football

 After some consideration, I've decided to bring the current situation in Elba to the sports tab of The Batavian. 

I was one that figured that football merger with Elba and Byron-Bergen was going to improve the situation, but at this point I don't see people in Elba giving this a fair chance.

This thread on Section 5 Talksback really brings up a lot of concerns, true or not.

I've been hearing about players taking cheap shots at other players since I was a kid watching football for the first time. But some of the accusations made in this thread are pretty serious.

A poster going by the handle of "The Truth" writes this very serious accusation in that thread:

YES. This is exactly what happened. Zambito scored twice and had a very nice game against his former team. On his first touchdown an elba player got flagged for a blatant late hit on him. All throughout the game it was pretty obvious they were gunning for him not only during play (which is fine) but after the whistle had blown (which is not). The announcers on the radio even brought up the point of elba going after Zambito in an unsportsmanlike way.

But I cant even place most of the blame on the players for this, the true reason is utterly disgusting. The ND chain gang on the elba bb sideline overheard elba's head coach offering $5 to whoever hurt Zambito and took him out of the game. I think that right there says enough about the class act elba has leading its program. DISGUSTING.

Remember that posters are anonymous, but if you get into reading that thread, your stomach is going to churn a little bit as everybody involved (players, coaches, parents, school administrators) have to hate that these kind of topics are not going away.

I was at the game on Saturday and I admit that the situation was pretty ugly on the field. When Gianni Zambito - a former Elba student - scored his first touchdown, there was a late hit and personal foul call issued.

I know that there were several occasions when near-fights were broken up on the field, and a lot of it brings back the ugliness of the Joe Zambito firing of three years ago.

At the start of the season, it looked as if the merger was great for both schools and all of the kids, but the negativity isn't going away. In fact, it isn't even slowing.

I like Elba/B-B coach Streb and I'm not going to believe some of the ugly rumors being floated out there until I hear something like that myself. In fact, I feel for the coach as he walked into an impossible situation that isn't getting any easier for him.

High school athletics is all about the kids, and somehow Elba/Byron-Bergen football has to get back to being about the kids on the field, playing a great game.

Ryan Piechocki had a huge game for Alexander as the Trojans move up to No. 3 in the Section 5 Class DD playoff bracket, beating Barker 23-12.

This happened because Avon lost to Letchworth Friday night.

"We avoid Cal-Mum until the finals, if we can make it there" Alexander coach Dave Radley said. "That's a big step. Clyde-Savannah is a good team and if we beat Canisteo-Greenwood next week, we see Clyde instead of Cal-Mum. That's  nice for us."

Piechocki had three short touchdown runs, caused 12 tackles and forced a fumble for the Trojans, all while playing with a broken hand. He had seven yards and three scores on three carries.

Lucas Czechowski added a 38-yard field goal for Alexander and Chris Lambert blocked a punt to set up one of Piechocki's TDs.

Greg Brown scored twice for the Raiders (2-4). 

Thank you to Ed Henry from Le Roy football.com for the great coverage of the story. Check out his Web site for more information on Le Roy football than you could ever imagine.

The 2008 version of the LeRoy-Cal-Mum gridiron clash played out as advertised, a nail-biting thriller at LeRoy’s Hartwood Park.

The Oatkan Knights and Red Raiders entered the contest with 5-0 records and vaunted state rankings (LeRoy #4 in Class C and the Cal-Mum #3 in Class D). The hard-hitting affair was not settled until the closing moments of the game, a game the Knights fought back valiantly to win 27-20 after trailing 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

The Raiders took possession first with a drive start at their own 36. Speedy Jeremy Wilson set the tone for the visitors on the first play from scrimmage with a beautiful 41-yard dash off the left side to put the ball at the LeRoy 23. Cal-Mum then proceeded to pound through the LeRoy D-line with RB Dave Fox picking up good yardage. The Raiders’ third talented back, Jon Marozzi, raced up the middle from 6 yards out to put the Raiders up 6-0 at the 8:37 mark. The Raider offensive line plowed the way for a Fox 2-point conversion run to push the tally to 8-0 Raiders.

The ensuing Raider kickoff was an absolute bullet into the LeRoy end zone. The Knights first play from scrimmage resulted in a fumble, recovered by Cal-Mum’s Ben Anastasi. The Raider crowd cheered wildly with their sudden good fortune. The cheers grew even louder when 4 plays later, Marozzi found the end zone from one yard out to cap the 16-yard drive. The LeRoy defense stuffed the Marozzi PAT run to make it 14-0 Raiders at the 6:35 mark of the 1st quarter. LeRoy, looking to answer the early Raider onslaught, took to the ground with Andrew Alexander and Jon Casper picking up big yardage against the Raider defense.

