category well as they turned three LeRoy turnovers - two fumbles and an interception - into scores. “Right now they are not beating us so much as we are beating ourselves. But they are playing a mistake free game”, Arneth concluded.

Two former Oatkan Knights, John Piazza and Kevin Pike were on hand to root for LeRoy. When I asked Piazza, a former LeRoy linebacker in bygone years, what he thought of LeRoy’s chances, he said, “You’ve got two great teams on the field. LeRoy’s got a lot of heart. They’re hanging in there. Hopefully the momentum will swing our way.” It takes one to know one. Once a Knight, always a Knight. Or so it seemed. Though it took some time in coming, John Piazza’s words would be prophetic. In the meantime, LeRoy capitalized on a Southwestern fumble. Travis Fenstermaker put the ball in the air and Mike Humphrey made a remarkable catch in the end zone to put renewed life into the LeRoy crowd. Just as quick as their hopes soared, they came plummeting back to earth Soutwestern returned the ensuing kickoff for considerable yardage and the very next play scored on a pass play of their own. But the LeRoy faithful would not be deterred. “LeRoy has some amazing athletes on the field”, said Kevin Pike. ”It’s a great atmosphere here at UB. We’ll have a better second half.”

Trailing by eighteen points with four minutes left, the Oatkan Knights kicked the roller coaster into high gear - and on an uphill ride. In the time remaining, LeRoy brought the fans to their feet, scoring two touchdowns, both conversions - one for two points and two successful onside kicks.

Then, just as quickly, despite all the last minute gut checking, time ran out on a great season, with a seventh turnover.

 Le Roy (10-0) vs. Jamestown Southwestern (10-0)

10 a.m. Saturday, at University at Buffalo

The Le Roy football team has cruised to big wins for most of the season, and then ran into its biggest challenge of the season in the Section 5 Class C finals last week in Oakfield-Alabama.

This might be an even bigger challenge as Southwestern is traditionally a very strong Class B team that has moved down to Class C this season.

The Oatkan Knights do have experience with Class B schools, beating Batavia 27-13 and Hornell 41-19.

But Southwestern has had a bigger year than either Batavia or Hornell. The Trojans are undefeated, the second-ranked team in the state (Le Roy is No. 1), has a strong defense and an amazing offense.

While we all know about Le Roy's big wins, Southwestern has many of its own, including a 44-2 win over Westfield/Ripley, 28-0 victory over Allegany-Limeston and a 42-6 win over Falconer.  Falconer beat Le Roy the last time the Far West Regionals were played in Buffalo in 2006.

Westfield's last victory came in the Section 6 Class C championships with a huge defensive effort, beating Silver Creek 21-0.

The Oatkan Knights will have their hands full with the Trojan offense.

Coach Jay Sirianni is an offensive-minded coach and has the ultimate weapon in quarterback Zack Sopak. Sopak is one of three rushers that are over 600 yards rushing, but also has the ability to throw the ball.

Running backs Levi Bursch and John Mistretta are both at about the same number of yards as the quarterback.

The offense will keep the defense guessing.

“Our line does different things on different plays and they do a great job up front and it just opens holes for our backs,” Sopak told The Buffalo News after winning the sectional title, the second for the program. 

2004 is the only other time Southwestern has won a sectional championship, playing Hornell in the Class B Far West Regionals. You can find a complete history of the Far West Regionals in this complete  look at the history of the game.

Le Roy's offense has been spectacular all season long and will be battling a very good defense, which has not given up more than 14 points in a game this season.

Linebacker Ryan Buzzetto leads the defense with 83 tackles.

Class C offensive Player of the Year Travis Fenstermaker leads the Le Roy offense with 1,234 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions, with most of those passes going to Mike Humphrey, who has caught 49 balls for 747 yards and 12 scores.

Andrew Alexander will also get plenty of opportunities to run the ball, having picked up 1,466 yards and 14 touchdowns on 188 carries.

Le Roy has 14 sectional championships, and one state title. That lone championship came in 1995.