Leading off today: Week 10 of the football season is normally all about teams since it's championship weekend for most classes in most of New York's 11 sections. Every once in awhile, however, an individual performance overwhelms the senses.
That happened Saturday as Elmira beat Binghamton 64-50 in a shootout for the Section 4 Class AA championship, with the teams logging 40 first downs and 1,136 yards of offense.
But the biggest numbers came from Express senior Dashaun Sutton, who finished with 372 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the Patriots' Alumni Stadium turf. Allaah Sessions chipped in with 178 yards and three TDs.
In fact, all 610 of Elmira's yards came on the ground, including 330 in the first half to forge a 34-28 lead.
In two clashes this season, Elmira and Binghamton produced a combined 201 points. Elmira won 44-43 on Sept. 12.
Class A surprises: Amsterdam's recovery from an 0-3 start is complete. The Rams, ranked 14th in the state, charged to a four-TD lead at the half and beat fourth-ranked Troy 49-35 for the Section 2 championship -- their first since 2005.
When the teams met Sept. 18, it was Troy that held a four-score lead at the half and went on to a 26-21 win.
"I think it's been a 180 (degree) turnaround, or 360, whatever you want to call it," senior Bryan Stanavich told The Daily Gazette. "Everyone's been playing better, the defense is insane and the coaches are calling the perfect plays at the perfect time."
Stanavich's 70-yard run TD made it 28-7 in the second quarter, and he also threw 30 yards to David Crawford for a TD as the Rams took over with just :55.6 left in the half and still managed to drive 69 yards for a score.
Troy got within 42-21 on two TD passes from John Germenerio to Dajuan Hudson in the third quarter, and the Flying Horses were threatening to score again at the 4 midway through the fourth quarter. But Dale Stanavich stepped in front of Germenerio's pass at the goal line and returned it untouched for a TD with 7:58 left in the game.
"Bryan gets a lot of credit and deserves all of it, but Dale has been amazing on defense," Rams coach Dale Edick said.
The day's other upset came in Section 1, where No. 17 Our Lady of Lourdes rode six takeaways to a 14-7 win over second-ranked Rye. It was the second title in a row for the Warriors, who moved up this season from Class B.
Lourdes senior QB Dean Rotger became Section a's career passing leader, completing 8 of 22 attempts for 193 yards and one touchdown. He stands at 5,851 yards, passing Andrew Livingston of Rye.
"It's huge, especially setting it during a win over Rye because that's a great team," Rotger said. "I don't follow the stats and it caught me by surprise when they called it out."
Three plays after Lourdes recovered a muffed punt, Rotger scored from two yards out to get the Warriors ahead 6:21 before halftime. Joe Scaglione caught a pass out of the backfield four minutes later and went 55 yards and into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.
Section 3: He had plenty of help, but Jerome Brabham put up a huge performance as No. 9 Utica Notre Dame beat 12th-ranked Canastota 69-32 in the Section 3 final.
In just three quarters of work, Brabham threw three touchdown passes, caught a TD pass and returned one of his two interceptions 73 yards for another score as the Jugglers won their ninth straight game.
