Leading off today: The injury to Buffalo Bills special-teams player Kevin Everett has triggered a handful of safety stories nationally and regionally this week, and The Star-Gazette published a local look at the subject this morning.

   "We tell these boys from the beginning not to use their helmets as a weapon. It's not a battering ram," Elmira Notre Dame coach Mike D'Aloisio told the newspaper. "Their helmets are for their protection, not to inflict pain. We teach them form tackling and to keep their heads up."

   Everett sustained a spinal-cord injury when he ducked his head as he tried to make a tackle on a kickoff. Opinions have varied on whether he used bad tackling technique.

   Friday-night football: Corning East's 15-game winning streak, dating to the start of the '06 season, ended with a 15-12 setback at home against Chenango Forks.

   Other noteworthy football developments opening Week 3 of the season included:

• David Zapata of Hornell carried 18 times for 245 yards to go over 5,000 in his career during a 37-0 triumph against Dansville. He broke off a 75-yard scoring run on the final play of the first half and stands No. 3 in Section 5 rushing history.
• Syracuse CBA beat Fayetteville-Manlius, ranked ninth in the state in Class AA, 31-21. Jared DePalma had 123 yards and a TD passing in his first start for the Brothers, who avenged a stunning loss in the 2006 sectional quartfinals.
• Lansinburgh justified its No. 1 ranking in Class A with a 27-10 triumph at No. 12 Amsterdam. Knights running backs Nyquan McGirt (120), Kenny Youngs (137) and Marcus Hepps (101) all topped 100 yards. "When I saw we were ranked No. 1, I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I hope we handle it well,' " Lansingburgh coach Pete Porcelli told The Times Union in Albany. "We did."

   Riek on the move? Plugger-in blogger Adam Zagoria says Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com reported last week that 7-foot-2 Sudanese basketball prospect John Riek has surfaced at the Winchendon School in Massachusetts and

will play for head coach Mike Byrnes. Recent reports had indicated Riek would stay at Our Savior New American in Centereach.

   If he has in fact switched schools, it's likely Riek will be classified as a post-graduate student rather than a senior -- which in theory makes him eligible for next June's NBA draft since foreign players need only to be 19 years old in the calendar year of the draft. Riek turns 19 in November.

   Also on the move: The New York Daily News reported recently that UMass coach Travis Ford has landed Tyrell Lynch, a 6-9, 230-pound forward from Niagara Falls' prolific 2004-05 team.

   Lynch spent a year at Laurinburg, N.C., Institute and was uncerimoniously dropped by Auburn because the SEC has been "advising" its schools to stay away from recruits from prep schools they deem suspect.

   The paper's Dick Weiss said Lynch is a walk-on for now but would play a big role if his transcript holds up to scrutiny.

   Milestones: The Times Union in Albany reports that Ichabod Crane junior Kylie Watt is at 99 career goals after scoring twice in a 9-0 girls soccer victory over Coxsackie on Friday. Watt scored 30 goals as a soph and has 10 in the Riders' 4-0 start this month.

   When East Irondequoit beat Pittsford Mendon on Monday, 2-1, it was the Lancers' first victory over the Vikings in boys soccer in at least 33 years according to the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester.

   Extra points: The University of Maryland already has commitments from Section 5 girls soccer standouts Amy O'Sullivan (Mercy) and Ashley Grove (Aquinas). . . . Staten Island has a couple of new ADs. Curtis has named Eric Ritzer to take over for the retired Jim Meraglia. New Dorp has turned to girls basketball coach Rich Rucireto to follow Jim Anderson, who has moved into a principal's position in Brooklyn. . . . There was a memorial service scheduled today at 2 p.m. at Trumansburg High for Chris Bond, who died Sept. 5. Bond founded the program and coached boys soccer there for 29 years before retiring after the 2005 season.

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