Union-Endicott pays Vestal a visit on a night of a Golden Bears football celebration
Union-Endicott will visit Vestal’s Dick Hoover Stadium for a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff and an event that will mix the present with past glory.
Union-Endicott comes in with an 0-2 record and 98 points allowed to take on a 2-0 Vestal team that has permitted a pair of Section 3 opponents seven points apiece. Liam Nealy rushed for 151 yards in the Golden Bears’ 19-7 win against West Genesee last week.
Vestal’s 1973 team, acknowledged as state champion, will be honored. Pre-game, players from that squad will dedicate a team monument and a commemorative coin will be tossed by four honorary captains from the 1973 team to open the game. Members of the ’73 team will be recognized on the field at halftime.
Susquehanna Valley at Windsor, 7 p.m. Friday
Windsor’s fourth game of 2023 will mark its home opener, and a dandy it figures to be against fellow unbeaten Susquehanna Valley.
The Black Knights have permitted 19 points – zero against Chenango Forks – through three games. Susquehanna Valley, however, has put up 74 in its two games while displaying a fair bit of speed from varied sources.
Windsor comes in ranked 17th in Class B, with SV No. 11 in Class C.
Maine-Endwell at Corning, 7 p.m. Friday
Maine-Endwell (2-0) should brace for a stiffer test than those experienced through two weekends. Corning comes in 0-2, though last weekend put up 40 points against a sound bunch from Syracuse CBA.
“They’re always tough. Coach Johnston does a good job, especially with that offense of his, nobody likes to play against it,” said Spartans coach Matt Gallagher. “We’re just going to get better, that’s our goal is to get better. If we do, I think we’re going to be tough to beat. It really doesn’t matter who we play, we’ve got to focus on what we do.”
More: Maine-Endwell makes short work of Owego in Week 2 of Section 4 football
Elmira at Waverly, 7 p.m. Friday
Class C versus Class AA is not a particularly common scenario in Section 4 football, nor should it be. But so it’ll be when Waverly (2-1) opposes Elmira (1-1), which is fresh off a 32-29 win at Baldwinsville.
This will be the first meeting between the programs.
Waverly’s defending Section 4 champions put up 33 first-quarter points last weekend in a 48-7 win at Sidney. The Wolverines are ranked ninth in Class C.
Horseheads at Norwich, 7 p.m. Friday
Horseheads was forced to wait until its fourth game to oppose a Section 4 squad, and does so against a Norwich group that has averaged 48 points per its three games.
The Blue Raiders (3-0), putting up 46.7 per game, are ranked 14th in Class A by virtue of wins against Columbia, Fayetteville-Manlius and Corcoran. Norwich (2-1) rolled by 56-0 last weekend over Johnson City, with Braden Hagenbuch rushing 13 times for 177 yards.
Tioga at Delhi, 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Tioga Central’s win streak was extended to a 30th game with last weekend’s 68-0 win against Harpursville/Afton, in which seven Tigers players scored touchdowns.
Delhi, 3-0 and ranked ninth in Class D, has put up 51.3 points per game, though against opposition short of the likes of what’ll be Saturday’s challenge. Tioga will board the bus for a lengthy journey sitting in its customary position atop Class D state rankings.
Tioga was a 42-14 winner against Delhi for last season’s Section 4 championship, three weeks after defeating the Bulldogs by a mere 28-21.
More: Syracuse CBA passing game keys comeback football victory over Corning
Sept. 22
Maine-Endwell at Corning, 7
Elmira at Waverly, 7
Horseheads at Norwich, 7
Union-Endicott at Vestal, 7
Whitney Point at Chenango Valley, 7
Watkins Glen/O-M at Owego, 7
Susquehanna Valley at Windsor, 7
Sidney at Lansing, 7
Deposit-Hancock vs. S-VE/Candor, 7 at S-VE
Waterloo/So. Seneca at Dryden, 7
Ithaca at Montrose, Pa., 7
Sept. 23
Johnson City at Binghamton, 1:30
Bainbridge-Guilford at Walton, 1:30
Tioga at Delhi, 1:30
Newark Valley at Harpursville/Afton, 1:30
Chenango Forks at Oneonta, 2:30
Eight-player
Sept. 22
Newfield at Unatego, 6:30
Waterville at Greene, 7
Groton at Oxford, 7
Sept. 23
Unadilla Valley at Moravia, 1
Trumansburg at Thomas A. Edison, 1:30
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Vestal’s stingy football defense has its next test against Union-Endicott