The dynamic pass-catch tandem of QB Travis Fenstermaker to WR Mike Humphrey picked up increasingly better field position, leading to a Casper 2-yard TD burst with 34 seconds left in the opening quarter. Fenstermaker’s kick was true to split the Raider lead in half to 14-7. The Knights’ defense held strong on Cal-Mum’s next possession as LB John Scheuing and company forced a 3-and-out by the Raiders with some timely gang tackling. The 11-yard punt by the Raiders gave the Knights’ a nice drive start at their own 47.

LeRoy QB Fenstermaker masterfully drove the Knights to the game-tying score with a 9-yard run and a 37-yard pass to TE Brian Calmes who snagged the ball beautifully between two Raider defenders and raced to the Cal-Mum 6. FB Jon Casper found the end zone on a 2-yard TD run two plays later. Fenstermaker’s PAT kick knotted the game at 14. The Knights defense started to figure out the Raider running schemes a bit better and after surrendering a first down, forced another punt as LB Scheuing dropped Cal-Mum QB Chris Voos who faked a toss to his RB, looking to catch the LeRoy defense napping on an interior run. Big plays before the half usually go a long way in determining close contests such as this.

The Knights looked to score from 70 yards away with 5:02 left until intermission. A score before halftime and receiving the ball first in the 2nd half would go a along way in establishing some control in the game for the Knights. The Knights used a balanced passing and rushing attack to move the ball against the Cal-Mum defense. Fenstermaker lined up in the shotgun, looked to his left, and then fired the ball back to his right into the arms of Alexander for the go-ahead score with a minute left in the 1st half. The 25-yard TD gave the Knights the lead at 20-14 at the half after the PAT was unsuccessful.

LeRoy took the opening kickoff with the aforementioned mindset of scoring with their first possession of the 2nd half. Enter Andrew Alexander. Alexander found the holes provided by the LeRoy O-line and ran for big chunks of yards through the Raider defense. He came up huge with a 6-yard blast as the Knights gambled on a 4th-and-2 from their own 42 early in the 3rd quarter. Alexander, looking stronger with each carry, ripped through 4 white-clad Raider defenders to find the end zone with 4:38 left in the 3rd quarter. The Fenstermaker kick pushed the lead to 27-14 LeRoy. The Raiders, looking to make a comeback of their own, started moving the ball against the LeRoy defense through their usual tough ground game and a big toss to TE Brian Sinclair. The Raider drive was thwarted when Mike Humphrey picked off his 4th interception of the season in the end zone for a score denying touch-back.

A good defensive stand by the Raiders forced a LeRoy punt from their own end zone. Thirty-four yards separated the Raiders from a much needed score. The LeRoy defense was bending, but not breaking, and the clock was running. With 5:28 remaining in the game, the Raiders were met with a 4th-and-8 from the LeRoy 21. QB Voos rolled left and fired a perfect strike to a wide open Jeremy Wilson who hopped into the nearby end zone to make the score 27-20 with 5:04 left in the game. The Knights’ defense came up big on the PAT run attempt as Jordan Casper wrapped up Marozzi short of the end zone.

The Knights looked to kill the clock and preserve the winning margin. Fenstermaker and Mike Humphrey moved the ball through the Raider defense with heady efforts. Again, it was Alexander that came up huge with two key runs that notched much needed 1st downs for the Knights in the waning moments. The Knights were able to kneel down in victory formation and enjoy the win, which they dedicated to the late Hooks Robertson, a beloved LeRoy gridiron coach who passed away earlier this year. The Knights amassed 299 yards of total offense. On the ground, Alexander gained 114 yards on 20 carries and a TD, Fenstermaker had 42 yards on 9 rushes, and Jon Casper notched 35 yards on 10 attempts, including 2 TDs. Fenstermaker was 11 of 15 for 108 yards passing, including a TD strike to Alexander of 25 yards. Mike Humphrey had 7 receptions for 42 yards, while Quentin Humphrey and Brain Calmes each had a catch for 8 and 37 yards respectively. The Knights defense was lead by Scheuing with 8 tackles, followed by Fenstermaker, Alexander, and Joe Schwab with 6 apiece. Mike Humphrey recorded an interception. Cal-Mum had 207 yards of offense, 155 of it on the ground. Leading rusher for the Raiders was Jeremy Wilson with 72 yards on 13 carries, Jon Marozzi 13-32 and 2 TDs, Dave Fox 6-23, and Chris Voos 2-7. Voos was 3 of 7 passing for 52 yards, including a 21-yard TD pass to Wilson.

