Leading off today: Jaydin Jackson completed nine straight passes to open the game, three for touchdowns to Trey Newton, to highlight Iona Prep's 38-18 victory over Syracuse CBA on Thursday at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse.
The outcome of the much-anticipated football opener ended a 41-game winning streak for CBA, the three-time defending NYSPHSAA Class AA champion.
Jackson finished 9 of 13 for 152 yards. Newton, a transfer from Milford, Pa., reccorded four receptions for 137 yards. The scoring strikes covered 18, 25, and 71 yards.
Iona Prep, the two-time defending state CHSAA champion, churned out 274 yards on the ground behind a massive offensive line.
"We were limited with Jaydin cramping up and we didn't want to get too far into the playbook with the lead," Gaels coach Joe Spagnolo said, "so we kind of put it in the hands of the guys up front and were able to finish this one out on the ground. That's how you have to win games in November so that's a good sign."
The Thursday kickoff gives both teams additional time to prepare for Week 2, but neither has an easy road ahead. Iona Prep hosts Paramus Catholic from New Jersey, and CBA will be home vs. St. Francis, the reigning Monsignor Martin Athletic Association champion.
WEEK 1 FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD
Milestone
Audrey Eckwahl scored a pair of goals to become Frewsburg's career leader in girls soccer during the Bears' 5-4 win against Allegany-Limestone/Hinsdale.
Eckwahl's goal 26th minute for a 2-0 lead was the 86th of her career to break the school mark established by Ava Jimerson.
Digging deeper into the trend
With a pair of Suffolk County Division IV schools having recently folded their varsity teams for the 2026 season, Newsday went
looking for answers as to why schools are finding it increasingly difficult to fill out football rosters.
The paper's reporting pointed to several factors, notably athletes specializing in one sport and long-term drops in enrollment perhaps fueled at least in part by families waiting longer to have children.
"You have more people focusing on other sports, getting caught up in the travel culture," Oceanside coach Rob Blount said. "And it's really taken away from kids participating in a sport like football, which is hard and you have to give a little more time to."
Raw numbers in Section 11 appear completely at odds with one another. Census estimates show Suffolk County's population grew 4.2% from 2017 to 2025. However, BEDS data shows enrollment decreases of 15.5% at Port Jefferson and 15.9% at Amityville from 2017-18 to the current school year.
Newsday reported that of the 124 Long Island school districts, 91 show enrollment declines of at least 10% in the past decade.
The 'pajama paparazzi' and America's new side hustle
Front Office Sports, which does a lot of quality reporting on the industry, recently highlighted a trend in scholastic sports: The proliferation of people
armed with smart phones who are ringing playing fields and basketball courts to capture video.
And it's more than just reporters saddled with multi-tasking in this era of shrinking media company staffs:
"Front Office Sports spoke with high school administrators, coaches, and local journalists from around the country who described a similar phenomenon: Sidelines and baselines are increasingly populated with a new class of 'private content creators,' often hired by players or their parents via casual, modest-sum agreements.
"Social media has made sports-content creation into an accessible job -- or at least a decent side hustle. Meanwhile, the proliferation of NIL opportunities throughout the high school ranks has left young athletes and their families with an insatiable appetite for personalized photos and videos. (As one AD in Ohio puts it: 'Everyone has a media company now.')"
A recruiting analyst for 247Sports told the website that big matchups in Texas that used to attract 10 to 15 members of local and regional media now routinely draw as many as 80 other photographers and videographers."
The director of media services at the Arizona Interscholastic Association says he and his colleagues call them the "pajama paparazzi."
It's increasingly a concern for schools, if for no other reason than the potential liability stemming from injuries. A percentage of these amateur videographers and media start-ups doesn't grasp the dangers inherent in crowding the field to get a better angle for capturing video.
"I don't fault these people, especially the kids, for wanting to get out there," said Arianna Grainey, an Arizona-based photojournalist. "But there's little to no sense among them of the game, of where you can and can't be -- just general sideline etiquette, really."
A Georgia high school has taken a novel approach to paring back the scrum. Northgate High School has started charging individuals $25 for media credentials if they are not representing a known local outlet or student newspaper. The money goes back into the athletic program.
New AD at Moore Catholic
Moore Catholic has hired
Joel Ildefonso as its new athletic director following the retirement of Mike Ponsiglione after four years in charge.
Ildefonso is a New Jersey resident but knows his way around New York City. He was previously the AD at Cathedral Prep in Queens and All Hallows in the Bronx, as well as an administrator at The Academy of Mount St. Ursula in the Bronx.
