Leading off today: Steve Grandin spends a chunk of each weekend compiling the state's high school football scores and then assessing the reports from a network of helpers across New York to produce the weekly NYSPHSAA rankings.
Mid-week, he looks at the schedule for the upcoming weekend and gives us a heads-up on matchups between ranked teams.
For a non-playoff block on the schedule, this weekend is loaded with numerous such head-to-head games. Here's the rundown, but stick around beyond the list to see what's missing:
CLASS AA
#1 Iona Prep vs. #17A Fordham Prep
#4 Monsignor Farrell vs. #11 Cardinal Hayes
#7 Ward Melville vs. #9 Sachem North
#10 Canisius vs. #14 Syracuse CBA
#12 Erasmus Hall vs. #19 Tottenville
#16 Middletown vs. #23 Newburgh Free Academy
#18 Bennett vs. #27 Lancaster
#29 Rush-Henrietta vs. #7A Hilton
CLASS A
#1 Garden vs. #12 Carey
#6 St. Joseph by the Sea vs. #15 Xavier
#7 Hilton vs. #29AA Rush-Henrietta
#8 Kellenberg vs. #23 Xaverian
#9 Rye vs. #18 Harrison
#11 South Side vs. #8B Plainedge
#19 Williamsville North vs. #21 West Seneca West
#22 West Genesee vs. #29 Fayetteville-Manlius
#25 A Philip Randolph vs. #28 New Utrecht
#26 Union-Endicott vs. #7B Maine-Endwell
CLASS B
#2 Sayville vs. #2C Bayport-Blue Point
#7 Maine-Endwell vs. #26A Union-Endicott
#8 Plainedge vs. #11A South Side
#10 Port Jervis vs. #20 Beacon
#19 Seaford vs. #22 Malverne
#21 Schalmont/Duanesburg/Berne-Knox-Westerlo vs. #6D Greenwich
#24 McKinley vs. #29 Maryvale
CLASS C
#1 Chenango Forks vs. #19 Windsor
#2 Bayport-Blue Point vs. #2B Sayville
#3 Bronxville vs. #8 Pleasantville
#5 Alexander/Pembroke vs. #13 Hornell/Arkport/Canaseraga
#10 Gouverneur vs. #15 Potsdam
#11 General Brown vs. #20 Holland Patent
CLASS D
#6 Greenwich vs. #21B Schalmont/Duanesburg/Berne-Knox-Westerlo
#7 Tioga vs. #15 Groton
EIGHT-MAN
#9 Lansing vs. #10 Unatego/Franklin/Unadilla Valley
Two really good Class B teams are idle this weekend
The two best small schools in Section 5 -- and they're both in the conversation for best team in any class -- will be spectators this weekend.
East/World of Inquiry, ranked sixth in the state in Class B with a 4-1 record, wasn't able to schedule an opponent this weekend, marking the second time this fall the Eagles were left without a game. Week 1 turned into a bye when Wilson/Early College folded its team due to a season-ending lack of players.
That's unfortunate, but not necessarily a blow. A week off at this stage of the season can do wonders for healing some bumps and bruises.
WEEK 7 FOOTBALL FULL SCHEDULE
WEEK 7 RANKED TEAMS SCHEDULE
The same cannot be said for Monroe, another Rochester City School District team. The Red Jackets are defending NYSPHSAA champions and have shared the No. 1 ranking in Class B all season.
Monroe finds itself without a game for the third consecutive week. On the heels on an open week and then a forfeit by Batavia last week, the team is off again in Week 7 because it was the Red Jackets' turn to face Wilson/Early College.
I wouldn't even be mentioning any of this if not for the fact that Monroe was also without a Week 8 opponent until deep into the summer. Had the Red Jackets not lined up a game against Canisius, they could have gone a full month between games.
There are a couple of factors at play here.
