Leading off today: Sayville quarterback Jack Coan is off and running (throwing, actually) in his senior season.
The 2015 New York State Sportswriters Association co-player of the year in Class A set Long Island career records in yardage and touchdown passes Thursday during a 42-0 victory Thursday vs. West Babylon. He finished the contest 14 of 19 for 186 yards and four TDs.
The yardage record fell on the first Sayville offensive series when Coan threw a 25-yard TD pass to Michael Dionisio. The TD record fell in the third quarter when he hit Nate Bauland with a 1-yard throw for the 101st scoring pass of his career. Coan now has 7,811 career passing yards.
"We weren't concerned about the records, but he deserves to be recognized for all of his achievements," Sayville coach Rob Hoss said of Coan, who has committed to Wisconsin. "Jack is one of the greatest high school quarterbacks of all time. What makes him more special than all of the rest is his ability to always put the team first and remain humble."
Costly resolution to complaint: Batavia City Schools will have to pay $68,545 to the Empire Justice Center in the aftermath of a 2013 Title IX dispute over softball facilities, The Daily News reported Thursday.
Western District Judge William Skretny authorized the payment to the Rochester non-profit that represented a class action of Batavia players and parents. The complaint was officially settled in June 2014 when the parties agreed on the district's plan to spend approximately $175,000 to build a new softball facility with permanent dugouts. The upgraded included drainage, outfield fencing, a scoreboard and other amenities.
At the time of the suit, the plaintiffs alleged gender discrimination because Batavia softball teams played on a school field without a fence, a scoreboard and a small seating area. At the time, the school's Batavia team was able to play at Dwyer Stadium, the home of the New York-Penn League's Batavia Muckdogs. A proposition to improve the softball field had failed in a 2011 public vote.
"The lawsuit was simply unnecessary -- and only served to waste taxpayers' money," Superintendent Chris Dailey said in a statement that said the upgrades had already been approved by the board of education, "and they were commenced immediately upon taxpayer approval of the funding."
By settling, however, the Empire Justice Center was considered to have succeeded under federal civil rights laws that encourage legal firms to provide no-cost representation. As the prevailing party, the EJC could seek reimbursement for its costs.
Milestone: South Kortright cruised past Stamford 7-0, giving boys soccer coach Bob VanValkenburgh his 400th career win. Sam Fabrykiewicz tallied twice in the victory as the Rams improved to 4-0.
Coming or going: Rheaquone Taylor, who left Forest Hills in the PSAL to play for a New Jersey school last season, has returned to New York. The 6-foot-7 Queens native, coming off All-Essex County for Barringer High and an impressive summer, has transferred to Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx for his senior season according to nychoops.net.
He holds a handful of offers from lower-echelon Division I colleges.
Separately, the website reported that Christian Hinckson, a sixth-team all-state pick in Class A last season, has left John Bowne High in Queens for the South Kent (Conn.) prep program.
