Moshier: New Hartford, Westmoreland gridders repeat?

Every high school football season has its surprises, right?

 

Well, not exactly. Not this one. Not when you’re talking Section III Class C and Class D football, anyway.

 

Without going out on much of a limb, let’s first state the obvious and predict a Cazenovia vs. Bishop Ludden final in Class C. Westmoreland knocked off both of them last year, rallying from a 13-0 deficit and beating Cazenovia 23-20 for the Class C South title and later upsetting defending state champion and state-ranked No. 1 Bishop Ludden 24-19 in the Carrier Dome’s Section III finals.

 

Cazenovia’s Lakers, coached by Rome’s Tom Neidl, had won back-to-back Class B championships in 2006-07. This year, they should return with a vengeance, winning the Class C South with ease. Bishop Ludden, though, is the pick here to win it all in Class C, thanks to the return of all-state players John Rooney at quarterback and leading rusher Omar Osbourne at tailback.

 

Locally, the Class C East Division is loaded, led by defending league champ Herkimer and Cooperstown, whose Redskins return almost everyone from a team that handed Herkimer its only league loss and finished 6-2 overall. Many of the same Cooperstown players labored through a 1-7 season when young underclassmen were thrown into the fire in 2007. With Herkimer and Cooperstown up against Holland Patent, a Class B semifinalist last year, Ilion, Frankfort-Schuyler and Mohawk/Richfield Springs, the Class C East race should be one of this year’s most intriguing.

 

Section III’s Class D championship should pit two of last year’s champs, Westmoreland and Dolgeville, against each other in what would be a mighty Carrier Dome matchup of perennial powerhouse. Unfortunately, that can’t happen. Not with Section III’s new 16-team, Class C-D playoff format, which locks in North vs. West and South vs. East “conference” championship matchups. Westmoreland will win the Class D South, Dolgeville will win the Class D East, and one of them will staying home while the other plays for another Section III crown at the Carrier Dome. That’s a shame.

 

Led by all-state tailback Justin Becker and quarterback Dan Smith, Westmoreland will move on and the Bulldogs will claim their third section title in four years.

 

In Class AA-1 and Class AA-2 divisions, young and relatively inexperienced Thomas R. Proctor High School and Rome Free Academy teams will have a tough time qualifying for the Section III playoffs. Defending champion Henninger, Christian Brothers Academy, Liverpool and West Genesee look like the favorites here.

 

If New Hartford’s Spartans stay healthy and Anthony Acevedo’s move to quarterback works out the way they expect it to, they should repeat as Section III’s Class A champions. League rivals Whitesboro and Camden will not be pushovers, though, and defending Class A American Division champ East Syracuse-Minoa returns all-state running back Dustin Moss.

 

A Marcellus team returning all-state quarterback Will Fiacchi and a Westhill team featuring all-state receiver Dan Ross look like the class of Class B, but don’t be surprised if defending section champ and 2008 state runner-up Oneida makes some more noise even without all-state quarterback Ryan Kramer.