Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018: Two-time defending state champ Troy falls to Schalmont

   Leading off today: Shane O'Dell threw for 205 yards, including a 75-yard TD pass, and had an interception on defense for Schalmont in a 14-6 victory over Troy that ended the two-time defending NYSPHSAA Class AA champions' winning streak at 26 games.

.    The graduation-depleted Flying Horses, who are back in Class A this season, never threatened again after scoring on their first possession. O'Dell's 75-yard TD pass broke open a 7-6 game in the fourth quarter for the Sabres, who got 103 yards on the ground from Xavier Leigh.

   Nice start: Lackawanna quarterback Jeremiah Caviness' varsity debut was an indisputable success. The senior set school records for yards (372), touchdowns (four) and completions (21) in a game as the Steelers rolled past Frontier 35-15.

   Caviness' big play came in the second quarter when he found Alex Rodriguez for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Alex's brother, Juan, caught two touchdown passes.

   The Lackawanna defense forced five turnovers.

   Working extra hard: Billy Thomson led Wayne with 119 yards rushing on 28 carries and scored the winning TD in overtime as Wayne edged East Rochester/Gananda 35-34 in one of the wilder games on opening night.

   The Eagles won the overtime coin toss and elected to play defense first, and ER/Gananda scored on a third-down play only to have the two-point conversion fail. That set up Thomson's score and the winning conversion kick.

   Wayne quarterback Grayson Zenelovic went 15-for-20 for 262 yards and four touchdowns, three going to Logan Blankenberg (eight catches, 127 yard).

   Jayden Castrichini of ER/Gananda ran for 243 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries.

   In other overtime openers:

    • Utica Proctor scored a touchdown on a 20-yard carry by Patrick Minor on the first play of overtime and then shut down Binghamton's offense for a 30-24 triumph at the Carrier Dome.

    • Logan Haynes interception in overtime sealed Sandy Creek's 32-26 win over Cato-Meridian.

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   The Blue Devils won the OT coin toss and deferred, which led to a short Alec Balcom (20 carries, 98 yards) touchdown rush from and a blocked extra-point attempt. Cato-Meridian drove to the 10-yard line before Haynes' second interception of the game.

   Haynes also scored two TDs and carried 17 times for 140 yards.

   Big numbers: Starpoint QB Aaron Chase threw for a school-record 419 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-7 win

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over Grand Island.

    • Southwestern QB Cole Snyder went 18 of 22 for 223 yards and five touchdowns to beat Franklinville 35-8. Alex Card caught three TD passes.

    • Greece Arcadia junior running back K'myn Crumity's rolled up 31 carries for 289 yards and scored on runs of 13, 32 and 67 yard as the Titans edged Brockport 28-23.

    • Alex Shudt carried 27 times for 112 yards, scored the winning touchdown with 15 seconds left, kicked a field goal and recorded a sack as Bethlehem edged Colonie 15-13.

    • Jerimiah Sparks led Jordan-Elbridge to a tight 37-34 win over Thousand Islands with four rushing scores and a 31-yard TD reception.

   Extra points: All-state running back Ray Leach scored two touchdowns for Batavia in a 48-14 win over Hornell less than four weeks after he was injured in a stabbing.

   Coach removed: Bill Ashton was removed as head football coach at Eastport-South Manor on Thursday, Newsday reported.

   "I asked why I was being removed. And the reason behind the firing was that I didn't follow the proper concussion protocol two weeks ago -- that I waited too long to get a player into the protocol," Ashton said. "No one said anything to me about this situation in two weeks.

   Ashton, who has been the head coach for five years, said he felt he did nothing wrong.

   Offensive line coach Chris Prokech was put in charge of the team in place of Ashton.

   Scoreboard: You can view the Week 1 scoreboard and remaing schedule on our Road To Syracuse website.