Leading off today: This may well be the year that Section 6 schools make up for years of frustration in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association football quarterfinals.

   Section 5 schools have gone 4-1 against their Western New York counterparts in each of the last six years to build up an overall 46-26 advantage in the series, but all five Section 6 representatives be bringing 10-0 records to UB-Amherst on Friday and Saturday.

   That adds up to a perfect 50-0 for the season. And if that's not enough, they'll also be showing up with the perfect quarterback: Maple Grove junior Chris Secky is coming of a 9-for-9 performance with 260 yards and three TDs in the Section 6 Class D final against Clymer.

   The previous Ralph Wilson Stadium record for passing yards in a high school game was 259 by Chris Jimersom of Gowanda in 1997.

   "We came in knowing Clymer was bigger than we were, so we spread them out and threw," Secky said by telephone this week after putting in appearances at both a football and a basketball practice. "Once we saw them in man-to-man we knew we’d have mismatches on the field."

   Maple Grove spent the decisive portion of the game in a no-huddle offense with Secky calling some of his own plays in between having the sideline signal in numbers corresponding to the approximately 25 plays on his wristband.

   With senior wide receiver Joe Caporale (33 catches for 822 yards and 10 TDs) and senior running back Jake Larson (more than 1,200 rushing yards and 25 TDs on the ground) supplying the rest of the offensive firepower, Maple Grove’s offense hasn’t been held under 37 points this season.

   The Red Dragons, who'll play Dundee tomorrow at 6 p.m., have outscored their opponents by a 500-81 margin. Secky has thrown for 1,394 yards with 20 touchdowns and just one interception.

   Secky admits the Red Dragons have visions of their first state championship since 1998 – when oldest brother Randall Secky was a record-setting junior QB en route to a scholarship at the University of Buffalo – even though Dundee is a powerful opponent and defending state champion Walton likely awaits in the semifinals.

   "I think we have that attitude," he said. "We’ve got to think about Dundee first, but we know we can create mismatches against teams because we have some terrific players. We believe that if we play well enough we have a chance against anybody."

   That could make for an exciting month for the residents of tiny Bemus Point, 10 miles northwest of Jamestown on Chautaqua Lake. There’s enormous small-town pride in the school’s sports success. They showed up in big numbers last winter when Secky and his brother Tom, who preceded him as QB at Maple Grove, led the school to the NYSPHSAA Class C basketball title.

   "I realized in eighth grade when the basketball team went to the Far West Regionals and then states last year how much people care,” Secky said. “They love to see us be successful. So many people came to see us play (in the basketball Final Four). To have them come six hours was

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amazing. I saw them there and started thinking about how empty Bemus must have been with everyone there."

   Reporter in critical condiition: Buffalo News sportswriter Tom Borrelli remained in critical condition in Erie County Medical Center yesterday after taking a fall while covering a high school football game Saturday at Buffalo’s All High Stadium, the paper reported.

   Borrelli, 51, is responsive but is breathing with a respirator and is unable to move his arms and legs, family members said.

   "He can understand, he’s in there," said his wife, Karen, also a member of paper's sports staff.

   Borrelli fell down a steep set of iron stairs leading to the press box at All High Stadium. The facility underwent a $9 million renovation in 2007, but the planned reconstruction of the press box and installation of an elevator were cut because of cost overruns, said a spokesman for the contractor.

   Others have called the press box stairs dangerous, and the paper said some reporters refused to use the press box because of them.

   “That was an accident waiting to happen,” said longtime Grover Cleveland High School coach Art Serotte, who is a close friend of Borrelli.

   'Friday Night Lights' memories: I haven't made it all the way through the exhaustive series, but The Dallas Morning News hit the proverbial home run this week with its three-day report on the scandal-plagued Dallas Carter football team.

   In his 1990 best-seller that was later adapted into a movie that inspired a TV series, Friday Night Lights, author H.G. Bissinger chronicled Odessa Permian's 1988 season, which ended with a 14-9 state semifinal loss to Carter.

   Twenty years later, the paper looks back on all aspects of the amazingly talented Carter team, including the string of robberies that led the state association to strip the '88 team of its championship. It's amazing stuff if you have an hour or so to take a look.

   The 'haves' vs. the 'have-nots': Speaking of series, the Portland, Ore., newspaper did a three-parter recently largely on the issue of private vs. public schools, particularly with respect to funding.

   Measure 5, the state property-tax cap that voters passed in 1990, slashed extracurricular spending dramatically in public schools. While some of them have since fared OK on the playing field, others have fallen considerably behind. And few of them have the resources of some of the state's better private schools.

   Again, I haven't had time to get through very much of the package, but what I have seen is informative reading.

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