Football realignment's good, bad, & ugly

This year’s reclassification of New York State’s football-playing high schools may have led to changes for the better for some area teams. For others? Not so much.

 

The good: With Ilion dropping down from Class B and Frankfort-Schuyler moving up from Class D, the Class C East schedule will renew some very old Mohawk Valley rivalries. Thanks to reclassification (by new enrollment cutoffs) and Section III realignment, Frankfort-Schuyler, Herkimer, Ilion, and Little Falls are together again, joining Adirondack, Cooperstown and Sauquoit Valley in a much more fan-friendly league.

 

The bad: Westmoreland, a perennial Class C North power whose Bulldogs had grown to love their long-distance rivalry with General Brown, now finds itself in the new Class C South with three former Class B teams – defending Section III champ Cazenovia, Clinton and Sherburne-Earlville – Canastota, and last year’s Class C East champ, Mount Markham.

 

The ugly: Class D West neighbors Hamilton and Morrisville-Eaton would be better off playing each other every week for the “Jug.” Their other league matchups aren’t that appealing. Including Watertown’s Immaculate Heart Central to the North and Weedsport to the West, we’re talking the outermost reaches of Section III. Bus trips to or from Beaver River and Sandy Creek are nothing to get excited about, either.

 

Unfortunately, this is what you get when league play must take a backseat to state playoffs. It’s a product of the system, like it or not. We’re always going to have to take the good with the bad, sometimes even the ugly, as long as we insist on crowning five (AA-A-B-C-D) state champions.