Prep Talk

Silver Creek lacrosse standout Zed Williams has verbally committed to the University of Virginia, the senior told The Buffalo News.

Williams, a three-time first-team All-Western New York selection, said he called coach Dom Starsia of the perennial power Cavaliers recently to notify him that he would accept the school's full scholarship offer. Williams said he will sign a National Letter of Intent when the early signing period for lacrosse (and many other sports) begins Nov. 14. 

He picked Virginia over Syracuse, Ohio State and Albany. 

"It feels good," said the 6-foot-2, 185 senior. "A lot of stress has been taken off from making this decision. I finally found the spot I wanted to go. Those are the coaches I wanted to play for, like coach Starsia. I've been talking to them for a little over a year now … I just really clicked with those guys.

"I liked the campus, I liked the kids that are going there. It's far away from home, but I’ll be OK. My family has supported me. And really, I'm just following my heart."

Williams, who has also been an All-American selection the last two years, became New York State's career points leader in the final game of his junior season. He had four goals and one assists in Silver Creek's 14-13 loss to Penn Yan in the Class C Far West Regionals, giving him a total of 554 points, surpassing the mark held by Casey Powell of Carthage (and later Syracuse University).  

"I just want to thank all my coaches and my family for supporting me," said Williams. "Especially my teachers who helped me."

---Keith McShea

(@KeithMcSheaBN on Twitter)

buffalonews.com/high-schools     facebook.com/preptalkblog     twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk

Every week a panel of voters participate in The News' large and small school football polls, and every week we tell you how The News voted.

The News is one of 10 voters on the large and small school polls. 

An archive of this year's ballots: Week Eight, Week Seven, Week Six, Week Five, Week Four, Week Three, Week Two, Week One.

LARGE SCHOOLS

1. Canisius (9-0) [1] -- Another underlining of their ranking with win at St. Joe's.

2. Jamestown (8-1) [3] -- Very impressive in avenging their only loss (check out great highlights & interviews from John Hickey's video here). Look ready for their rematch with ... 

3. Orchard Park (8-1) [4] -- ... the Quakers, who did that very impressive big-second-half thing again up in Lockport. Saturday night shaping up to be a great one.

4. Sweet Home (9-0) [5] -- Routs of Starpoint and Will East, I thought, perhaps put some separation and the team below them, and perhaps it did, but I think both are as close as they've been this season after this week. I expected another big win by Sweet Home over Grand Island, which ended up a 14-0 muddy win -- all the credit to a good GI team, but when you're sizing up polls, especially at this time of year, it's something to consider.  

5. West Seneca East (9-0) [6] -- As I referenced above and wrote about last week, I thought Sweet Home had put some distance between it and WSE but I'm back to where I've been most of the season. There is something about this Trojan team that tells me that Friday night's game is going to be outstanding. 

6. Bishop Timon-St. Jude (5-4) [2] -- Loss at St. Francis didn't have any bearing on playoff implications, but it's a regular season game and considering how close I've said that the 'second six' behind Canisius have been, the Tigers certainly need to be penalized here. 

7. St. Joe's (7-2) [7] -- Marauders lost to Canisius at home by a touchdown, Timon lost the week before to Canisius by 12, Timon beat St. Joe's the week prior, so the Marauders need to be tucked behind Timon.

8. Lockport (6-3) [8] -- Excellent season by the Lions. Two losses to OP, one to St. Joe's. 

9. Frontier (6-3) [9] -- The third reason in this poll why the AA South is so tough. 

10. Grand Island (7-2) [NR] -- This week we're going with the Vikings for toughing it out at Sweet Home. They're here juuuuuuuust ahead of AA South's Clarence. 

Next on the list? Probably Iroquois and/or Will South.

SMALL SCHOOLS

1. Alden (9-0) [1] -- Commitment to excellence. 

2. Depew (7-2) [2] -- Wildcats need to stay up high. Played very well at Alden with an injured Rodney Turner not his explosive self. The Alden games are a sign of the Bulldogs' excellence, not something that can be held against the Wildcats on this list. 

3. St. Mary's (5-3) [3] -- A very solid No. 3. St. Francis looking for revenge Saturday with a big trip to The Ralph on the line. 

