Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013: Victor, Fairport win boys volleyball crowns

   Leading off today: Once on the brink of an early exit, Victor pulled it together on Friday and won its third NYSPHSAA Division 2 boys volleyball championship in four seasons.

   The Blue Devils came back from a 24-23 deficit against Bellmore JFK to win their final game of pool play 27-25 and then swept the same opponent in the final 25-16, 25-19 and 25-19.

   "Being one point away from being knocked out slapped everybody in the face," senior Brannon Perdicho told The Daily Messenger. "We realized we had to step it up. We came together and played as a team and it was beautiful."

   Blue Devils junior Collin Mahan was selected MVP of the tournament after chalking up 12 kills in the final.

   In Division I, Fairport earned its first volleyball crown with a 25-16, 25-17, 25-22 sweep of Sachem East at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Red Raiders defeated three-time defending NYSPHSAA champion McQuaid to capture its first Section 5 title earlier in the month.

   Josh Holm, one of the team's 12 seniors, was selected the MVP.

   U-E airs it out: Union-Endicott rode a 228-yard, five-touchdown passing performance from Joey Orlando to a 43-7 victory over Carthage in the NYSPHSAA Class A football quarterfinals.

   After an opening three-and-out by Carthage, U-E drove five plays and 54 yards to an Orlando TD throw to C.J. Krowiak covering 29 yards.

   Sammy Davis scored on a 7-yard run midway through the quarter and U-E closed out the scoring in the stanza on a flea-flicker, with Orlando (11-for-18) hitting Osama Barwari for a 58-yard touchdown pass and a 20-lead.

   U-E moves onto the semifinals in Rochester against Williamsville North, a 23-20 victor over Eastridge.

   The Spartans won their game as senior quarterback Ryan Majewski hit junior Zac Kelly for an 18-yard, go-ahead touchdown with :43 to play.

   The Lancers scored to take a 20-16 lead with 3:06 to play, but Williamsville North responded by driving 81 yards in 11 plays, including three passes to convert third downs. The subsequent Eastridge possession ended when John Becht picked off a pass with :14.4 to go.

   Williamsville North's Derick Isler ran 27 times for 231 yards and a TD.

   Dominating performance: Randolph posted the most lopsided victory in more than two decades of Western Region quarterfinals, dominating Red Jacket 49-0 in Class D in Rochester. The Cardinals broke to a 28-o lead in the first half, outgaining the Indians 285 to minus-11.

   "I don't care that it's a Class D school," Red Jacket coach Marc Vitticore told The Buffalo News. "I used to coach in 'AA' ball at Fairport for years, and that looks like a double-A team. So my hat's off to the Randolph players and coaches. I am humbled by that game, really proud just to be in that game with those guys."

   Randolph senior running back Chris Doubek finished with 18 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns to up his season totals to 2,060 yards and 29 TDs. Mitchell Maycock finished 7-for-11 for 128 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing TD.

   This is the fourth time the Cardinals have won their

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NYSPHSAA quarterfinal. The previous three instances 2005, 2009, 2012) were first steps toward state championships in Syracuse.

   Cornwall, again: Cornwall triumphed in the Class A quarterfinals for the third straight season, this time beating Somers 34-7. A year after QB Mike White carved up Somers for 433 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-13 win, he threw piled up 273 of his 341 combined rushing and passing yards and three of his four TDs in the first half.

   White threw for 212 yards and rushed for 129 yards and three more scores. Chris Bauer, in his first game back from a punctured lung a month earlier, caught three passes for 87 yards and a TD.

   Long Island highlights: Erik Adon rushed for 164 yards on 24 carries and scored on a 15-yard run in overtime to carry East Islip past Smithtown West 22-16 in a Suffolk II semifinal.

   East Islip will make a Section 11-record 18th appearance in the final.

   In a Suffolk IV matchup, Babylon's Jake Carlock had two touchdown catches and two interceptions, Eric Schweitzer scored two touchdown runs and Nick Santorelli threw three TD passes to down Shoreham-Wading River 42-13.    It was the 22nd straight win for Babylon.

   Strong take: The dust has mostly settled in Section 1, where at least 18 schools have explored leaving in the past year but almost all have now decided to stay put.

   That doesn't mean all is well, though, and Mike Benischek of the Poughkeepsie Journal delivered a forceful column this week, telling Section 1 it's time to "look at yourself in the mirror and ask the tough questions." In the last year, Somers JFK has left for the CHSAA and Dover has moved to Section 9. Our Lady of Lourdes looks to be next and others including Beacon, Pawling and Poughkeepsie are still on the fence.

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   As Benischek noted, every athletic director in Dutchess and Rockland counties discussed leaving for Section 9 in the last year. Scheduling and league alignments have been a frequent complaint in recent years, but it appears treatment in general is the driving force behind the discontent. Arlington AD Dave Goddard pointedly asserted the decision-makers are Westchester County-centric and Dutchess superintendents "have no voice in decisions." His superintendent was similarly blunt.

   In this day of increasingly tight budgets, it says a lot that some districts have seriously contemplated spending more by joining Section 9 than it would cost to stay put. "This is your wake-up call, Section 1," Benischek wrote. "This is your opportunity to heed those complaints, before your relationships end."