Photo credit: Steve Ognibene
| Monday, October 15, 2018 | BataviasBest.org
The 2018 Section V Football regular season is now complete and five local teams are looking ahead to the playoffs. There were some surprises in terms of a few squads’ final seeding following Week 7, but nevertheless I’m sure they’re all happy to be playing meaningful football going into late October.
Here are the final seedings with a bit of commentary as to who wound up where:
CLASS B
Batavia (7-0) went undefeated during the regular season, as they were able to secure the top-seed with a win over Bath-Haverling in Week 7. The Blue Devils will take on a scrappy Newark (3-4) team who brought Class C’s top-seed, East Rochester/Gananda, to the brink earlier this year. Newark beat Geneva in Week 6 which is what allowed the Reds to secure the eight-seed despite the Panthers also finishing the season at 3-4. Look for my game preview and prediction for all of this weekend’s local contests, coming on Friday morning.
Batavia earned the top-seed in Class B. Photo credit: Steve Ognibene
Honeoye-Falls Lima (6-1) won what appeared to be a huge game in Week 7 when they overcame University Prep (5-2) by a final score of 14-8 on a last second touchdown, but it provided them with a seed which is only one higher than that of the Griffins. However, their Week 7 victory does allow them to play that game at home which does amount for something. This is sure to be another classic contest.
The fact that three-seed Wayne (6-1) defeated previously mentioned East Rochester/Gananda earlier this year is what gave them the nod over HF-L in terms of their spot in the final regular season standings. That win broke a tiebreaker between the Eagles and Cougars, who both finished the regular season with 44 sectional points. Wayne now looks ahead to a matchup with last year’s champ Hornell (3-4), who is undergoing a down year, but may be able to keep pace with the Eagles in this one. I’m expecting a close game here.
Lastly, perhaps Batavia’s top-competition for the 2018 title, Livonia (6-1) finished as the number two seed due to sectional points and takes on a Monroe (3-4) team which suffered a close 28-22 loss to Class AA’s Webster Thomas in Week 7. Monroe’s athleticism could give the Bulldogs trouble, and I think this could be a potential upset next week.
CLASS C
East Rochester/Gananda (6-1) tied three other teams atop the sectional standings after Week 7, but they had the best win of the three – a victory over Penn Yan – which is what vaulted them over the Mustangs, and Letchworth/Warsaw. The Bombers will take on Waterloo (3-4) in the first round, who fell to Geneva last week, a team which didn’t even make the Class B postseason. This will likely be an easy game for ER/G.
Le Roy, Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen, and Bishop Kearney/Rochester Prep all finished 3-4 as well, but Waterloo beat them out in terms of sectional points, and all three will miss the postseason as a result.
Attica will have a tough matchup in the first round of the Class C Playoffs. Photo credit: | Batavia’s Best
Attica (5-2) finished with less sectional points than Wayland-Cohocton (5-2) so the Blue Devils will have to head to Wayland this week to face the Eagles. This is a tough break for Attica, as they’ll now have to take an hour-long bus ride to their first round game. Not only that, Way-Coh is a solid team which has scored 164 points over the last three weeks. This will be the game to watch in Class C next week. Look for my game preview and prediction for all of this weekend’s local contests, coming on Friday morning.
Letchworth/Warsaw (6-1) was the odd-man out at the top of the Class C standings, but still have a first round home game coming up, as they’ll host Mynderse (4-2), who didn’t play a game in Week 7. The Blue Devils lost to Pembroke (2-5) earlier this year, and all but one of their wins came against Class D teams. This should be an easy game for L/S.
Penn Yan (6-1), because of the tiebreaker with ER/G, will be the top-team on the other side of the bracket and will take on Dansville (4-3) in the first round of the Class C postseason. P/Y beat up on Midlakes last week, while Dansville ran away with a win over Dundee. Penn Yan is a legitimate title contender and they should beat up on Dansville this week.
CLASS D
Alexander (7-0) earned the top-seed in Class D, finishing ten points ahead of the second place team. The Trojans will square-off with Red Jacket (4-3), who finished behind Dundee in the final standings due to their lack of sectional points. Look for my game preview and prediction for all of this weekend’s local contests, coming on Friday morning.
Alexander is looking to win their second title in the last three years. Photo credit: | Batavia’s Best
Perry/Mt. Morris (4-3) is looking forward to their first home sectional game since 1996, and will play a Lyons (4-3) team who they defeated 28-0 earlier this season. This will be a walk-over for the Yellowjackets.
The game I’m most looking forward to this weekend features two local teams, as Notre Dame (4-2) will host York/Pavilion (4-3) on Saturday afternoon.
The Irish beat out the three 4-3 teams in Class D due to their sectional points per game average, and come in as the three-seed as a result. The Golden Knights earned their first sectional berth in quite some time, and have won three-straight. Look for my game preview and prediction for all of this weekend’s local contests, coming on Friday morning.
Canisteo-Greenwood (5-2) absorbed a loss to Notre Dame earlier this year and wound up with the two seed in Class D. The Redskins will face-off with Dundee (3-4) in the first round, who beat out fellow 3-4 team Geneseo, and 4-3 Red Jacket for the seven seed. I expect C-G to win this game by double digits.
Stay tuned for a complete 2018 Sectional Preview – coming later this week.
