Leading off today: There was a time when Section 1 football wailed on Section 9 with the same zest John Bonham displayed while laying down a beat for Led Zep on "When the Levee Breaks." (Sorry, I know that's an old guy's reference. But, hey, I'm old.)
As Josh Thomson of The Journal News noted in his weekend preview of the NYSPHSAA quarterfinals, that domination ended three years ago, and now the turnaround is complete. Section 9 swept four games from its downstate rival over the weekend, setting up an all 9 vs. 2 schedule in next weekend's semifinals.
Though none of this weekend's win were overly decisive -- the combined score of the four games was 135-82, Section 9 extended its record to 13-5 vs. Section 1 over the past four seasons. Section 1 had been 68-13 from 1993-2010.
The nail-biter of the weekend for Section 9 was Cornwall's 21-17 win over Rye in Class A to kick off Saturday's action. Junior Jason Bailey connected with Tyler Peddie for the game-winning touchdown on a 15-yard screen pass with 3:01 remaining and Cornwall held off a late Rye drive to seal the win. Linebacker Quinn Zsido picked off a pass at the Cornwall 10 with :45 to play.
Rye QB Andrew Livingston, the Section 1 leader in career passing yards, threw his first three interceptions of the year.
Monster performance: Mike DoCarmo's 326 rushing yards on 32 carries and seven touchdowns carried Millbrook to a 42-23 Class C win over Woodlands.
DoCarmo ran for four touchdowns and added another on a 25-yard screen pass before halftime. He built on the 30-8 lead with two more rushing TDs in the second half.
"We had a truck running us over," Falcons coach Mike Meade told The Journal News. "We had kids in position, but they just bounced off of him. We were there. We just couldn't bring him down"
Odd but true: The NYSSWA's Steve Grandin notes that Indian River has made a bit of New York State Public High School Athletic Association history.
Indian River will be the first team to play in both the East semifinals (2006 as a Section 10 member) and the West semifinals (next weekend vs. Irondequoit).
Section 2's weekend sweep: Albany-area teams took on foes from three sections over the weekend and came away with a 5-0 record with a 215-81 scoring margin. The zany affair of the day saw Cambridge outlast Ticonderoga 56-35 as the teams combined for 42 fourth-quarter points and 1,035 yards of offense in the game.
"It was easy to get frustrated; we'd go up by 14, they'd run a bunch of plays and score another touchdown," Cambridge coach Doug Luke told The Post-Star. "I'm sure they felt exactly the same way -- they'd come back and we'd score on them and be back up by 14," Luke added. "It wears on you; you think you're in pretty good shape and all of a sudden, bang. And it was that quick, another score."
Chris Warnke fifth of six TDs for the day, a 28-yard screen pass with 4:10 to play, clinched the win and he tacked on a 71-yard scoring run later to finish with 221 yards on the ground. Teammate Caleb Rowland added 183 yards and two scores to help offset Ticonderoga's Konner Bruce, who ran 34 times for 302 yards and three touchdowns.
Class AA notes: Jamestown posted the first shutout in the class since 2006 by defeating Victor 24-0 as Section 6 went 4-1 in the quarterfinals vs. Section 5 for the third year in a row. Monroe-Woodbury defeated Albany CBA 21-0 in the 2006 semifinals.
Stephen Carlson paced the Jamestown attack with five receptions for 134 yards, including a 32-yard score to help break open a game that was 3-0 at the half. One play earlier, Carlson created a turnover by ripping the ball out of the arms of Victor's Joey Carrier and recovered the fumble.
"Stephen's fantastic," Red Raiders coach Tom Langworthy told The Buffalo News. "He's not only talented, but he's a great person. He's very unselfish."