Andy Ruddock only needed 14 carries to rack up 123 yards with a touchdown to lead Attica to a 50-15 win over visiting Holley.

 Quarterback Brandon Rollins had a huge game, connecting on 11-of-13 passes for 205 yards and three scores. He tossed two of those touchdowns to Shawn Dupuis, who had 137 receiving yards on seven carries.

Nate Berry also had a big game and rushed for 105 yards with two scores.

Kevin Gallinger had 12 tackles to lead the Blue Devil (4-2) defense.

Holley falls to 0-6.

Neal Dotterer is one of the most prolific passers in Section 5 history, and he did it to Batavia as the Blue Devils lost for the first time in a month, 34-13.

The East Rochester/Gananda star went 17-of-24 passing for 253 yards and four touchdown passes.

"We just got a few mismatches in the passing game," Batavia coach Dan Geiger said. "We were able to put them in a lot of third-and-longs, but they hurt us on those plays."

After the Bombers scored on their opening possession, Batavia fumbled the ball away deep in their own territory.

The defense stepped up and made a stop, but the Blue Devils started that drive at their own 1-yard line.

That was the theme of the night for Batavia's offense.

"We had a long field all night," Geiger said. "We started around the 10 yard line pretty much the entire first half. We stopped them, but we were starting deep."

Anthony D'Aurizio had a big game for Batavia, rushing for 192 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Defending Class B Offensive Player of the Week Rob Williams only gained 26 yards with a TD on 15 carries before leaving the game with a hip injury in the third quarter. 

ER/G improves to 5-1 while Batavia falls to 3-3.

The Blue Devils did clinch the No. 8 seed in the Section 5 Class B playoffs because Dansville beat Wayland-Cohocton Friday night.

"We are definitely disappointed after a loss like this," Geiger said. "But I'm positive that these guys will get back at it and get going again in the morning."

 This is just a reminder that Batavia High will be announcing six new members to its Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 18 at Terry Hills Restaurant and Banquet Facility.

Daily News Sports Editor Bill Bruton did a nice roundup in today's edition of the inductees, Donald Johnson, Thomas Vincello, Douglas King, Ralph "Buddy Houseknecht, Jonathan Walton and Nancy Viola.

The roundup is packed with information and even has a bit more than I had in my HOF preview that was ran on The Batavian on Sept. 23. Check that out.

You can still get tickets for the 7th annual ceremony, which has a social hour beginning at 5 p.m., followed by a dinner at 6 p.m.

You can get tickets by contacting the Athletic Director's office at Batavia High School at 585-343-2480 ex. 2003.

This has to be the most impressive comeback I've ever seen. Check out the story and the highlights of the game.

I just had to share this.

 Elba/Byron-Bergen (1-4) at Notre Dame (3-2)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

The Fighting Irish are currently the No. 4 seed in Class D and will be looking to get things in order to start a sectional run next week. A loss would mean Notre Dame would lose a home game in the first round as they would probably move down to No. 5.

Notre Dame is doing it all on the offensive side of the ball.

Nick Bochicchio has over 500 yards passing and is getting better every week and he has a great target in Kevin Francis at wide receiver.

Bochicchio has the luxury of having a good running game to go with the passing attack.

Kevin Schildwaster had his best week of the season in last week's win over Holley and now has 358 rushing yards with five touchdowns. Mike Pratt has 348 yards and five TDs.

You never know what you are going to get from the Fighting Irish on offense.

The Lancers have had some serious struggles this season as the Byron-Bergen kids are still learning how to play the game.

But there have been some signs of potential.

Zach Green has become a star in the Elba/Byron-Bergen backfield and he gets plenty of help from Brandon Spurling.

The Lancers like to throw the ball around a little bit with quarterback Eric Kowalik and have the potential to do big things with Cody Torpey, who will line up at receiver, running back and quarterback.

Elba/Byron-Bergen is on the outside looking in when it comes to sectionals at this point. The Lancers are the No. 9 seed in Class C and a win on Saturday would be a big help if they want to get that eighth seed and the fun first round matchup against either Le Roy, Oakfield-Alabama or Pembroke. 

 Barker (1-4) at Alexander (2-3)

1 p.m. Saturday

The Trojans have won two straight games and are looking to even up heading into the sectional playoffs.

Alexander is seeded No. 4 right now in Class DD and might have a shot to move up to No. 3 if Avon loses to Letchworth Friday night.

