Leading off today: Here's some friendly advice for the state's third-ranked Class B football game: Teams that play from behind on a regular basis have the same life expectancy as dogs that chase cars.
These dogs -- the Alden Bulldogs -- scored 23 points in the final 4:46 to defeat host Olean 29-20 on Saturday. Alden extended its winning streak against Section 6 foes to 36 games.
In a rally even more dramatic that comeback wins this fall over Eden, Hutch-Tech and Pioneer, Alden scored 29 unanswered points in the second half. Sophomore Lyle Grant (17 carries, 107 yards) closed the gap to 21-20 with 2:58 left on a 21-yard run, and quarterback Brian Stoldt’s conversion run gave his team the lead.
Grant capped the rally with an 85-yard interception return for a score with 1:05 to play.
Class B battles: Senior Preston Summers returned a punt down the sideline 65 yards with :20 to play, giving No. 11 Cheektowaga a 12-8 win over No. 10 Buffalo Burgard.
"I went outside, there was a good block, and I just took off down the sidelines," Summers told The Buffalo News. "I was thinking, 'This is too good to be true.’ I don’t know how it happened.”
As indicated by the score, yardage was tough to come by all day. Cheektowaga finished with 139 total yards and Burgard 134.
In Albany, backup quarterback Ryan Walker went 18-for-31 for 322 yards and two touchdowns for No. 12 Hackley in a 42-6 rout of No. 8 Peru. Mustafaa Dais caught six passes for 200 yards and a touchdown.
CHSFL showdown: Chaminade rallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie the game with 2:22 to go, then went on to beat Archbishop Stepinac 21-14 in overtime.
Chaminade, which lost QB Sean Cerrone to a rib injury in the fourth quarter, is ranked seventh and Stepinac 16th in the lasted state Class A rankings.
Stepinac drove to the Crusaders' 3 in the closing moments, but a bad snap prevented an attempt at a game-winning field goal. Chaminade opened OT by recovering its own fumble in the end zone for the second time in the game, then stopped Stepinac on downs.
More Class AA action: Sam Ilario rushed 26 times for 183 yards and three touchdowns to spark West Islip to a 28-14 upset over No. 24 East Islip.
Ilario scored on runs of 20, 5 and 45 yards.
Plainedge stumbles: Yoannis Estathiou scored on a 13-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and Brian Seiter picked off a pass with 5:15 to go as Bethpage upset Class A No. 5 Plainedge 13-7.
Estathiou also scored from 16 yards out in the second quarter and finished with 22 carries for 170 yards.
Class D progress: More than a few people have begun to suggest that a potential state semifinal between No. 1 Randolph and No. 2 Tioga is shaping up as a de facto NYSPHSAA Class D title game.
They may be right.
Randolph rolled past Cassadaga Valley 49-14 on the strength of Chris Doubek's 13 carries for 304 yards. Doubek broke the school record for single-game rushing
