Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019: Onteora hands Millbrook forfeit win in football

   Leading off today: Stop us if you've heard this one before ...

   Millbrook will sit idle for the second time in three weekends after being informed by Onteora AD Kim Pilla that the Eagles will not have enough players to field a team this weekend. First-year Millbrook coach Lou Portaro said he was told the situation was caused by a violation of team rules.

   Millbrook was scheduled to open its season with Eldred, a contest canceled before the season when Eldred dropped its program due to a lack of players. That game does not count as a forfeit victory under Section 9 football bylaws.

   Portaro said it was too late to find another opponent for the weekend. Options are few in eight-man football.

   "I feel bad for our kids because they've been working their butts off," said Portaro, whose team beat Ellenville 60-34 in Week 2. "I feel bad for our seniors, they lost a home game. It's frustrating as hell."

    &bull The Long Island football ranks have been thinned by one for this fall. St. Dominic has shut down its program without having played a game, leaving just Cardinal Spellman, Kennedy Catholic and Nazareth in the CHSFL Class A Division.

   Coach reinstated: Shoreham-Wading River football coach Aden Smith, who was removed from his position amid an investigation into an incident during a preseason scrimmage, is being reinstated, Newsday reported.

   Superintendent Gerard Poole and AD Mark Passamonte informed players and parents the decision was effective Sept. 23. "We are proud of our team which is off to a great start this year. We thank the assistant coaches who stepped up to lead the team until now, and we look forward to a continued great season," their letter stated.

   Smith was removed Sept. 6 when the school announced it was conducting an investigation into the Aug. 30 incident. The parents of an Islip player said Smith grabbed their son "in the neck area and started shaking him back and forth" during a skirmish.

   Appeal denied: Rochester East all-state running back/defensive back Seven McGee has lost his Section 5 eligibility appeal.

   McGee's fourth transfer in less than two years brought him back to Rochester from Narbonne High near Los Angeles in May (he had left the East basketball team in mid-season), and the California school never supplied the supporting paperwork, which resulted in the initial ineligibility ruling.

   Wednesday's unsuccessful appeal to the Section 5 Athletic Council puts the junior's potential return to the field in the hands of an NYSPHSAA panel if East officials want to continue pursuing the matter.

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   "It is disappointing that Section 5 was not more understanding of Seven's circumstances and his desire to return to his home community and school," East Superintendent Shaun Nelms said in a statement. "We do, however, respect the section's need to be consistent with the standards that it uses to evaluate appeals. And, while we appreciate the current administration at Narbonne High (where Seven attended for less than 60 days) provided information for the appeal, they could not speak to the conditions that were present at the school under the previous administration."

   Tuesday action: Baldwinsville scored twice in the final 15 minutes to defeat rival Fayetteville-Manlius 2-0 in a rematch of last fall's Section 3 girls Class AA soccer championship game.

   The Bees improved to 6-1. Fayetteville-Manlius is 5-1.

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

   Senior midfielder Sophia Cavallaro scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 65th minute. Junior forward Hannah Mimas tacked on an insurance goal with three minutes remaining.

   Milestone victories: Iroquois' 4-1 win over Eden on Wenesday gave field hockey coach Pete Tonsoline his 400th career victory.

   Tonsoline's record is 400-85-29 with six Section 6 titles in 26 seasons.

    • John Jay East Fishkill boys soccer coach Rob Seipp booked his 300th win in 22 seasons Monday with a 2-1 win over Mahopac. Seipp, who graduated from the school in 1987, took over as coach from Bill Masterson in 1998.

   Sec. 5 back picks UConn: Bishop Kearney running back Nathan Carter announced his commitment to the University of Connecticut on Tuesday.

   Carter rushed for 1,259 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior while also making 62 tackles on defense.

   More football: The New York State Sportswriters Association released its first set of rankings earlier today. Here's what the Week 3 schedule for ranked teams looks like.

   Referee suspended: A referee who told a New Jersey high school wrestler to cut his dreadlocks or forfeit a match last season has been suspended for two seasons.

   The agreement between the state Division on Civil Rights and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association announced Wednesday also calls for mandatory bias training for all referees and coaches involved in high school sports.

   Alan Maloney, who is white, told Buena Regional wrestler Andrew Johnson, who identifies as multiracial, that he had to cut his hair or forfeit a dual-meet match last December. A video showed Johnson's hair being cut on the sidelines.

   The civil rights investigation found that Maloney made his ruling after no covering could be located that satisfied rules governing long hair and that various wrestling officials had interpreted the rule to apply to various traditionally black hair styles regardless of length.

   New training will advise officials that the rule in question is based on hair length, not hair style.

   Maloney, barred from officiating while the investigation took place, has filed notice that he plans to sue for defamation and emotional distress.

   Extra points: Cait Finn is Hobart College's first female assistant football coach in the 126-year history of the program. Finn was the first girl to play football at Warwick and went on to attend Nazareth College.