Friday, Sept. 4, 2015: Maine-Endwell goes after No. 52 tonight

   Leading off today: Four-time defending NYSPHSAA champion goes for its 52nd consecutive football victory Friday when it kicks off its Section 4 season vs. Corning.

   The Spartans are tied for the longest win streak in state history with Hornell, which saw its 51-game skein end in the 2012 NYSPHSAA finals. Massena put together a 54-0-1 streak that was ended in 1957 and included 39 straight wins. (See: list of longest N.Y. streaks)

   If M-E is to catch and pass Massena, they will likely do so against some pretty respectable competition. As noted by the Press & Sun-Bulletin, the first six opponents on the 2015 schedule were a combined 42-17 last fall and four of the six contests are on the road.

   "We all know this is a big one, and we've talked about it with the team because we want them to understand what's at stake so that they can appreciate it. I think that's an important part of all this," M-E coach Matt Gallagher told the paper. "But at the same time, it's our next game and so we're going to treat it as the most important one, we've always done that."

   In case you've forgotten, enrollment figures have moved M-E back to Class A after two seasons in Class B.

   Punishments dished out: Susan Wagner administrators have started handing out penalties following an alleged hazing incident at a preseason football training camp, The Advance reported.

   DeMaris Garcia, the mother of varsity lineman Michael Garcia, said her son was one of "four or five" players suspended, even though her son told her he "had no physical involvement" in any hazing-like actions at Camp Pontiac in Copake, Columbia County, last month. She said Principal Gary M. Giordano told her son he was suspended "because he was there, knew about the incident, and did nothing. Because he knew about it, that's why they had to suspend him," she said. "But my son didn't participate in anything."

   While details of the camp behavior have yet to be confirmed by the city's Department of Education or the school, earlier stories of a BB gun being used seem to be corroborated by Wagner senior Carlos Rios in an interview with WNBC on Wednesday, the paper reported.

   Parents of players who were not disciplined are also irate over the administration's decision to mothball the JV and varsity football program activities during the investigation.

   That decision led the father of one varsity player, Chris Frange, to hire an attorney who has already written to Mayor Bill De Blasio's office and indicated he would file an injunction at the Richmond County Courthouse if he does not receive a response by Friday afternoon.

   Testing mixed competition: The issue of boys playing on girls teams in field hockey (or any sport, for that matter) did not go away when Keeling Pilaro left Southampton two summers ago.

   A Section 1 eligibility committee ruled Thursday that two boys who had played in Rye's field hockey program a year ago and made the varsity squad last month cannot play this year, The Journal News reported.

   Sean Walsh, a senior who played on Rye's varsity last year, and Phile Govaert, a freshman who played for the JVs, will not be allowed to practice or play pending a reversal, though a challenge by at least one of the boys may be in the works.

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

   Walsh has just one year of experience in the sport and was not considered to be a star player. Govaert, like his sister Fusine, a junior who led Section 1 in scoring last year, spent his early years in his native Netherlands, where both learned the game from a young age, the paper reported.

   Phile Govaert Sr. plans to appeal and would not rule out a court challenge if the section does not reverse itself or if the New York State Public High School Athletic Administration does not overturn the ruling. Section 1 Executive Director Jennifer Simmons said only the school may appeal the ruling to the section.

   Govaert said acting Rye AD Rod Mergardt indicated the section's eligibility committee determined the boys had done too well on a physical fitness test. Govaert took issue with that finding, saying his 5-foot-6, 114-pound son had trained for three weeks last spring just to reach minimum fitness standards the district said were necessary for him to even be eligible to apply.

   Mergardt, who had previously told the paper the district would abide by the section's decision, declined to speak about the ruling's contents, saying he was "working with the parents" on the matter.

   For more background, here's an earlier story from The Journal News.

   Play of the day: Dylan Brown broke off a 98-yard touchdown run as part of a 20-point second quarter that sparked Cortland to a 26-0 football victory over Westhill in coach Pete Reif,s debut.

   Friday night on TWC: For those of you who can't get out to a game tonight, here are the Friday night football offerings from Time-Warner Cable passed along via the NYSPHSAA:

    • Section 2: Albany CBA at Shaker, 7 p.m. on Channel 324 in the Capital Region.
    • Section 5: Churchville-Chili at Pittsford, 7 p.m. on Channel 98 in the Finger Lakes Region.
    • Section 6: Williamsville South at St. Francis, 7 p.m. on Channel 87 in Western New York.