Leading off today: There will be no Friday Night Lights, nor Saturdays for that matter at Brocton and Archbishop Walsh this fall. Both have dropped varsity football after fighting a losing numbers battle.
Brocton went into the summer with 44 players signed up to play varsity or JV football, but actual turnout for the first day of practice this week was much lower. Coach Terry Presto was able to improvise a year ago by utilizing freshmen, but that wasn't viable this fall.
"I couldn't do it this year with a clear conscious,'' Presto he told The Post-Journal. "Last year we were playing more schools our size. It was just too tough to carry a varsity team this year - especially with Silver Creek, Randolph and Frewsburg in our Division."
Brocton will field a JV team this fall.
The Buffalo News reported this week that Archbishop Walsh also had dropped its varsity program, leaving St. Mary's without a homecoming opponent.
A change at East Rochester: Linda Michele, who coached East Rochester to three NYSPHSAA Class C field hockey championships in the last five seasons, has stepped down.
Her 10-season record was 185-28-12 record, including 21-0 last year en route to a fifth straight Section 5 title and the state championship.
The Democrat and Chronicle reported Michele is being replaced by Maddie Watrobski, a spring graduate of Colgate University. She inherits a 94-game unbeaten streak against Section 5 opponents.
Jim Brown's coach dies: Dr. Edward Walsh, who