The Class D and DD playoffs start a week before the higher classes and if the season ended today, Alexander would host York in the opening round. If they can move up to No. 3, the Trojans would host Barker. Lyons or Canisteo-Greenwood next week.

Jay Schafer had the big game running the ball in last week's win over Elba/Byron-Bergen and is starting to put together a pretty solid year. He has 64 rushing attempts for 447 yards and four touchdowns.

Mike Woodrow has 180 yards and two TDs and Ryan Piechoki has 150 yards and two scores.

Those three are going to be the key against a physical Barker defense.

Zach Burke has had some struggles in the passing game (17-of-50 for 245 yards with 1 TD and 5 INT), but could look in the direction of Lucas Czechowski or Jordan Leitten this week.

Czechowski has shown a knack for hitting the big kicks this season.

Piechoki leads the defense will 41 tackles and will have to keep his eyes on Greg Brown, who has 418 yards and four touchdowns on 103 carries this season.

 Batavia (3-2) at East Rochester/Gananda (4-1)

7 p.m. Friday

Batavia has won three straight games and would love to make it four.

But the Blue Devils will have their hands full with ER/Gananda, which is ranked No. 5 in the state in Class B and is currently No. 4 in Section 5 Class B sectional seeding points.

The only reason the Bombers have a loss is because of the mess that happened in Bath during the opening week of the season. ER/Gananda wound up forfeiting the game even though they were ahead when the lights went out.

Check out this thread on Section 5 Talksback about the issue.

The Bombers are led by quarterback Neil Dotterer, who is his school's all-time passing leader with over 4,400 yards. He is third on the all-time Section 5 passing list.

Batavia has several good athletes, but will need them to step up in the secondary as they will probably see several three and four wide receiver sets.

The Blue Devils need to get a pass rush from either the defensive linemen or blitzers.

As far as offense, Batavia will keep running the ball and hopefully keep doing it well.

Rob Williams earned Class B Offensive Player of the Week last week after rushing for 267 yards and returning to kickoffs for touchdowns in a win over Penn Yan.

He now has 70 carries for 878 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season.

His partner in the backfield is Anthony D'Aurizio, who is having himself a big season as well. He has 634 yards and seven touchdowns on 60 carries.

If the running game is slowed then quarterback Joe Canzoneri will have to do some passing.

D'Aurizio is the leading tackler with 52, with Troy Ireland getting 45 so far. Adam Hausfelder has 39 and Todd Logsdon has pitched in 30.

Batavia is eighth in sectional standings right now and will probably need to get a win this week or at home next week against Geneva to guarantee a spot in the sectional playoffs.

 Cal-Mum (5-0) at Le Roy (5-0)

7:30 p.m. Friday

Section 5's biggest rivals take the field with a lot on the line.

The two undefeated teams are fighting for the Livingston Conference Division II title and both are looking to hold on to their top seeds (Le Roy in Class C and Cal-Mum in Class DD).

The Oatkan Knights are ranked fifth in the state in C and the Red Raiders are ranked third in D.

Le Roy had some issues in last week's 49-37 win over Avon as Max Barrett had a big game running and throwing the football. Chris Voos has the ability to chuck the ball around for the Red Raiders.

Cal-Mum can throw, but will run the football as always.

Jeremy Wilson gained 161 yards in C-M's 35-0 win over Canisteo-Greenwood last week. Fullback John Marozzi will also put up some solid numbers.

The Red Raiders defense held C-G to just 47 rushing yards last week, which is something that will be very different this week.

Le Roy can and will run the football with Andrew Alexander leading the way. He had nearly 200 yards on the ground last week and now has 771 yards and seven touchdowns.

Travis Fenstermaker ran the ball 18 times for 66 yards last week, but does most of his damage with his arm.

He completed just 6-of-10 passes for 53 yards. Four of those completions went to Mike Humphrey, who made it into the end zone three times.

Every time Humphrey has the ball in his hands, good things happen. He has 21 receptions for 395 yards and a whopping nine touchdowns as a receiver.

He also does a great job of returning kicks and intercepting the ball as a DB.

The Oatkan Knights have won 40 straight games at Hartwood Park, dating back to 1998. That amazing steak will be tested against the Red Raiders and against Hornell next week.

 Holley (0-5) at Attica (3-2)

7 p.m. Friday

The Blue Devils are looking to bounce back after a tough loss against Oakfield-Alabama last week.

Attica is currently the No. 7 seed in Class B and will probably need to win its final two games to secure a playoff berth.