4. Maple Grove (9-0) [5] -- Red Dragons looking very, very strong.

5. Springville (5-4) [7] -- Best story of the season. 

6. Burgard (6-2) [6] -- Tough slotting in very good teams from very good classes/divisions once their season is over, but we think the Bulldogs would be OK in matchups with the C South squads.

7. Cleveland Hill (7-2) [9] -- Golden Eagles follow great win at Salamanca with great win at Wilson, which they handled much easier than I thought, which is part of the reason I give them the slightest of edges, poll-wise, over a team it lost to on the road in the ...

8. Fredonia (7-2) [NR] -- ... Hillbillies, who marked off a top road win of their own in the mud at JFK. Check out the muddy uniforms in the highlights, and even the mud on the face of the players in the interviews, in Charles Lewis' great video.

9. Randolph (7-2) [10] -- They might move up depending on what we see this weekend after their classic matchup against Maple Grove.

10. JFK (7-2) [8] -- C North champion Bears hang in here despite the loss. We'll certainly take them over Cheektowaga, which falls hard despite an excellent record (8-1) due to the unfortunate personnel issues that helped end their season (just as they did last year).

Don't like what you're reading? The comment space is below, let us know via Twitter or facebook (addresses below), or join the live chat Thursday evening at 9.

---Keith McShea

(@KeithMcSheaBN on Twitter)

buffalonews.com/high-schools     facebook.com/preptalkblog     twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk

In our live weekly broadcast, Keith McShea and Lauren Mariacher recap Canisius' tremendous victory over St. Joe's and are joined in studio by Crusaders coach Rich Robbins and record-setting junior running back Qadree Ollison. They also take a game-by-game look at the Section VI championships at Ralph Wilson Stadium -- with Prep Talk blog first-ballot Hall of Famer "Milt Latimer" and Mike Ferrentino -- and recount a strange sighting in the stands at the Canisius-Joe's game.

The rundown of this week's show:
* Interviews with Canisius (5:25 mark);
* review of sectional semifinal wins by Alden (12:45), Springville (17:15) and West Seneca East(20:40);
* followed by a shot of an interesting sideline bystander at West Seneca East's game (23:55); 
* rundown of Orchard Park's win (24:30); 
* breakdown of Section VI finals starting with D (27:25), then C (30:05), 
* breakdown of B final (32:40, including a mention of this big hit on Milt talked about at 34:15), 
* breakdown of A (36:05) and AA finals (40:10); 
* discussion of Monsignor Martin playoffs (45:05); 
* next week's poll preview (46:50); 
* and finishing up with a surprising sign in Canisius' Blue Crew student section (49:05).  

* * *

Here are our previous episodes of PrepTalkTV Sunday, which airs live at 8:30 p.m. each week:

Week Eight (Breakdown of first round of sectionals & Canisius' win at Timon; previewing St. Joe's-Canisius with seniors from each team; breaking down sectional final fours with Dick Gallagher & TML1000).

Week Seven (Sectional playoff preview with Sean Bruso & David Dee, St. Mary's visits, rivalry rewind);

Week Six (Big wins by Jamestown, St. Joe's & Canisius; visits from West Seneca East & Bishop Timon-St. Jude);

Week Five (Alden wins battle for No. 1, St. Joe's visits after big Aquinas win, Lockport also visits before hosting St. Joe's);

Week Four (WSE's big win, late drama for Sweet Home, Burgard & Lew-Port, visits from Depew & Alden before No. 1 vs. No. 2);

Week Three (St. Joe's, Canisius wins, Burgard's Hail Mary, visits from Sweet Home and All-WNY alums from Buffalo State);

Week Two (OP routs Clarence, winning in West Seneca, visit from Canisius);

Week One is not available (featured Timon's win at Will South and visit from Ryan Dougherty, OP's win at Lockport and visit from Ben Holmes).

For all of our videos, including many more clips and highlights from each weekend, check out our video home page.

Week Nine of the high school football might be the biggest of the entire season, and we'll wrap it up with our ninth episode of PrepTalkTV Sunday will tonight at 8:30 p.m. right on the home page of buffalonews.com. 

