Section V football season kicks off: 8 games to watch in Week 1

All of the build-up to season openers is almost complete for most teams in Section V football.

While there are some teams that are sitting out because of scheduling issues, ready or not, area high school games begin this week.

Here are matchups on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to keep an eye on:

Thursday

Rush-Henrietta at Victor, 7 p.m.

This matchup is called the Teddi Bowl, a game played each season to celebrate and assist Camp Good Days. Proceeds, including donations, go to this organization that helps families impacted by cancer and sickle cell anemia. The Victor Blue Devils defeated Aquinas in the first Teddi Bowl in 2016.

The teams at Victor and Rush-Henrietta, where the wrestlers have participated in the Takedown Cancer Duals which benefit Camp Good Days, have honorary captains and cheerleaders. They will get to soak in the excitement of a high school game at Victor, which often include a large crowd in the school's bleachers and appearances by youth athletes. A girls soccer match between Our Lady of Mercy and Victor is linked to the Teddi Bowl, and takes place 6:30 p.m. the same evening on the same campus.

The football game kicks off 7 p.m. There would be almost no surprise if Victor emerges as a contender to win the Section V Class A championship this season. The Blue Devils won eight out of 10 games in 2022. Tight end/defensive end Nick Leonard and receiver/defensive back Adam Ruffalo, two of the top 50 players in Section V, should be back in Victor's lineups.

The Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets are getting started establishing themselves in Section V Class AA, as they have new players at all but three positions. A win by the Royal Comets at Victor would be praiseworthy.

Brighton vs. Wilson/Early College at Rochester Community Sports Complex, 6 p.m.

The Brighton Bruins unwrap their team that is called a serious contender to win the Section V Class A championship. We should see a good mix of talent and experience at a few positions, including quarterback with Tyler Martinovich, a Football Championship Subdivision-level recruit of Merrimack College. Lineman Val Kondratenko also could end up at a Division I school. This is the fourth season as a starter for tight end/defensive end Thomas Welker.

Wilson/Early College has a new coach, assistants and a reachable target of topping last year's one-win season. Beating the Bruins would be some kind of debut. The 2017 Wildcats are the last team in the Rochester City School District to win a Section V championship.

Friday

Pembroke at Red Jacket, 4 p.m.

These have been the two best 8-man teams in Section V recently. Pembroke took over the No. 1 spot from then two-time defending sectional champion Red Jacket last season and finished ranked No. 1 in the state by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

It could be difficult for Pembroke senior running back/linebacker Tyson Totten to top his 2022 season, which concluded with him as the state's 8-man player of the year. He scored 47 touchdowns and rushed for 3,174 yards. Red Jacket finished in the top four of Section V's 2022 8-man sectional points standings and picked up its sixth win of the season before falling to Canisteo-Greenwood during the sectional semifinals.

University Prep at Aquinas, 6 p.m.

UPrep or University Prep probably has won the fictional title informally passed out in the preseason known as "the best team in Section V." Coaches in the area, and not just ones eager to shift attention or pressure away from their teams and to UPrep, see talented Griffins all over the field. "UPrep has a lot of the pieces that you need," according to McQuaid coach Bobby Bates, whose team scrimmaged the Griffins.

Senior offensive lineman Dallas Harris was voted on to the 2022 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Large Schools Team by Section V coaches. Senior receiver/defensive end/safety Tyrell Simmons Jr. had six offers to play on scholarship as of mid-August, senior receiver Juelz Russell three. It will be a surprise if senior defensive end/H-back Isaiah Moonschein fails to raise his profile in Section V circles. Junior quarterback Tavion Byrd, who is in his second year at UPrep, not only is called "the definition of a true double threat," by Griffins coach Isiah Young, but also has a "maturity beyond his years." Junior running back CJ Robinson rushed for 1,442 yards and scored 16 touchdowns last season - with Aquinas. And there could be more UPrep players ready to establish themselves.

There is a bit of that going on at Aquinas, where there is a new coach, a handful of 2022 starters back on the team and a long history of winning, plus the expectations which come with that. Robinson appeared to be the team's best offensive player and now is lining up against Aquinas, adding a small twist to this game.

“He’s a very productive player," Aquinas coach Maurice Jackson said. "His vision is second to none. He’s twitchy, so he's cutting on the dime (to get away from defenders).

"He’s someone we will always have to worry about stopping."

Webster Schroeder at Brockport, 7 p.m.

Excitement about the potential of the Brockport Blue Devils continues to grow, thanks to a three-game winning streak in 2022 that put the team into the sectional semifinals. One of those victories came during the playoffs against an Irondequoit team that defeated the Blue Devils 33-8 earlier that October.

"We’re a totally different team than the first week, when we played East,” Brockport coach Scott Nugent said then. "It really helps when your quarterback turns into a stud. He's a different level."

Landon Scott, a junior, is at the steering wheel of an offense that includes 10 of the 11 starters in 2022. Playmaking senior running back/wide receiver Nate Parker also is one of them. Continuity can be a beautiful, or at least productive, thing. Is it enough for the Blue Devils to defeat Webster Schroeder at this point in time?

The Webster Schroeder Warriors could have a good thing going, too. They reached a sectional final with Mike Stumpf as coach for the first time in 2022, a 10-win season. There is trust that Justin Maier, Gavin Horton, Brady Zenkel, Will Bigham, Anthony DeRosa and other Schroeder seniors can keep the Warriors at the top of this section's Class A pack.

Pittsford at Hilton, 7 p.m.

Which one of these teams in Class AA wins this one? Is this a high-scoring game or a defensive struggle? What does the Pittsford offense look like after the graduation of three 2022 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Football Large School Team members? There was some buzz during the preseason about senior receiver Luke Fliss.

This is the season after for the Hilton Cadets, a 2022 state Class A semifinalist and Section V champion. The Cadets move into Class AA with seven starters back on offense and defense including senior quarterback Colton Thorp, 2022 AGR defensive back/running back Robert Lowry and junior linebacker Braydon Pike.

Bath Haverling at LeRoy, 7 p.m.

These contenders for the Section V Class C title are sizing up each other early.

The LeRoy Oatkan Knights, who nearly reached last season's sectional final, have a healthy number of 2022 starters back with Tommy Condidorio at quarterback, plus running back/linebackers Drew Strollo and Jackson Fix. They also have a new coach, Mike Humphrey. They all would like to start the march to the team's first sectional title since 2014.

Bath Haverling's last football championship came in 2015. The Rams fell apart last season because of injuries, so they are putting their team back together with two-way lineman Ethan Brotz, senior running back/defensive back Jordan Miller-Vogt, two-way lineman Dyllan Becker among seven starters back on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Their first test comes against the LeRoy team that knocked the Rams out of the first round of sectionals.

Saturday

Rochester Prep/Eugenio Maria de Hostos vs. Vertus, 4 p.m. at Gates Chili

Call this the "Newcomer Bowl," although Rochester Prep players have played with the merged team at Bishop Kearney for years.

This is the first varsity season for the Rochester Prep/Eugenio Maria de Hostos team, and second for Vertus. Both teams at charter schools in the city are seeking their first win, so this could also be called the "No. 1 Bowl."

A shout out to Gates Chili for agreeing to host. In a way, it's promoting high school football. Gates Chili's football stadium opened in 2019.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V football: 8 games to watch in Week 1