Leading off today: Quarterback Ben Dwyer scored on the first two possessions and ran for three touchdowns overall Thursday in Baldwinsville's 35-7 football victory over Corning in the Kickoff Classic.
Dwyer capped a 10-play opening drive with a 1-yard run. He also scored on a 9-yard keeper with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter.
An Aquari Warner TD run in the fourth quarter capped a 99-yard drive by the Bees.
The win was coach Carl Sanfilippo's 200th in 33 seasons at Baldwinsville. He is second to Whitesboro's Tom Schoen (267) among active Section 3 coaches.
Sanfilippo's father Joe won 195 games at Salamanca, Jamestown and in New Mexico before retiring in 1982. (See: All-time New York list)
• Cicero-North Syracuse, regarded as a contender for Section 3 Class AA honors and beyond this fall, opened with a 42-14 win against Fairport as Erik Pride (13 carries, 126 yards) scored four touchdowns.
The Northstars broke the game open by converting two Fairport turnovers in the third quarter into touchdowns.
Also noteworthy Thursday: Defending Section 6 Class AA champ Clarence defeated St. Joe's 2-1 to earn the title in its own boy soccer tournament. Chris O'Brien scored the game-winning goal.
St. Joe's was the Monsignor Martin runner-up last fall and had defeated I-Prep/Grover, a 2016 state quarterfinalist
in Class B, in the semifinals.
• North Tonawanda, having already matched last seasons win total in just three games, remained unbeaten in boys soccer with a 2-2 tie vs. Niagara-Wheatfield.
• Jashawna Luke finished with 14 kills as Irondequoit defeated defending NYSPHSAA Class AA champion Penfield 25-22, 25-23, 25-21 in girls volleyball. Emma Sheehan finished with 25 assists.
Trying something different: Today marked the debut of a weekly column that I'll be writing this fall as a freelancer for Gannett, my employer from 1982 to 2007.
I'll be tackling a variety of topics, some of which will be pegged to recent news and developments out of the Upstate New York high school sports scene while others will more closely qualify as "stream of unconsciousness."
For this week's column, I decided to pry open the state football record book (which has been a labor of love for Paul
