Leading off today: Former Henninger football and basketball star Kihary Blue died yesterday, six days after being critically wounded in a drive-by shooting on I-81 in Syracuse, The Post-Standard reported. He was 19.

   Blue was shot late Friday night, and another passenger in the car was also wounded. That incident triggered more violence over the weekend, including a Sunday shooting that left a 20-month-old baby dead.

   Blue was All-Central New York in football (quarterback) and basketball (guard) as a junior. He was selected 10th-team all-state in basketball as a junior and was on the seventh team as a senior.

   Blue attended Guilford Technical Community College in North Carolina last year and planned to enroll at Monroe Community College in Rochester next month, his family said.

   Gatorade award: Tight end and defensive lineman Ishaq Williams of Abraham Lincoln has been selected Gatorade's New York football player of the year, making him a candidate for the national award to be announced later this month.

   The 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior has led the Railsplitters to an 11-0 record entering Tuesday's PSAL final at Yankee Stadium. Williams has 39 tackles, seven sacks, 30 quarterback hurries and five forced fumbles on defense. He's also caught 15 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns.

   A dark day in uniform decisions? Parents in Dryden are not happy that some new school sports uniforms use a primarily black color scheme in place of the traditional purple and white. The colors were chosen by students and coaches to show power, AD Ralph Boettger said at a school board meeting this week.

   "I think uniforms should be just that -- uniform," said former football player Bob Vantine. "Hiring fashion designers for coaches is just garbage. We're purple and white, not black."

   The Ithaca Journal reported that at least two board members agree with the parents' complaint. "If you need a color to be strong and domineering, you don't believe in yourself," Karin LaMotte said. "People believe in the purple and white. What we are was pretty great, and I hate to see the black."

   St. Anthony's assistant dies: Michael Mangino, a longtime assistant football coach at St. Anthony's, died Friday in Florida while visiting family. He was 67.

   Mangino started coaching with the freshman team in 1990. He coached the wide receivers this fall for the varsity, which finished 11-0 and earned a share of the No. 1 ranking in Class AA from the New York State Sportswriters Association.

   "One of the things he always told his guys was, 'If you don't block, you can't play here," Friars head coach Rich Reichert told Patch.com. "Everyone wants to catch the ball. But you don't block you're not going to play. That's one of the reasons we're so good. Our receivers really took that to heart."

   Mangino retired as a physical education teacher in June 2009.

   Abolishing kickoffs? A medical group in New Jersey is calling for the elimination of kickoffs in high school football as a safety measure.

   "Kickoffs are the most dangerous part of football," said Dr. Vin McInerney. "Two teams are coming at one

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another full force like gladiators … that is the worst potential for injuries."

   McInerney is chairman of the Medical Society of New Jersey’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Sports, which is calling for possessions to start at the 20- or 25-yard-line rather than with kickoffs. The committee has previously been involved in installing breakaway bases on baseball diamonds and other safety measures.

   McInerney said his group would make its recommendation to the NJSIAA and the Department of Education in New Jersey in wake to the serious spinal injury suffered this fall by Rutgers University player Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed after a hit on a kickoff.

   Football final on hold: The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to resolve the matchup for its Class AAA high school football championship.

   The WVSSAC filed a petition asking the high court in Charleston to block a Kanawha County Circuit Court judge's rulings over the eligibility of four South Charleston players and seeks a hearing as soon as possible. Saturday's scheduled game has already been postponed.

   The issue stems from a brawl in the final seconds of South Charleston's Nov. 19 quarterfinal win over Hurricane High. The four South Charleston players appeared in last weekend's 29-28 semifinal win over Brooke after winning a court order setting aside an automatic one game suspension. The WVSSAC wants to declare that game a forfeit.

   Martinsburg High players have continued practicing this week while waiting for their next opponent to be determined.

   This is hardly the quirkiest turn of events in West Virginia football history. In 1963, Buckhannon-Upshur was awarded the Class AAA crown because two other teams were tied for second place in the ratings and there was no tiebreaker provision.

   Extra points: The New York State Sportswriters Association football rankings are not yet final because there are still PSAL finals to be played Saturday and Tuesday, but the No. 1 teams are locked in and will not change. ... Kingston girls basketball coach Steve Garner can pick up career victory No. 300 this weekend.