Kicking off: Be "four-warned" that the defending NYSPHSAA champions from the left end of the state may not be ready to change their winning ways just yet.

   Orchard Park, Jamestown Southwestern and Maple Grove opened with victories on Friday, and defending Class A champion Sweet Home kicked off its 2009 football season with a 35-16 victory yesterday vs. Clarence.

   Quarterback Pat McMahon went 7-for-15 for 105 yards and a TD and also ran for two scores for the Panthers in their 14th straight victory. The Sweet Home defense allowed just 150 yards of total offense, and Kyle Luchey intercepted two passes.

   First down: Walton moved up to Class C this fall based on enrollment numbers, and the Warriors opened with a 20-19 victory over Class B Windsor courtesy of Phil Hanley's second touchdown with 4:20 to go in the rivalry game.

   The game-deciding drive covered 14 plays and 69 yards, and then Chris Calabrese and Evan Boyd clinched the outcome with a fumble recovery and an interception, respectively, on the subsequent Windsor possessions.

   Windsor had taken a 19-14 lead on the second scoring connection of the day from David Goetz to Mark Feggins, this one going for 20 yards midway through the third quarter.

   Second down: Hours after Syracuse University met Minnesota there, Liverpool made sure there would be no gut-wrenching late loss of its own by storming to a 42-14 victory against Fayetteville-Manlius at the Carrier Dome.

   Greg Bell scored three toucdowns as part of a 21-carry, 138-yard night as the Warriors raced to a 42-7 lead at the half. QB Cam Jones completed went 10-for-14 for 148 yards and three TDs, one being a 50-yard play to Bell early in the second quarter for a 28-0 lead.

   Third down: Eldred senior Ian Halloran rushed for 191 yards and three TDs and returned an interception 30 yards for another score in a 56-3 win vs. Tri-Valley. Afterward, he dedicated the game to his mother Darlene, still hospitalized after emergency surgery for an aneurysm at Westchester Medical Center last weekend, The Times Herald-Record reported.

   "It was very emotional for Ian," Eldred coach Frank Kean told the paper. "But he felt very good after this kind of game."

   Jordan Tice tacked on 88 yards and two touchdowns for the winners.

   Fourth down: Susan Wagner QB Jordan Rodriguez made a sparkling season debut with 158 yards and two TDs to Michael Ellam on 7-for-8 accuracy to power a 32-14 win over Boys and Girls in a quality early-season PSAL matchup.

   Susan Wagner finished with 18 first downs and 395 yards of total offense, with junior Trevor Ellam rushing for

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129 yards and a score.

   With coach Al Paturzo's blessing, Rodriguez audibled out of a number of rushing plays to go to the air.

   "I saw other things that were wide open and luckily things worked out," the quartercak told The Advance.

   Junior Wilbert Lee was the Boys & Girls star, rushing for 126 yards and scoring the first of his two TDs on a 95-yard kickoff return for the 'Roos.

   Quick kicks: St. Francis of Athol Springs rallied from a three-TD deficit and beat Bethlehem (Pa.) 25-21 on the strength of three Roland Kerr scores.

   Kerr's first TD was on an 87-yard kickoff return, and he capped his day with a 10-yard TD catch from Mike Chuchla with 6:55 to play. Chuchla was 12-for-19 for 168 yards in his varsity debut.

   Senior Shane McCullough caught a 13-yard TD pass from Kyle Covley in overtime to lift Penfield to a 31-24 win vs. Marshall on the Patriots' new turf field.

   Covley was 10-for-17 for 175 yards and three TDs as Penfield ended an 11-game losing streak. Zack Cicero made 23 tackles in the win.

   The stat sheet: In Rochester, senior Desmond Auld had 12 carries for 115 yards and scored three touchdowns in a 426-yard Wildcats ground attack that fueled a 60-28 victory over Edison.

   Wilson, which rolled to a 46-8 halftime lead, next plays on Friday at Hilton, a 62-34 winner of Irondequot in the other notable Section 5 shootout of the weekend.

   Dundee's Steven Webb collected 315 yards and six TDs in just 11 carries during a 71-0 rout of Geneva DeSales.

   Scoreboard: The list of scores, compiled by NYSSWA member Steve Grandin, can be found here.