Section V football playoffs are here: These first-round games are most intriguing
Halloween is next week, but this Friday and Saturday may be a scary time for some Section V football teams.
For others, it'll be a treat as the start of the Section V football tournaments means that winning teams will continue their seasons and advance toward a championship.
The quarterfinal or first-round playoff games are No. 1 seeds versus No. 8s, No. 2s vs. No. 7s, No. 3s vs. No. 6s and No. 4s vs. No. 5s, with one exception.
Here are the teams which are in the tournaments, in order of seeds:
Class AA: defending champion McQuaid, University Prep, Hilton, Aquinas, Pittsford, Fairport, Penfield, Rush-Henrietta.
Class A: Victor, East/World of Inquiry, Canandaigua, Brighton, Irondequoit, Greece Arcadia, Webster Schroeder, Churchville-Chili.
Class B: Monroe, Honeoye Falls-Lima, defending champion Batavia, Wayne, Vertus, Geneva, Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton, Rochester Prep.
Class C: LeRoy, defending champion Attica/Alexander, Letchworth/Perry/Warsaw, East Rochester/Gananda, Lyons/Sodus, Hornell, Livonia, Penn Yan/Dundee.
Class D: Winner of defending champion No. 4 Oakfield-Alabama/Elba vs. No. 5 Batavia Notre Dame on Oct. 28 faces No. 1 York/Pavilion in the semifinals. No. 3 Canisteo-Greenwood vs. No. 6 Geneseo/Mount Morris winner on October 27 advances to play at No. 2 Avon.
8-man: Semifinals on October 27. No. 4 Red Jacket at No. 1 Pembroke, 7 p.m. No. 3 Caledonia-Mumford/Byron-Bergen at No. 2 Bolivar-Richburg.
Here are the matchups that standout before the playoffs kick off:
Friday
Section V football playoffs, Class A
No. 5 Irondequoit (6-2) at No. 4 Brighton (5-3), 7 p.m.
There are plenty of rematches in the tournaments. This one is a week after the first meeting, a Brighton's 42-22 victory at Irondequoit. How many surprises pop up this time for the Bruins and Eagles to deal with?
The Brighton running game was up and running and strong last week. Gavin Parks scored three touchdowns as he rushed for 225 yards. Senior quarterback Tyler Martinovich had two rushing touchdowns. Kaleb Matthews and Matthew Heininger were the most active Bruins on defense. Irondequoit has thrived on offense with a relay-like approach in its running game. Cameron Freeman is always in this mix. Jordan Nolan scored two rushing touchdowns against Brighton. Week in, week out Serah Hall takes or shares the lead among Eagles tacklers.
No. 7 Webster Schroeder (4-4) vs. No. 2 East/World of Inquiry (8-0), 6 p.m. at East High
East/WOI's ride to sectionals was smoother than most. Eagles quarterback Zymier Jackson was placed on the 2022 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Large Schools Team by Section V coaches, and has a good senior year season. Anthony Diaz, Ervin Wiggins, and Quamere Reynolds have scored touchdowns with the Eagles offense the last two weeks.
Webster Schroeder has had some kind of ride to sectionals. The Warriors won three of their first four games, the loss 15-14 at No. 1 Victor. Then came losses to Hilton, Brighton and Irondequoit which left the Warriors outside of the playoff-eligible top-eight. Jack Simpson, Anthony DeRosa and quarterback Drew Hilfiker ran for touchdowns and Justin Maier had one as a receiver to help the Warriors defeat Churchville-Chili 27-7 last week to get into the playoffs. Six Warriors caught a pass, five carried at least once. Noah Wittmer, on defense, had two sacks. Simpson and Maier were the most active defensive players.
Section V football playoffs, Class AA
No. 5 Pittsford (4-4) at No. 4 Aquinas (5-3), 7:30 p.m.
One of the three losses handed to Aquinas was from Pittsford. Aquinas coach Maurice Jackson said the 6-0 loss sparked his team, especially the offense. The Pittsford Panthers move into the Class AA tournament winners of their last two games, with the defense applying the team's stamp. Pittsford coach Keith Molinich praises assistant coach Steve Marriott for his work with the Panthers defense. Pittsford's offense might look better this week the more time goes by since the return of Luke Fliss, Sammy Renica and other starters from injury.
Aquinas owned a four-game winning streak until last week before losing to McQuaid on the last play of the rivalry game. "We're a young team. I wanted it so bad for my guys," Jackson said.
Now this Aquinas team, that has freshman quarterback Trent Buttles and freshman Noah Collins-Howard as its top connection in the passing game, either bounces back or has its season come to an end. The Aquinas defense was strong against McQuaid, which played without its starting quarterback. Junior defensive lineman Quante Gillians was a 6 foot-4 inch, 250-pound pest. If the Class AA tournament games play out by seeding, Aquinas could face all the teams it lost to during the regular season.
No. 6 Fairport (3-5) at No. 3 Hilton (6-2), 7 p.m.
There was no danger of failing to qualify for sectionals for Fairport, but the Red Raiders' 41-0 win over Greece Athena last week was a welcomed high note. That is two wins in the team's last three games after a four-game losing streak. One of those losses was 20-14 during a respectable showing against Hilton that went into overtime.
The main challenge for the Fairport defense against the Cadets remains the same. Robert Lowry found his way to the end zone against most defenses in Class AA. Last week, Lowry ran for 209 yards on 36 carries as the Cadets defeated No. 2 UPrep (7-1) 24-7 to end a two-game skid. It would be a surprise if the Cadets strayed away from the team's running game to move the ball against Fairport.
No. 8 Rush-Henrietta (1-7) at No. 1 McQuaid (8-0), 7 p.m.
The regular season matchup September 23 underlined the different stages these teams are in. McQuaid won 47-14 at Rush-Henrietta. The Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets are trying to put something together with five freshmen and 10 sophomores on the roster. They take their lumps in the classification for the largest schools and non-public schools, but made sure to get into sectionals with a 40-18 victory October 14 over winless Edison merged. Brendan Mangione, who can play in the backfield as a quarterback or on the perimeter as a receiver, had a strong game as a ballcarrier and Nasir Patton, a senior, picked up receiving yards in chunks.
The McQuaid Knights and Canandaigua own the longest current string of Section V titles. McQuaid remains undefeated in its drive for five. Last week, the Knights turned back rival Aquinas on the final play of the game. This was after playing the game without quarterback Will DiMarco, who was out with a foot injury. "On offense, I've got my guys' back, they've got my back. I think we performed. We made some little errors but I think it's nothing more that we can't fix in practice. It's just going to take some time, and that's football. You've got to progress, and I think we are doing just that," junior running back/linebacker Allen Nesmith said.
Will DiMarco be able to play this week? Should he? Can the Knights get away with another week that DiMarco is out, while trying to get past Rush-Henrietta?
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V football playoffs 2023: Schedule, top games for first round
