Leading off today: As the Democrat and Chronicle story suggested, it wouldn't be a horrible idea if Rochester's Triple-A baseball team hosted more football games at Frontier Field.
Realistically, the first football game in the facility's 23-year history was made possible only because the team is tearing up the field next week and laying down new turf ... but it was a classic.
McQuaid beat its Section 5 rival for the first time since 2006, knocking off defending NYSPHSAA Class AA champion Aquinas 27-21 before 4,127 fans Saturday.
"It's been a long time coming, it's been a long road. That's a great football team, they're phenomenal," Knights coach Bobby Bates said. "We just really did a great job of executing and sticking to the game plan and not getting ahead of ourselves. We stayed the course."
McQuaid broke open a halftime tie with three straight TDs and then held on for dear life. Diminutive senior Andrew Passero led the way with 34 carries for 173 yards. Quarterback Joey Cairns added 54 yards, including several key third-down carries to move the chains.
"I should probably be sued for child abuse for running those guys so much," Bates joked. "Those kids they just have a lot of grit, they did a good job of finding seams and tough yards. It was tough yards that they were getting, nothing was coming easy. That's a great defense over there."
That name sounds familiar: The names change (slightly), but the winning continues.
Defending NYSPHSAA Class B champion Glens Falls scored on nine of its first 10 possessions and beat Lansingburgh 67-6 as Noah Girard took over quarterback duties following the graduation of cousin Joe Girard III. He was 8-for-12 for 130 yards and four touchdowns.
"They heard, 'Joseph's gone, you guys are in trouble now,'" coach Pat Lilac said. "They kind of took that, like, 'What? This is our team, let's go out and make a mark for ourselves and show people what we're made of as well.'"
The Indians' Griffin Woodell scored on a 37-yard punt return and rushed for two other first-half scores.
"We haven't scrimmaged too much, so we were ready to hit other players, you know? We're happy," Woodell said.
Quite an opener: Maine-Endwell rolled up 423 yards on the ground in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse ... and lost by four touchdowns.
Section 3 wrestling champ Fombo Azah scored six touchdowns as Carthage defeated the Spartans 52-28. The senior returned a kickoff 80 yards for the Comets' first score and then rushed for five more TDs. He gained 182 yards on the ground.
"Fombo Azah is very talented. And he can run. And he loves it," said first-year Carthage coach Jason Coffman. "He's 190 pounds of pure muscle. It's hard for people to tackle him."
Working overtime: I tend to take notice of overtime games when pulling together weekend football recaps because some of those games produces wild statistics and great drama. None of New York's OT games Saturday matched Chubba Purdy's 10 touchdowns (five each passing and rushing) in a 68-67 win in four overtimes Friday in Arizona, but there was a noteworthy moment in Section 6.
In a game chock full of interceptions, fumbles and blocked kicks, Maritime/Health Sciences pulled off the biggest win in program history, defeating the two-time defending Section 6 Class B champion Cheektowaga 18-12 in overtime.
The game ended on a 16-yard end-around by sophomore receiver Demetrious Potts.
"It's a special win for our program," Falcons head coach Ty Parker said. "I was just so happy for our guys."
Maritime/Health Sciences won just twice last season in its varsity debut.
"The first year it was all rough spots," Parker said. "It was the guys getting back in football shape, getting football savvy. Once we got our feet up under us -- it took a year -- but now we got it done and it showed today against a great defending championship team."
More overtimes: The freshly combined Westmoreland/Oriskany program made its debut with a 27-26 win over Jamesville-DeWitt in two overtimes.
