It has already been established that Baker of Baldwinsville is the team of a century, as the Bees celebrated 100 years of football with September festivities. Now it’s time to find out if they have their team of the century.
With starting quarterback Niko Manning sidelined by a bruised spleen, Malik Burks put the team on his back and carried the Bees to the Section III Class AA championship on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Burks ran 43 times for 243 yards and three touchdowns to beat back Syracuse Christian Brothers Academy 30-12.
Burks, a fourth-team all-state selection by the New York State Sportswriters Association last fall as a junior, has accumulated more than 2,400 yards this fall.
"If you come to Baldwinsville as a running back, be prepared to carry the rock," 25th-year coach Carl Sanfilippo told The Post-Standard after the Bees won their first sectional crown since 1989. "That’s what Malik does."
The Bees started to take charge midway through the third quarter following a short CBA punt. Burks ran six consecutive times for 23 yards, and junior QB Casey Colligan punched it in from the 1 for a 15-12 lead. Early in the fourth quarter, Burks followed a fumble recovery with a 1-yard scoring run to turn it into a two-possession margin.
Baldwinsville, which won a total of nine games from 2006 to 2008, is 10-0 heading into a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA quarterfinal Saturday at 5 p.m. versus Section IV champion Union-Endicott at Vestal High School. The school’s only prior taste of post-sectional football came in 1989, when Baldwinsville beat Saratoga Springs 9-7 in a regional; the fully-fledged state tournament did not begin until 1993.
Sanfilippo took over as head coach in the 1980s from Bob Casullo, who has gone on to a long career as a college and NFL assistant coach, and he is the son of Joe Sanfilippo, who won 170 games in 40 seasons at Jamestown before retiring in 1982.
Carl Sanfilippo is an impressive 151-71-3 in his own right, and a lot of that has to do with continuity on the coaching staff. Varsity assistant Mark Bader and JV coach Dave Schrader have been on Sanfilippo’s staff from the start. Volunteer coach Dan Quackenbush has been there since 1986, and three others have been on the staff for at least 15 years.
State finals merely a formality?
There will be three games next weekend that could reasonably be described as contests that might make the state finals on Thanksgiving weekend somewhat of a borderline formality.
Dan Scalo, Monroe-Woodbury
File photo by Kevin Yen
* In Class AA, Monroe-Woodbury is ranked first and New Rochelle second by the NYSSWA heading into their quarterfinal. Matt Hefter's interception of a Rian White throw near midfield sealed Monroe-Woodbury's 35-27 victory over Warwick.
The Crusaders won their sixth straight title and extended their Section 9 winning streak to 51 games, building a 28-7 lead and then hanging on.
White's 35-yard touchdown pass to John Babin midway through the fourth quarter was his sectional-record 31st on the year and Babin's 19th scoring grab was also a record.
In Section 1, New Rochelle dominated North Rockland 38-0, with Louis DiRiaezo returning two fourth-quarter interceptions for scores.
* In Class A, the winner of the Sweet Home-Aquinas game the last two seasons has gone on to win the championship two weeks later in Syracuse. No. 1 Sweet Home scored the only two TDs after halftime to rally past Grand Island 20-13 for its third straight Section VI crown. Mikal Coleman's 1-yard run tied the score on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Ralph Neasman ran 11 yards with 5:20 to play for the winning score.
No. 3 Aquinas defended its Section V championship with a 31-17 win over McQuaid. Mike Messina (25 carries, 134 yards) broke open a 7-3 game with a 66-yard TD run midway through the third quarter, and Manny Magliocco threw an in-stride strike to junior Chris Bostick for 66 yards to start the fourth quarter.
* In Class B, top-ranked Seaford from Section VIII does not compete in the NYSPHSAA tournament, so the matchup between No. 2 Cheektowaga and No. 3 Hornell is a high-stakes event. Cheektowaga is coming off a 27-13 win vs. Alden. Hornell dispatched Livonia 32-7.
Other Class AA contenders making noise
Two of the three teams that cracked 50 points on the scoreboard in NYSPHSAA sectional finals did so nearly simultaneously, setting up an interesting state Class AA quarterfinal next weekend.
North Tonawanda put up 34 points in the second quarter, took advantage of eight turnovers and dominated Lancaster 54-7 in the Section VI championship at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Senior Steve Kijowski scored four touchdowns, junior Joe Montesanti scored three and senior Mike Tuzzo threw for two.
NT senior Darrik Bloomfield recovered a fumble to set up the game's first score and also picked off two passes.
Next up for North Tonawanda is a trip to Rochester on Saturday to take on Webster Schroeder. The Warriors walloped Gates Chili 52-14 as Pete Noto rolled up 19 carries for 207 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He also caught two passes for 64 yards and another score. Schroeder finished with 523 yards of total offense.
Kickers produce in the clutch
* Junior Quinn Rasmus' first varsity field goal, a 39-yarder with 2.9 seconds left, gave Hoosick Falls a 17-14 victory vs. Chatham in the Section II Class C final. Hoosick Falls drove 10 plays and 58 yards in 1:30 to set up the winning kick, with junior Mike Brewster completing seven throws for 52 yards in the sequence.
"I looked at the clock and realized we didn't have time to give him a few more yards," coach Ron Jones said of Rasmus, a soccer player before this season. "I told him to get out there and just kick with his normal swing. He was great."
Junior Josh Keyes (31 carries, 151 yards), tied the game with a 4-yard, fourth-down carry with 7:24 to play in the run-up to Rasmus' heroics.
"Yes, I would have liked to have been a few yards closer, but what can you do?" Rasmus told The Times Union. "I just wanted to keep my cool. This was definitely the biggest kick I ever made, including on the soccer field."
* Bryon Palmer's 30-yard field goal in overtime capped a rally from a two-TD deficit and carried Johnson City to a 17-14 victory over Maine-Endwell for the Section IV Class B football crown. M-E led 14-0 after Nate Reynolds ran 27 yards for his second touchdown with 46.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter. On the subsequent possession, JC's Troy Robinson scored on a 68-yard pass play on first down.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Josh Halladay scored on a 13-yard run, and Palmer added the two-point conversion with a catch off a deflected throw. M-E opened overtime with a four-and-out series on a fourth-and-6 incompletion. Johnson City then picked up seven yards on three plays to set up the winning kick.
Class D champion eliminated
Reigning state Class D player of the year Chris Secky's extra-point attempt sailed wide right with 1:40 to go, allowing Randolph to beat Maple Grove 21-20, avenging a 7-6 loss in the season opener and ousting the defending Section VI and NYSPHSAA champions.
Randolph controlled the flow with a ground game that churned out 252 yards in 59 attempts. Senior Matt Hettenbaugh ran 30 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Sweet Home and Class C Jamestown Southwestern are the only defending champions still alive in the NYSPHSAA tournament.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