Holley has really struggled this season and Attica should be able to roll in this one, but will have Pembroke in the final week of the season.

Expect a heavy dose of Andy Ruddock in this game, at least the first half.

Ruddock has rushed for 724 yards on eight touchdowns on 73 attempts this season and will probably gain over 100 yards in the first half of this game.

He is a featured back and the Hawks struggle against the run. Notre Dame had two runners get over 100 yards each last week in a 34-14 win and Pembroke had 300 yards running the previous week.

Nate Berry has 120 yards and Luke Pariso has 124 this season, so those two runners could also get plenty of work.

Brandon Rollins and Shawn Dupuis are a solid passing duo as Rollins has completed 34-of-57 attempts for 460 yards and eight touchdowns and five interceptions. Dupuis has a great chance of making the GR all-star team as a receiver as he has hauled in 16 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns.

Attica's defense is also solid, led by Pariso's 45 tackles. Kevin Gallinger (35), Kyler Dabolt (31) and Dave Jennings (30) are all over 30 tackles on the season.

 Just a quick note.

My high school football previews have been pushed back until Thursday this week because I'm working on something special.

So make sure you check back throughout the day as I will be posting them as I complete them.

 I was just taking a look at the current standings for the Section 5 Tournaments and figured I would relay where are local teams are and what that means come playoff time.

The most exciting tournament locally will be in Class C, where local team currently hold the top 3 spots.

Le Roy sits at 5-0 and has the top seed at this point with two big games left on the schedule. A pair of victories over Class DD Caledonia-Mumford and Class B Hornell would wrap up that spot.

Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke are both also undefeated and are No. 2 and 3, respectively. Those two teams will be playing each other on Friday night and the winner will have the upper-hand on the second seed, with a shot at No. 1 if Le Roy loses either of its final two games.

Pembroke will host Class B Attica in the final week of the season and O-A will host Class C Holley.

Elba/Byron-Bergen (1-4) and Holley (0-5) are the other two local teams in Class C and at this point it looks like the Hawks are eliminated and will be playing Pool Play games.

The Lancers are probably going to need a victory over Class D Notre Dame this weekend and/or a victory over Section 6's Bishop Walsh in Week 7 to get in. Elba/B-B is the 9th seed right now with the same record as No. 8 Dansville. No. 7 South Seneca (3-2) is too far ahead to be caught.

Attica and Batavia are both 3-2 and look to be fairly safe in Class B as far as making the tournament.

Wayland-Cohocton, Penn Yan and Waterloo are all 1-4 and would need a lot of things to go their way to get in.

But both local Blue Devil squads have a chance to move up as high as No. 5 as Palmyra-Macedon and Livonia share records with Attica and Batavia.

Batavia will play East Rochester/Gananda - the current No. 4 seed - and Geneva - the current No. 1 seed - to wrap up the regular season.

Attica will play Holley and then Pembroke.

Cal-Mum is 5-0 and has the top seed in Class DD, but Alexander moved closer to getting the No. 3 seed with last week's victory over Elba/Byron-Bergen. The Trojans are 2-3 and the fourth seed, with Avon at No. 3.

Alexander will need a win over Barker - which is 1-4 with the No. 6 seed in Class DD - and an Avon loss against Class C Letchworth to move up to the No. 3 seed.

The Class DD and D playoffs start a week sooner than the higher classes.

Notre Dame is 3-2 and currently has the No. 4 seed in Class D. As far as I can tell, the Fighting Irish could end up anywhere from No. 2 through No. 6 depending on the outcome of the games this weekend.

 Five different Pembroke rushers helped the Dragons pound host Barker 48-6 Saturday afternoon.

Andrew Wright again had the big day, in fact he had a huge day.

Wright rushed the ball eight times for 113 yards and a touchdown, caught all five passes completed by David Kleckler for 115 yards and a score and returned a punt 58 yards for a TD. That gives him 286 all-purpose yards.

Mike Dibble had 11 carries for 58 yards and two touchdowns and Josh Phillips had nine rushes for 50 yards and a pair of TDs. Andy Gabbey carried the ball five times for 32 yards.

Kleckler had four rushes for 45 yards and completed 5-of-10 attempts for 115 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Gabbey had 13 tackles and Dibble added 10.

Greg Brown had 20 carries for 75 yards to lead the Raiders (1-4), who plays at Alexander (2-3) next Saturday.

Pembroke improves to 5-0 and will be at 5-0 Oakfield-Alabama next Friday night in what will probably decide the Genesee Region League title.