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2018 Week 14 (New York)

2018 Week 14 (New York)

New York has a patchwork of high school football. The largest, and most notable association, is the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. Consisting of 11 Sections across the state, it covers almost all of the public high schools in the Empire State. The lone holdouts are the New York City schools, who are members of the Public School Athletic League (PSAL). Formerly, the Buffalo City Schools were also independent, playing for the “Harvard Cup”. But have joined in the past decade or so. Continue reading “2018 Week 14 (New York)”

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2018 Week 10 (New York & Pennsylvania)

2018 Week 10 (New York & Pennsylvania)

New York has a rather intriguing post-season structure. After a seven-game regular season, a three round playoff starts. For most classes. Class AA and D only play a two-round playoff, because of how few teams are in each. So, they get an extra regular season game. Then, those that don’t qualify can play in the “Funke Bowl”, which is a two-round playoff in each class. Again, except for Class D, since there’s only four teams.

However, teams that don’t qualify for the playoffs, or lose in the Funke Bowl, can play consolation games. Some only play one additional game. However, they can play up to three. One of those, is Springville Griffith. Who plays Tonawanda in the first post season week. And then plays East Aurora/Holland in the second week. Both games on a Wednesday. And one more week, next week, on a Tuesday at Alden. Finishing at 0-7, they’re desperate to get their first victory. Last week, losing, 14-7 to the Tonawanda Warriors. Continue reading “2018 Week 10 (New York & Pennsylvania)”

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2018 Week 9 (New York & Ohio)

2018 Week 9 (New York & Ohio)

New York State generally has a seven-game regular season. In Section 6, which covers far western New York, teams that don’t qualify for the sectional playoffs, may qualify for the “Chuck Funke Bowl”, an NIT-like tournament. For the regular playoffs, it’s a three-round setup, except for Class D, which only has four teams. So, the ‘first round’ is just an eighth regular season game. Teams that don’t qualify for the Chuck Funke Bowl have the option to schedule additional games over the next two weeks. Continue reading “2018 Week 9 (New York & Ohio)”

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2018 Week 8 (Ohio & New York)

2018 Week 8 (Ohio & New York)

Week 8 was a very busy week. So, this is a bit delayed. Wednesday started with an Elton John Concert for my wife, followed by four high school games between Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and a Browns game on Sunday.

So, let’s dive in. Thursday consisted of several games in northeast Ohio. A result of a teachers’ conference that leads to many schools not having Friday classes. And many of those to play on Thursday night instead. Continue reading “2018 Week 8 (Ohio & New York)”

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2018 Week 5 (Pennsylvania & New York)

2018 Week 5 (Pennsylvania & New York)

Week 5 went nothing like I had originally planned. Some of that can be blamed on the weather, the matchups, and just my mood in general.

With no real intriguing Thursday games aside from Parma or Pittsburgh, my wife and I opted to head to Cleveland for the Browns game. It’d been over two years since my last Browns game. Having a 2 year old daughter made the choice easy to give up my season seats. But, seeing that tickets were fairly cheap on Ticketmaster meant the idea of heading to Cleveland worthwhile. Continue reading “2018 Week 5 (Pennsylvania & New York)”

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2017 Week 7 (New York)

Week 7 (New York)

Just a quick trip this past week to New York on Thursday night. This was my second all-time trip to New York for a single game. And I was a little leery. Last time I drove to the Buffalo area for a Thursday game, I found out that earlier that day the game was rescheduled for another venue on the following Saturday.

Checking with Twitter though, it appeared the game between Lake Shore and West Seneca West would still be a go for Thursday. Without any particularly interesting game elsewhere in northeast Ohio or western Pennsylvania, I took the two and a half hour trip north.

Continue reading “2017 Week 7 (New York)”

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2014 Week 11 (New York)

Week 11 (New York)

This was one of the best weekends of football I’ve gotten to experience in a while. In four days, in three cities, I and my girlfriend took in 13 NYPHSAA Sectional Championships. The week’s planning started with two triple-headers at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY. Because of a Bills home game on Sunday, the high school games were set for Thursday and Friday. This meant that Saturday would be open.

The original plan was then to drive into Pennsylvania, and see a District 10 Quarterfinal between Greenville and Northwestern, and then a short trip over to suburban Youngstown for Liberty-Gilmour Academy. It was during this planning, that I noted Syracuse was hosting four Section 3 championships at the Carrier Dome on Sunday. As the Browns were already playing on the road Thursday, I wasn’t in a big hurry to get back home. A further glance of the schedule shows Rochester was playing their regular Section 5 championships at Sahlen’s Stadium on Friday and Saturday. So, my mind was made up for me.

Continue reading “2014 Week 11 (New York)”