Fours are wild for local quartet
Section VI is punting, passing and kicking into unknown territory this weekend.
Never before have four local teams advanced to the state semifinals.
Waiting for them in the final four are four teams from Section IV, which comprises a region that includes much of the central Southern Tier, stretching from Corning, Horseheads and Elmira through Binghamton to Oneonta.
The winners head to the Carrier Dome for next week’s state championship games.
The state semifinals are being held this weekend at Paetec Park in Rochester. The action starts today with the 5 p. m. Class D game between Maple Grove (11-0) and Walton (11-0). Following that is the Class A game between Sweet Home (11-0) and Corning West (10-1).
On Saturday at noon, Southwestern (11-0) plays Elmira Notre Dame (9-2) in the Class C game. The final game of the weekend is the 6 p. m. Class AA showdown between Orchard Park (11-0) and Binghamton (11-0).
“It’s like a brotherhood,” Orchard Park coach Gene Tundo said of the Section VI teams.
For last weekend’s Far West Regionals at the University at Buffalo, Section VI teams used locker rooms at nearby Sweet Home.
“At Sweet Home, they couldn’t have been nicer — they were cheering us on, saying, ‘Coach, go get ’em,’ Tundo said. “[The four teams] says how far football in Western New York has come. I think everybody’s getting better.”
Orchard Park was the lone Section VI team to advance to the state semifinals last year. That was a common occurrence for local state semifinalists — only one Section VI team advanced to the semifinals the previous six years.
This year Section VI not only has quantity but quality. Three of the teams are ranked first in this week’s state polls: Orchard Park (AA), Sweet Home (A) and Southwestern (C). In Class D, Maple Grove is ranked second to Walton.
It is the second final four appearance for both Orchard Park (last year) and Maple Grove (1998 state champions) while it is the first for longtime Section VI powers Sweet Home and Southwestern.
“It’s a great step,” said Southwestern coach Jay Sirianni. “A couple years ago we had won our first section championship in 2004 and then we lost in the Far West Regionals. Now we’re taking the next step. I’d like to jump a couple of steps and go right to the state championship, but we’re in a battle [in the semifinals].”
Since the state championship format began in 1993, Section VI has advanced to 26 state semifinals, going 16-10 in those games. While Section VI has an 11-5 record against Section III (Syracuse area) in those games, it is 5-5 against Section IV.
“We want to go all the way,” said Sweet Home junior two-way standout Deshanaro Morris. “We want to get to Syracuse.”
Among football sections, Section IV is the second-smallest section with 47 schools. Section VI is the second-largest with 78.
Section IV has had four teams in the final four only once before — in 2005 (A-Corning East, B-Chenango Forks, C-Sidney and D-Deposit).
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