First, the Rochester City School District faces the same challenges as many other urban school districts, and then some. The district lists 11 high schools, but the combined talent of seven of them literally would not add up to enough to beat University Prep, a charter school operating in the city. Instead, athletes from those schools are combined with the four others (three now that Wilson/Early College folded its team) across Rochester.
It means that even with scheduling help from RCAC league partner McQuaid Jesuit the RCSD can't generate a full schedule for its teams without help.
That became an issue this season when Section 5 did away with federation scheduling and returned teams to their traditional league alignments for the regular season.
It was necessitated by nearly 20 teams choosing to play independent schedules, which disqualified them from playing sectionals but allowed them to reduce travel and maintain traditional rivalries.
The 21 Monroe County Public School Athletic Conference teams, several of which would be natural matches for the city schools based on size and ability, understandably opted for a nearly completely self-contained schedule that left few open dates.
In short, the decision by Section 5 schools to fix one problem has created another, albeit one that affects fewer schools. Still, it's not going unnoticed.
During last week's meeting of the NYSPHSAA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, Camaron Johnson, the director of athletics for the RCSD, noted the scheduling challenges and referred to one of the elephants in the room: Given the amount of talent Monroe had returning from its state championship team, there wasn't exactly a long line of schools eager to sign up for a likely loss.
It's not much different than the Section 3 schools that dropped Syracuse CBA from their schedules this fall. Add it to the list of concerns facing New York high school football.
Milestone
In addition to numerous tournament-play victories, Irondequoit girls volleyball coach Marc Callari now has 500 match wins. He reached the milestone Thursday with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-12 victory over Greece Athena.
Passings
Joshua Virgil, who returned to Fabius-Pompey to work as a coach after a 1998 auto accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, died Oct. 5. He was 49.
He returned to his alma mater in 1999 as an assistant baseball coach, later adding soccer and basketball to his resume.
Virgil was also a founding member and vice president of the Syracuse Spinal Association and served for 15 years as a member of the Fabius Fire District Board of Commissioners.
In 2022, with Virgil as an inspiration for the bill, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill allowing qualified individuals with disabilities to serve as head coaches when paired with a CPR-certified staff member.
Early contender for quote of the year
Watching his daughters, Baldwinsville teammates Mira and Sonia Nadzan, play for the Section 3 girls tennis Division 1 championship on Thursday was agonizing for Joe Nadzan.
"I felt like I was going to throw up the entire time. It was tough. It's great that they're in that position. But it's also very unfortunate that someone had to lose."
Mira defeated Sonia 6-3, 6-2 to hand her sister her first loss this season.
The sisters formed a doubles team a year ago that advanced to the state semifinals. This year was spent in the singles bracket.
"We knew Oct. 15 this was gonna happen," their mother, Nisha Singh, told Syracuse.com. "Last year was amazing. That was actually Mira's only year playing doubles. But what a magical run they had. But we knew (Thursday's match) was a reality, unfortunately."
Alumni news
Connor Faello played three years of varsity soccer for Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK before departing for his senior year to play for the New York Red Bulls' Academy team.
Two weeks ago, he got the opportunity of which dreams are made. Needing to fill out a roster depleted by eight players with national team obligations, coach Michael Bradley called the 18-year-old prospect up to the MLS roster as the Red Bulls clinged to potential home-field advantage in the upcoming playoffs.
Not only did Faello dress for the game, he played 27 minutes in a 3-0 loss.
Recognition for more coaches
• Maple Hill will honor boys coach Dan Gillespie by renaming its soccer fields to Gillespie Fields this weekend. Gillespie, who began coaching in 1974, has guided the Wildcats to 783 wins, three NYSPHSAA titles, 24 Section 2 championships, and 27 league crowns. He was enshrined into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame this summer.
• The William Floyd School district will recognize Paul Longo by naming the varsity football field in his honor Saturday.
Longo coached the Colonials for 31 years, including 26 Suffolk County playoff appearances, and became the winningest public schools coach in Section 11 history. He led the Colonials to 253 wins over 31 years.
