Leading off today: For a relatively small region of the state in terms of the number of teams, Section 4 certainly generated some big football news Friday night to kick off Week 4 of the season.
Topping the list, as it frequently does, was Maine-Endwell, which beat Vestal 28-0 to expend its winning streak to 55 games. One more win will give the Spartans the longest unbeaten streak in state history.
John Cerra ran 35 and 28 yards for touchdowns, and Kyle Balmer (5-for-7, 110 yards) found Michael Palmer for TD passes of 19 and 47 yards as the state's top-ranked Class A team downed No. 7 Vestal.
And then there was Class D ...
Ronnie Ballard ran for three touchdowns and passed for another as seventh-ranked Deposit-Hancock earned a 50-32 home victory over No. 5 Walton. Ballard ran for 290 of his team's 405 yards and he has 960 rushing yards through four games.
"We have three seniors, a sophomore and a junior on the offensive line who all started last year," coach Jeremiah Johnson told The Press & Sun-Bulletin. "They come off the ball hard. We don't go if they don't go."
Meanwhile, top-ranked Tioga surrendered a 15-point halftime lead and lost 35-32 to Newark Valley, ranked 10th in the state in Class C.
Nick Schermerhorn hit Chad Wright on a 17-yard scoring play with just over 3:00 to go. Three-time defending sectional champ Tioga drove to Newark Valley's 35 on its final possession before turning the ball over on downs.
Tioga had led 21-0 after one quarter and 29-14 at the half.
Schermerhorn rolled up 204 rushing yards and 57 through the air. He scored two rushing touchdowns, including a 10-yarder in the third quarter that brought Newark Valley to within 32-28.
Rams are the real deal: A week after moving up a class to thoroughly beat ranked Class B rival Livonia, No. 9 Bath traveled to No. 6 LeRoy in Class C action and earned a 32-6 win.
Pat Brewer paced Bath with 99 yards and two TDs on seven carries. Connor DiDomineck broke off a 48-yard scoring run in the first quarter.
More Class C: Mitchell Scherer ran for 255 yards and five touchdowns as No. 4 Herkimer handled No. 11 Jordan-Elbridge 36-14 in a non-league matchup.
Scherer ran for 346 yards and five touchdowns in last season's 42-27 win when the teams faced off.
Herkimer plays No. 19 Utica Notre Dame next Saturday.
Defending champ reeling: Indian River clawed its way back from an early two-TD deficit, Whitesboro dominated the second half and beat the 24th-ranked Class A team 44-12.
