Combined Corning football squad has big ambitions

Football team is likely to challenge for Section IV Class AA bragging rights.

When Corning-Painted Post East beat Corning-Painted Post West 44-38 last November, it was more than just a rivalry game between Corning's two high schools. The teams were a cut above all of the other Class A competition in the Southern Tier, and they were playing for a Section IV football championship.

What no one knew at the time, however, was that it was quite likely the last football game between the Trojans and Vikings for many years. Though the schools continue to operate separately in most respects, all of their sports teams that had not already been merged were combined this summer in response to budget problems. Down the road, it's possible that previously rejected plans to reorganize district schools will be implemented and all of the students in grades 9-12 will move into one building.

Now, with many of the top players from each roster back this fall, the question being asked ahead of such restructuring is whether two good Class A programs add up to Corning-Painted Post East/Corning-Painted Post West emerging as a Class AA contender for the 2010 season, which begins next week.

In a section that had only four Class AA teams a year ago, Corning looks perfectly positioned to challenge as the best of the biggest.

Corning's Jordan Frysinger.

File photo by Jane Haslam

"I’m pretty excited," senior running back Jordan Frysinger said last month between lacrosse contests at the Empire State Games in Buffalo. "We've both had pretty good programs, we've both advanced to state playoffs before. Whenever you combine two good programs the odds are pretty good you'll be successful."

Frysinger, a second-team all-state selection as a junior and a Johns Hopkins recruit in lacrosse, piled up 1,686 yards and 23 touchdowns last year at East, and Trojans quarterback Brandon Griffin is back as well.

It will be up to first-year head coach Tim Hughes to blend them with West's best and build upon past success. East was 62-16 over the past seven seasons and won a New York State Public High School Athletic Association title in 2006. West went 38-28 and played in the state semifinals two years ago.

But there is anecdotal evidence that "won plus won" doesn't always add up to more success. The New York State Sportswriters Association noted last week that Pittsford and Rush-Henrietta each undertook similar mergers in the Rochester area in the mid-1980s and have combined for one Section V championship since.

Job 1 for the Corning coaches will be to soothe hurt feelings. Forty-four potential spots in the starting lineup have been reduced to 22 and more than 50 players showed up for the opening day of practice last week; a lot of seniors will spend the majority of the season watching from the sideline.

"Chemistry isn't going to be a problem," Frysinger predicted. "A lot of us have gone to school together and grew up together. We all get along."

There were positive signs over the summer after the shock of the merger began to wear off. Attendance at workouts was good, the "us vs. them" mentality didn't rear its ugly head in any meaningful way and everyone is grasping the system.

"We're going to run most of East High triple-option offense and sprinkle in some of the West High double-wing offense," Frysinger said. "We had a team camp, played some other schools like Victor and that worked out well for us.

"We had the best team camp we've had so far. The West kids are catching on to our offense and we're catching on to their offense. It's working out."

MORE CHANGES
* Corning isn’t the only Section IV team changing classes. Walton, which moved up after winning the NYSPHSAA Class D title in 2007, has dropped back down to Class C based on the new enrollment numbers.

* Geneva, a state champ in Class B in 2006, has moved up to Class A in Section V this fall.

* Carm Audino unexpectedly resigned as coach at Catholic Central (Troy) this week and has been replaced by assistant Ray Gaston, The Times Union reported. The Crusaders, coming off a 2-6 season, have not reached the Section II playoffs since 1989 and have not been better than .500 since 2000.

* A schedule imbalance forced Section III to re-do the schedule of 11 of its remaining 14 Class D schools this week. A late decision by Bishop Grimes (East Syracuse) to drop Hamilton because of low player turnouts for practice left multiple teams scrambling for games, a situation resolved by the Section III committee.

There may be a similar development in Section IV, where the late Corning merger followed by the Southern Springs (Aurora) decision to drop football left multiple schools a game short.