Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013: Kenmore snaps Barker field hockey streak

   Leading off today: Kaeli Mathias' 17th goal of the season, coming midway through the first half, was all Kenmore needed Tuesday for a 1-0 field hockey victory that ended Barker's amazing run in the Niagara-Orleans League.

   Barker had posted a 108-0-4 mark in league play since a 3-1 loss to Medina on Sept. 13, 2005. Kenmore and Barker are tied for the league lead at 9-1 with two games to play. Barker won their September 19 meeting 2-1.

   Point-ed argument: It's another year, another controversy over the system that determines the field for the Section 1 football tournament.

   “We have officially been told by Section 1 that we’re out and (Clarkstown) South is in,” Arlington coach Dominick DeMatteo told Hudson Valley Sports Report. “It’s mind-boggling.”

   Class AA Arlington is 3-3 -- the same record as Ramapo and Clarkstown South -- following a 14-6 loss to Carmel in Week 6. Ramapo, which lost to Arlington during the season, locked down the No. 3 berth from League A based on Piner System points (more on that to come), with the other two fighting it out for the fourth and final spot.

   With the upcoming Week 7 contests having no bearing on the playoff picture (and that's problem No. 1; with eight teams and seven regular-season schedule blocks shouldn't you be playing everyone in your division?), sectional officials broke out their calculators Sunday and Monday and saw they had a tie on their hands based on Piner points.

   The first two tiebreakers under Section 1 rules were moot since Arlington did not face Clarkstown South this season and both were 2-3 against common opponents According to local media, Clarkstown South then won based on winning percentage minus the losing percentage of the opponents that it lost to -- which is half of the Piner formula.

   If that's accurate, then Arlington would have had the edge if it went to the fourth tiebreaker -- Winning percentage of the opponents that they beat.

   That's the next potential red flag: Why does a number derived from a team's losses rate as more important than a number derived from a team's victories? When all is said and done, aren't you in the business of winning games to prove your worthiness for the postseason?

   “It’s completely ambiguous,” DeMatteo said. “Basically they’re saying our victory over Ramapo didn’t help us as much as it should have.”

   Here are some important thoughts courtesy of MSG Varsity:

There's been a lot of talk over last 48 hours over this Arlington-CSouth tie. Honestly, the Sect 1 booklet is open to interpretation

— Kevin Devaney Jr. (@MSGVarsityKDJ) October 14, 2013

The booklet is incredibly undefined and poorly worded. If a lawyer ever got their hands on this, they could create chaos

— Kevin Devaney Jr. (@MSGVarsityKDJ) October 14, 2013

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

Here's the Playoff Procedure page directly from the 2013 Section 1 Football Booklet. You decide: pic.twitter.com/as4ecoWlem

— Kevin Devaney Jr. (@MSGVarsityKDJ) October 14, 2013

   It was at exactly the same juncture a year ago that there was a somewhat similar issue in Section 1. Your can re-visit that controversy here.

   More football tidbits: We've added the honorable mentions to this week's New York State Sportswriters Association rankings. Editor Neil Kerr cranked them out Wednesday after overcoming computer issues that slowed us down earlier in the week.

   Also, you can check out this week's schedule for ranked teams as well as the full overall schedule.

   Latest forfeit: Mexico has forfeited its final regular-season football game against Oneida because of a lack of players, The Post-Standard reported.

   Mexico AD Randy Barnes said the Tigers were hit by injuries and illness, leaving them with only 14 available players -- two under the minimum.

   "It's bad for us, bad situation for them," Barnes told the paper. "It's something we didn't take lightly. We really didn't have any other choice."