Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014: Byram Hills will forfeit boys soccer opener

   Leading off today: Byram Hills will forfeit its boys soccer opener Tuesday because at least two players were reportedly found smoking marijuana on school grounds during an unsanctioned team sleepover, a source told The Journal News.

   Coach Matty Allen confirmed the game forfeit to Yonkers Saunders as well as the cancellation of two scrimmages but referred other questions about the recent incident to administration officials. The paper's attempts to reach Superintendent William Donohue and Principal Christopher Borsari on Friday were unsuccessful.

   "The team violated team rules and the high school's code of conduct," Allen told the paper. "We turned it over to the administration and suspensions from (team) leadership positions were handed out. Since no individuals were cited, we chose to go with a team punishment of forfeiting two scrimmages and our first game of the season."

   Byram Hills was already reeling, with Allen saying he has lost seven players to the fledgling USSF Academy system, which doesn't allow its players to compete on high school teams.

   "The whole idea this year is that once we step foot on the field, we're going to play with the 25 guys we have, and the academy players can sit up in the stands," Allen said. "We don't refer to them as academy players. We refer to them as just students."

   No longer streaking in Iowa: Iowa's Solon High shocked Iowa City Regina on Friday with a 29-28 victory in overtime that ended Regina's 56-game winning streak, tied for the longest active football skein in the country.

   Solon coach Kevin Miller played for the win rather than a tie after Regina scored on the opening possession in OT, and quarterback Brandan Childs connected with Connor Ham for the 2-point conversion.

   According to MaxPreps, Ithaca (Mich.) leads the nation with 57 consecutive wins.

   Game cut short: Police said fights on the field and in the stands forced the stoppage of a season-opening high school football matchup southeast of Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday.

   The game between Garfield Heights and Collinwood was in the third quarter when officials halted play because of an on-field altercation and two more in the stands. At least three people were arrested and two people, including a player, were treated at an area hospital.

   Garfield Heights City Schools said in a statement that the

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

decision to stop play was appropriate and any students involved will be dealt with "swiftly and appropriately."

   Now that's a road trip: The soccer team from Harvey Grammar School, a boys-only school in Folkestone, England, took part in a scrimmage Wednesday with Maine-Endwell, Union-Endicott and Chenango Forks. It culminated the team's two-week stay in the Southern Tier as part of a biennial tradition.

   The players were hosted by families in M-E school district. Susquehanna Valley, which scrimmaged Harvey Grammar the following day, had hosted previous visits.

   "It was a great experience, you can tell they are all for soccer, that's what they do," M-E coach Chris Riley told the Press & Sun-Bulletin. "I would imagine a lot of their dreams are to make it to the pros, whereas not so much on our side."

   Said Harvey Grammar assistant coach James Chamberlain: "It's been such an enjoyable two weeks, it's been unreal. The kids have been treated like kings for two weeks."

   Extra points: Jim Esposito, an accomplished QB at Bishop Ford before the school closed in June, has landed at Susan Wagner on Staten Island for his senior season. The Advance reports the majority of his former teammates are scattered across public schools in Brooklyn.

   Esposito completed 97 of 186 attempts for 1,932 yards with 21 touchdowns to earn CHSFL Class AA offensive player of the year honors last fall.