We'll have highlights, postgame interviews and analysis. We will again have great guests in studio. Canisius coach Rich Robbins and standout junior Qadree Ollison will be in after their big win at St. Joe's. We'll also break down the Section VI championship picture with Prep Talk blog Hall of Famer "Milt Latimer" as well as frequent contributor Mike Ferrentino.

Afterwards, I'll have a live chat right here. It should start around 9:30 p.m. -- the exact time depends on how the live video show goes. Let us know what you thought of the show, as well as all of the high school action, football and all fall sports.

As always, anything in the world of high school sports -- or our coverage of it -- is up for discussion.

As always, please just ask questions once. I promise I'll get to them.

---Keith McShea

(@KeithMcSheaBN on Twitter)

buffalonews.com/highschools     facebook.com/preptalkblog     twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk

 

By the end of today, one huge rivalry will be settled -- for now -- and the lineup of the Section VI finals at Ralph Wilson Stadium will be set.

 

We will have live play-by-play coverage of the huge Canisius at St. Joe's clash at 1 p.m. (click here for a gameday guide).

There are three Section VI semifinals today: Fredonia at JFK (Class C) at 1:30; and Orchard Park at Lockport (AA) and Grand Island at Sweet Home (A) at 2. Those winners will complete the Section VI championship lineup, which we will update as soon as those finals come in.

We encourage you to tweet updates with the hashtag #preptalkscores attached -- that's the quickest way for us to share the information through the live chat (tweets with that hashtag will automatically show up). You can also certainly still tweet those updates to @bufnewspreptalk and @KeithMcSheaBN.

For a list of tonight's games, check out our high school scoreboard page. Also check out the standings link on the right side; we have some bugs to work out but we're excited about that (see football here).

* * * 

On Sunday night at 8:30 p.m., Lauren Mariacher and I will bring you another episode of PrepTalkTV Sunday, our live wrapup show here at buffalonews.com. It will be packed with highlights, interviews, analysis and in-studio guests. PrepTalkTV Sunday will be the only live video on buffalonews.com Sunday as our Bills wrapup show, [BN]TheHuddle, joins the Bills in taking the bye week off.  

---Keith McShea

(@KeithMcSheaBN on Twitter)

buffalonews.com/high-schools     facebook.com/preptalkblog     twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk

Here are is the championship schedule for Week 10 (next week) heading into Saturday's action (check for results on scoreboard or in our Prep Talk Live blog). 

Friday, Nov. 2 at Ralph Wilson Stadium

Class D, 6 p.m.: Maple Grove (9-0) vs. Randolph (7-2)

Class A, 8:30 p.m.: West Seneca East (9-0) vs. Sweet Home (9-0)

Saturday, Nov. 3 at Ralph Wilson Stadium

Class DD, 10 a.m.: 3-Clymer (7-1) vs. 1-Ellicottville/West Valley (6-2). Note: winner does not advance in state playoffs.

Class C, 1 p.m.: Cleveland Hill (7-2) vs. Fredonia (7-2)

Class B, 4 p.m.: Springville (5-4) vs. Alden (9-0)

Class AA, 7 p.m.: Jamestown (8-1) vs. Orchard Park (8-1)

* * * 

Far West Regionals at All High Stadium

Friday, Nov. 9: D-5 p.m.; A-8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 10: C-noon, B-3 p.m., AA-6 p.m.

* * * 

Canisius' win at St. Joe's also set the Monsignor Martin seedings. 

1-Canisius (5-0) and 2-Bishop Timon-St. Jude (3-1) both receive first-round byes. 

Week 10 Quarterfinals

6-Cardinal O'Hara (0-6) at 3-St. Joe's (3-2)

5-St. Francis (1-3) at 4-St. Mary's (2-3)

The seedings are set despite Timon playing at St. Francis tonight. A St. Francis win would still have Timon taking the No. 2 spot, and St. Mary's taking the No. 4 spot, via head-to-head tiebreakers.

Monsignor Martin semifinals: Thursday, Nov. 8 at Ralph Wilson Stadium. 

Monsignor Martin final: Saturday, Nov. 17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

---Keith McShea

(@KeithMcSheaBN on Twitter)

buffalonews.com/high-schools     facebook.com/preptalkblog     twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk

A gameday guide to Saturday's big game, thanks in large part to St. Joe's stats guru Tim Wegrzyn and Canisius assistant coach/media relations whiz Bryce Hopkins.

