Leading off today: Playing with a leg brace because of a torn ACL suffered six weeks ago, Nico Morello passed for a school-record 430 yards and five touchdowns -- all in the first half -- Friday in his first varsity football start, a 47-14 victory for Eastport-South Manor over Amityville.
"He's worked hard to get back," coach Chris Prokesch told Newsday. "It just show a lot of dedication and character to be able to come back and play any high school game. It's a real credit to him."
Larry Cangro had 249 yards on five receptions and a touchdown in the win. Guy Buckley made three TD receptions.
Picture getting clearer: Fifteen ranked teams suffered losses Friday -- many to other ranked squads -- as we gained some clarity on what the top of the New York landscape will look like when many schools start their postseason in two weeks.
In the PSAL alone, three close contests shook up Class AA:
• No. 13 South Shore edged No. 5 Tottenville 33-28.
• No. 19 Erasmus Hall downed No. 18 Midwood 6-0.
• Unranked Harry Truman toppled No. 20 Lehman 14-8.
South Shore senior quarterback Darius Thompson scored on a 32-yard run with 37 seconds to go in the upset of the Pirates. Tottenville had taken a 28-27 lead with 4:04 to play as QB James Kelly connected with Kolubah Pewee on a TD pass and Mike Jones ran in the 2-point conversion.
Thomson's heroics completed a rally from a 20-6 deficit at the half.
Heartbreaker for St. A's: QB Jayden Umbarger rushed for a 9-yard touchdown with 1:46 left and completed a 2-point conversion pass to Chris Clark to cap a 22-point rally in the fourth quarter of Archbishop Spalding's 43-42 win over St. Anthony's in Maryland.
The Friars, ranked third in Class AA, had scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to bolt to a 42-21 lead against the Maryland powerhouse.
More Class AA: QB Terrance Edmond had 17 carries for 185 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 2 Freeport to a 39-12 triumph against No. 24 Massapequa. Justin Lescouflair added 14 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a 7-yard scoring catch.
• Section 6 seems to grow murkier by the day. Orchard Park QB Jack Sharp found Archie Bartolotti for a 10-yard TD with 2:26 remaining to beat Buffalo Bennett 23-22. Bennett was coming off a victory against 2017 NYSPHSAA runner-up Lancaster last week.
Canandaigua posts shutout: Junior Matt Vierhile turned a short hitch from QB Jack Johnston into a 43-yard TD reception in the second quarter to start No. 20 Canandaigua on its way to a 12-0 victory against No. 9 Victor.
More Class A: Bryce Ford rushed for five touchdowns and added two passing touchdowns to lead No. 27 John Jay Cross River over No. 11 Our Lady of Lourdes 49-28.
• Aaron Chase (24 of 40, 344 yards) threw a 57-yard TD pass to Matt Spina just nine seconds after Buffalo South Park broke a 14-14 tie, and No. 29 Starpoint went on to a 21-20 triumph over the No. 21 Sparks.
Starpoint rallied from a 14-0 deficit after South Park converted a pair of turnovers into scores.
