Leading off today: As embarrassing as the situation is in the Town of Dexter today, Section 3 football officials are undoubtedly grateful that General Brown came clean this week rather than next.

   After school administrators learned Wednesday via an anonymous tip that one of the players on its unbeaten football team had lied about his address, they self-reported to Section 3 and might have to forfeit two games in which the unidentified student played.

   The Daily Times in Watertown reported today that forfeits were unlikely based on an interpretation from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association office. Rule 19 (a)(f) allows latitude for situations deemed outside the school's control.

   General Brown, ranked No. 6 by the New York State Sportswriters Association, plays No. 15 Watertown Immaculate Heart Central tonight for their conference and a certain first-round home game in sectionals. General Brown would likely still qualify for the postseason despite being hit with forfeits but would possibly drop low enough to have play a road game in the quarterfinals.

   The paper said Section 3 officials were expected to discuss the situation last night. Seedings will be announced Sunday.

   General Brown Superintendent Stephen Vigliotti said the player has been dropped from the team. He gained eligibility in time for Week 5, purportedly after moving into the school district from outside New York. The district's investigation determined the player had supplied a false address.

   More off-the-field developments: Even if General Brown does go unscathed, two other upstate football teams will be forfeiting games.

   In Rochester, C.G. Finney coach and AD Joe Marchand announced the Falcons will forfeit their Section 5 playoff game vs. Dundee this weekend because injuries have left him with a small and young roster, who no JV squad available to supply replacements.

   "I can’t put the inexperienced kids at risk," he told the Democrat and Chronicle.

   The injury bug also forced Watkins Glen to shut down its football team for the season.

   Week 7 schedule: Head-to-head matchups of highly ranked teams are rather scarce this weekend, with No. 1 Randolph vs. No. 8 Portville in Class D and No. 3 Baldwinsville vs. No. 11 Syracuse CBa in Class AA among the highlights.

   The full schedule of games for ranked teams can be found here.

   The word on the Tweet: We'll have the NYSSWA Twitter blog active all weekend as more than 30 reporters from around the state update with scores and game notes from events they're covering.

   Check it out and bookmark the page for future reference.

   Scare for a top recruit: Christopher Columbus two-way lineman Al Page had a health scare recently while recovering from an injury that had kept the Rutgers recruit sidelined.

   The New York Post reported that doctors benched Page last month for what they thought was an irregular heartbeat. The measure came after he bruised his intestines in a scrimmage against August Martin; doctors dug back and flagged results from his freshman physical in 2007 as a potential problem.

   Multiple tests later, he was given the OK to return to the field last week.

   “I’m still confused to this day that he had to go through all that,” Columbus coach David Diaz told the paper. “The kid was fine. He’s been practicing since August, there hasn’t been a problem. He’s been playing football since 2008.

   New on the site: NYSSWA member Tom Doherty has been producing a weekly ranking of top Rockland County varsity teams regardless of sport, sex or school size. It's developed a bit of a downstate following, and today we're adding it to our site as a weekly feature.

   Check out the latest installment of the Rockland County Dandy Dozen here.

   Money matters: The buzz I've been hearing most of this fall is that a lot of school superintendents are in no hurry to end the schedule-reduction measures enacted last year as a measure to help battle budget woes.

   The subject will be revisited by the NYSPHSAA Fiscal Concerns Committee in December, with a one- or two-year extension possible. Expect more than a few people to note that actual spending by the state -- regardless of reductions in school aid -- grow significantly in the 2009 budget year and will do so again when the books are closed on this year.

   Hopefully, one of the first measures to be chucked will be the nine-game football season in Section 1, which typically results in six- and seven-game regular seasons and eight or nine games overall. Lou DiRienzo for one would like a return to the 10-game schedule.

   "I know it's not Texas, it's not Ohio, it's not Florida, but these kids deserve to play with the work they put in," DiRienzo told The Journal News. "They start their offseason programs in January and only play six or seven games."

   And then there's the situation in Fairport, which for more than two years has dragged out a process that should have taken about 15 minutes to approve. Mark Crane, an alumnus and owner of a Rochester-area pizzeria chain, has offered to pay the $200,000 to install lights around the high school field, but the school board has taken forever to give its blessing.

   It boggles the mind that people out there didn't immediately embrace such a generous offer, but it's even more ridiculous how no decision in that district even remotely related to sports can be made without forming six committees, holding eight votes and requesting that all involved parties get a security clearance from the FBI.

   I miss the old days when Dave Martens and Don Santini could hammer out a plan themselves and then get approval from the principal, superintendent and school board in less than a month.

   Police blotter: Ernest Lorch, founder of the Riverside Church basketball program in New York City -- a pipeline for future high school and college greats -- was indicted this week by a Massachusetts grand jury for allegedly molesting a New York teenager more than 30 years ago, The New York Daily News reported.

   The two-page indictment handed down Tuesday charges him with indecent assault and battery of a person over 14 years old and attempted rape some time between March 1977 and April 1978. The maximum penalty for both counts is five years in a Massachusetts state prison.

   An official of the Northwestern District Attorney's Office told the paper the alleged victim had traveled to the University of Massachusetts with Lorch to attend a basketball tournament.

   The paper reported the Manhattan District Attorney's office investigated Lorch early this decade after a former Riverside player alleged sexual abuse, but prosecutors faced statute of limitations issues and did not file charges against Lorch.

   Frederick Cohn, Lorch's attorney, told the paper his client is in poor health and would fight extradition.

   Extra points: Syracuse CBA soccer star Alexis Koval is expected to make a college choice in the next few days. . . . St. Anthony's football coach Rich Reichert is closing in on a milestone after having picked up career win No. 195 in 24 seasons last weekend. Reichert recently passed Sachem's Fred Fusaro to move into third place on the Suffolk all-time wins list.