Leading off today: This is how you do a 180-degree reversal on multiple levels. Buffalo Bennett not only reversed a regular-season loss, the Tigers flipped the momentum at a pivotal moment and won the Section 6 Class AA football title Friday night.
Bennett foiled six Lancaster bids to score from inside the 2-yard line at the University of Buffalo and then put the game out of reach with senior Dontre Hampton's 96-yard touchdown run.
The 48-31 win advanced Bennett to the NYSPHSAA quarterfinals next weekend.
Lancaster (8-2) trailed 40-23 in the fourth quarter when it ran on six tries inside the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Hampton sealed the deal.
Hampton finished with 304 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries for Bennett (8-3), which avenged a 29-12 regular-season loss to the Legends.
"We needed a stop right there," Hampton told The Buffalo News. "There was no way we could let them in the end zone, no matter what happened, no matter if our finger broke, leg broke, anything."
Sachem North wins in two overtimes
Sachem North played for the win in the second overtime and edged Longwood 15-14 in the Section 11 Division I football semifinals.
After a scoreless first overtime, Longwood opened the second OT with Ryan Greene's 1-yard TD run and a successful extra-point kick.
Sachem North responded two plays later with senior Luke LaRocca's 21-yard scoring pass to Jon Mullaly in the back of the end zone, after which coach Dave Caputo opted to go for two points and the win.
LaRocca took the shotgun snap, looked left and rolled right. Splitting two defenders, he barreled into the end zone for the win.
"It was not an option to kick for a tie. We were going for the win," LaRocca told Newsday. "I couldn't find an open receiver, so I had to run. There was one defender out there to stop me and there was no way I was letting him do that."
Sachem North (9-1) will meet Ward Melville (10-0) for the championship Friday at Stony Brook University.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming
The two eligibility ruling appeals that were clouds over sectional football finals late this week were resolved in short order on Friday, and we can now shift the focus back to where in belongs: on the field.
First, Class D Delhi had its appeal denied by both Section 4 and the NYSPHSAA. Then, Class AA Middletown abandoned its bid for relief from a Section 9 ruling once it became apparent that it was out of cards to play in State Supreme Court in Orange County.
Afterward, Superintendent Amy Creeden promised the school district will perform "a complete and thorough investigation" into the circumstances that led Middletown to violate the NYSPHSAA representation rule and turn a perfect season into a sectional semifinal and a 9-1 final record.
"We will carefully examine the decisions, communications, oversight, and procedures involved to determine where our systems failed and what corrective actions are necessary," Creeden wrote to the school community. "This review will include accountability wherever warranted. Our scholars, families, and community deserve answers, and we have an obligation to ensure that a failure of this nature does not happen again."
Middletown coasted through it's semifinal against Valley Central and was headed for the final against Newburgh Free Academy until the issue of an ineligible player surfaced. Lawyers for Section 9 and the NYSPHSAA proved to be a more formidable opponent.
Middletown tugged at heart strings in court documents, admitting the use of the ineligible kicking specialist but suggesting that athletes shouldn't pay the price for a mistake by adults. They also contended that the player had no significant role in the game in question. Meanwhile, section and state representatives held firm that the disqualification was neither arbitrary nor capricious. They also reminded Justice Verris B. Shako that the NYSPHSAA would be opening a Pandora's box by making an exception to black-letter law in its handbook.
The NYSPHSAA filings leaned heavily on a 2014 State Supreme Court decision in which Aquinas lost its appeal in another case related to the representation rule.
(Side note: Compared to Middletown's situation, Aquinas' case was at least marginally viable. The Section 5 school's mistake was going to the wrong person to seek a waiver that would have been granted because it involved an injury. In Middletown's case none of the very limited exceptions allowing for a waiver were applicable.)
Unable to find an opening after close to two hours in court, Middletown's representatives stood down.
"With no viable path forward, the district made the difficult decision to withdraw its petition," the superintendent wrote.
Final thoughts
(1) It was apparent late in the proceedings that the State Supreme Court justice was certainly going to rule against Middletown. That's why the school district stood down.
Strictly speaking, the NYSPHSAA would have been better off over the long haul had justice Shako been required to make a ruling; it would have reinforced a precedent previously established in court.
Nevertheless, it was nice to see the rule book win out. There have been too many instances in the past decade in which judges have gone semi-rogue under the guise of not wanting to cause "irreparable harm" to the petitioner without consideration of the teams and athletes who were adversely affected by siding with someone who broke the rules.
(2) For God's sake, can school administrators please stop referring to students, athletes, and the redundant "student-athletes" as scholars?
And if you must do it, can you not do it 15 times in one concession speech?