Want a printout? This information will appear in Saturday's paper, so pick one up on the way to the game.

Who: Canisius (8-0, 4-0 Monsignor Martin) at St. Joe’s (7-1, 3-1)

What: Regular season finale.

When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Where: Robert Scott Athletic Complex, St. Joe’s, 845 Kenmore Ave., Town of Tonawanda.

Gates open: 11:30 a.m.; students admitted at 12:30 p.m.

Tickets: $4 (around 5,000 presale tickets were being sold by schools; those without tickets may not be able to buy ones today).

Internet broadcasts: St. Joe’s radio broadcast via sjci.com; Canisius video via its CHS Sports Network livestream channel.

Rivalry record: St. Joe’s, 47-30-3; series dates back to 1921.

Rivalry streaks: St. Joe’s has won four straight (regular season and playoff sweeps the last two seasons behind QB Chad Kelly); Canisius won the previous five. St. Joe’s won a series record 17 straight from 1983 to ‘98.

Last season (Week Three): St. Joe’s won at Canisius’ Stranksy Complex in West Seneca, 34-20, after sophomore Nigel Davis returned the opening kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown and senior QB Chad Kelly ran for two touchdowns. Mercer Timmis ran for three TDs and 267 yards.

Last season (Monsignor Martin semifinals): In an incredible game with an incredible finish, Kelly threw a touchdown pass to senior Yanni Zulia and then threw a two-point conversion pass to sophomore Rodrick Payne lift St. Joe’s to a 48-47 victory at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Kelly threw for 301 yards on 19-of-34 passing. Timmis ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries before leaving the game; junior Denzel Benton (eight carries, 137 yards) and sophomore Qadree Ollison (142 yards, 14 carries) led Canisius, which had a 27-19 halftime lead.

Buffalo News large school poll: Canisius No. 1; St. Joe’s No. 6.

New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA poll: Canisius No. 3; St. Joe’s No. 15.

Canisius season: Sept. 1 V-McQuaid W, 36-17; Sept. 8 at St. Mary’s* W, 30-27; Sept. 14 at McKinley W, 55-30 (at All High); Sept. 22 at Walsh Jesuit (Ohio) W, 14-7; Sept. 29 St. Francis* W, 51-18; Oct. 6 V-Aquinas W, 35-7; Oct. 13 Cardinal O’Hara* W, 48-7; Oct. 19 at Bishop Timon-St. Jude*, W 26-14.

St. Joe’s season: Sept. 1 V-Wilson Magnet W, 56-34; Sept. 7 at Bennett W, 43-14; Sept. 15 St. Francis* W, 28-21; Sept. 22 Cardinal O’Hara* W, 35-0; Sept. 28 at V-Aquinas W, 27-14; Oct. 6 at Lockport W, 30-25; Oct. 12 at Bishop Timon-St. Jude* L, 14-17; Oct. 20 St. Mary’s* W, 56-34. *-Monsignor Martin game.

Coaches: St. Joe’s, Dennis Gilbert, third season (22-9); Canisius, Rich Robbins, second season (12-7).

Canisius projected starters (and statistics): jr. QB No. 12 Tyler Mascio, 6-0, 160 (73-119, 61.3 pct., 1,253 yards, 11 TDs, 6 INTs; 52-257, 3 TDs rush); jr. RB 7 Qadree Ollison, 6-1, 205 (145-1,107, 16 TDs; 9-116, TD receiving; 1 INT); sr. WR/CB 3 Kyle Abernathy, 5-11, 175 (6-185, 4 TDs; 7 INTs); jr. WR/S 5 Ryan Richards, 6-2, 200 (15-191, TD; 24 tackles; 2 INTs, 1 INT TD return; 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery), sr. WR 10 Denzel Benton*, 6-0, 180 (31-622, 7 TDs; 16-153, 1 TD rush; INT); sr. TE 9 Anthony Kellerman, 6-1, 190 (14-238, 1 TD); sr. LT 55 Emil DiNardo, 5-11, 230 (6 tackles); sr. LG 75 Jake Muscarella*, 6-4, 235 (14 tackles), sr. C/DE 74 Pat Haley*, 6-2, 255 (16 tackles); jr. RG 51 David Koeppel, 5-10, 270 (14 tackles); sr. RT/NT 68 Ryan Hunter, 6-5, 315 (39 tackles); sr. 54 DE Nick Carbone*, 6-1, 205 (30 tackles, 2 sacks); jr. LB 6 De’Anthony Simpson, 5-10, 170 (20 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT); so. LB 25 Jerome Brundidge, 5-10, 180 (29 tackles); jr. LB/P 52 Mike Sharpe, 6-2, 200 (25 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery; 14 punts, 33.9 avg.); sr. LB 33 Dan Minogue, 6-3, 195 (32 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT); so. 11 CB Josh Huffman, 5-11, 175 (36 tackles, 5 INTs); jr. S 24 Keon Garrett, 5-10, 195 (12 tackles); jr. K 23 Chris Alaimo, 5-11, 175 (28 PATs; 1 FG, 26 yds). *-team captain.

St. Joe’s projected starters (and statistics): jr. QB 10 Dennis Gilbert, 6-1, 180 (20-37, 54.1 pct., 215 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT; 18-81 rush); jr. RB/WR/CB 3 Nigel Davis, 5-9, 190 (33-272, 3 TDs; 4-38, 2 TDs receiving; 5-10, 50.0 pct., 71 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT passing; 17 tackles, 5 INTs); jr. FB/LB 5 Rodrick Payne*, 5-10, 200 (81-637, 8 TDs; 5-126, 2 TDs receiving; 79 tackles, .5 sacks; 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT); sr. RB/WR/CB 2 Ilo Noble, 6-0, 185 (94-1,019, 11 TDs; 6-176, 4 TDs receiving; 15 tackles, 1 INT); sr. WR/S 4 Tyshawn Stepney, 5-8, 165 (10-130, 2 TDs; 13 tackles, 1 INT); jr. TE/LE 14 Tyler Hill, 6-3, 230 (7-116, 2 TDs; 10-34, 29.4 pct., 338 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs passing; 17 tackles), ; sr. LT/DT 5-0 Frank Spina*, 6-4, 245 (31 tackles); sr. LG/LB 54 Jack Bargnesi, 5-10, 190 (66 tackles, 2 INTs, 2 forced fumbles); sr. C 53 Wes Harvin, 5-11, 230 (1 tackle); so. RG/DT 71 Robert Costanzo, 5-10, 210 (12 tackles, 1 sack); sr. RT 64 Johnathan Boorady, 6-2, 210 (5 tackles, 1 sack); sr. RE 57 Dylan Hall, 6-2, 215 (42 tackles, 8.5 sacks); sr. LB 6 Mike Hubert*, 5-8, 160 (44 tackles, 1 INT); so. LB 7 Cordell Owens, 5-11, 165 (32 tackles, 1 sack); sr. K/P 16 Brandon Belles, 5-10, 160. (32 PATs, 1 FG, 20 yards; 20 punts, 32.55 avg.) *-team captain.

Playoff implications: Canisius can earn the regular season title outright with a win; St. Joe’s can earn a share with a win (which would also allow Bishop Timon-St. Jude, which plays at St. Francis at 7 p.m. Saturday, to earn a share).

In terms of playoff seeding, a Canisius win and it is No. 1 and Timon is No. 2; a St. Joe’s win and a Timon loss and it would be 1. St. Joe’s; 2. Canisius; 3. Timon; a St. Joe’s win and a Timon win would result in the seedings being determined by point differential among the teams’ head-to-head matchups (Canisius beat Timon, 26-14; Timon beat St. Joe’s, 17-14).

Twitter: @CanisiusHSFB, @SJCIfootball.

On the web: The Prep Talk blog will have live play-by-play updates as well as updates from other games via the #preptalkscores hashtag on Twitter.

---Keith McShea

(@KeithMcSheaBN on Twitter)

buffalonews.com/high-schools     facebook.com/preptalkblog     twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk

The Alden Bulldogs, ranked first in The News small school poll, made the big plays in a rainy second half to give them a 28-21 victory over No. 2 Depew on Friday night in the Section VI Class B semifinals. Keith McShea reports from Alden:

West Seneca East is headed to the Section VI Championships at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the first time since 1987.