A few things have changed with the Upstate-Downstate Football Classic since my last post, at least as far as the local players are concerned. John Jay-East Fishkill’s Mike Rudinsky, Iona Prep’s George Apostolopoulos and Sacred Heart’s Danny Linares all pulled out of the game for various reasons. One of the open spots went to New Rochelle’s Quinton Witherspoon, who will join his teammates and friends Lou DiRienzo and Lewis Edney at the Carrier Dome.
You can read thoughts from Lou, Lewis and other in my story that ran in today’s paper. Other than the New Ro players’ excitement for finishing their careers together, there are a few other benefits to the game I didn’t realize. I talked to a good chunk of the players and found what they had to share interesting.
1. They are pumped to play at the Dome. This one makes sense, sort of, but it sounds like the Long Island players, in particular, are fueled by this. Of course, Long Island schools don’t participate in the state championships. Those players never even had the chance to play in the Dome, no matter how strong their teams were. Jack Kelleher of Rye told me the Dome was all the rage at Sunday’s practice.
2. Players relish the opportunity to play trendsetters. This is the first Classic. Probably the first of many. DiRienzo and Edney both found that fact appealing, that they would be part of the first group to play in a game that — if organizers were smart — would last for decades.
3. It’s not just about the game. It’s about weeks of reps against the best. Every player mentioned this benefit. What will it mean for their games to practice here (and eventually for several days straight up at Syracuse) with and against the best players in the state? Everything. North Rockland’s Pete Lodini will play defensive end at Central Conn. He said the experience is priceless for him. He’ll have an opportunity to rush the passer against the best offensive tackle prospects from upstate during the Classic, but also against the best from downstate during weeks of practice. It’s invaluable experience just before they head to college.
— Here’s a quick note about why players have pulled out. I know Reuben Frank of Poughkeepsie was invited to play in the Northeast vs. New Jersey game. Apostolopoulos told me he wanted to concentrate on his offseason training to prepare for Fordham. Linares, who is headed to Maine, has a conflict with both graduation AND his prom the weekend of the Classic, prompting him to withdraw from the game.
45 Comments
You can catch some local players from rockland, some that play in nj this weekend at the hudson river hornets aau tournamnet taking place all week. Luke Houston and the ny falcons will be playing as well. http://www.hrhornets.com/ for schedule and times
will be played at st thomas aquinas college
?????? This is a football article. Who cares round the area???
Will the game be televised?
did anyine do anything special at the section1 combine?
yea chris cargill ran a 4.43 in the 40 yd dash
really??....what school does he go 2…what year is he…was it laser?....did alot of people end up going?
Josh, please stop bashing other blogs and athletic websites simply because their research is better than yours. Thank you from the Section 1 Community!
josh has not said any negative comments. so either you are trying to support another website
or you are trying to put two people against each other. hhhhmmmmmm
The Turtle…
Can you provide me with even one example please?
Josh , don’t fall for that.
You are doing a Great Job.
Keep it going….
I think any player who has an Athletic full ride is taking a big risk playing in these types of games- Schools can revoke a a full ride if a player gets injured playing in these games-
Any player going Division 1 or 1AA should hit their college weightroom in the middle of the summer to prepare for their frosh season
Curious
Chris cargill is a junior at new ro high he has a twin brother who is faster than him they should be a problem this fall
Also Jordan Lucas who will be the top d.b. in this area. he was the overall combine m.v.p.
New Rochelle as team look very good out there alot of skill pos. Talent on display sat.
PRINCE,PURPLE RAIN
Who is the favorite to play QB for New Rochelle- Alos New Rochelle and Rye will be at the Iona Camp in late June-
Josh,
The other day I read a post where you claimed a football player was attending Greenwich Academy in Connecticut which happens to be an all GIRLS preparatory school so I was confused how that made sense. Than later that day as an avid Blog Reader I was on the Section 1 Recruiting website where you made unprofessional comments to their staff. As the years have progressed and Kevin Devaney has moved on I have become less and less impressed with The Journal News coverage ability. I am constantly reading inaccurate game reports or no reports at all for big games in every sport and I feel a better job should be done before dishing out comments to other writers.
Josh,
You never answered the question about spring valley football and ramapo football merging this year based on budget issues and player number concerns. I got this information two weeks ago and you never responed to it. If this is the case with both moving up to (CLASS AA) how will this effect scheduling in class A. Are the same AD’s that have screwed this league up the past several years going to wait until school ends to address this issue.
Last year the clowns that based the scheduling on geographics was a joke. (Ex. The Portchester BS.) what will happen will the league go back to three leagues of 5 or what?????????????. Josh ask the question to the chairman of league A (by the way was or is the AD at spring Valley) now what!!!!!!!!!!!. It’s a joke seems like the circus is still in town. Get rid of these clowns and find a new ringleader. PLEASE RESPOND JOSH YOUR MISSING OUT ON A SITUATION THAT NEEDS ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
turd, josh already apologised for the misinformation about greenwich and at this point no one cares, except you. you are giving the other website a bad name by doing this, but maybe that is your intent.
Turtle… I never said anything unprofessional about any person from any other website. As you said, there was a mistake about Greenwich/Brunswick, which has been corrected. That is true.
Iona power
butts is expected to be the starting qb. but it’s not a lock, he has the younger Edney brother who will be a soph breathing down his neck for the position. Newro will be at the camp. How does Iona look without woodson, who are the names I should be listening out for.
PRINCE,PURPLE RAIN how come you didnt get selected to play in the upstate/downstate game?
Prince, good to see you back bringing the knowledge as usual. You can only guess where that last question came from.
PRINCE,PURPLE RAIN
New Rochelle will always have a deep and talented pipeline-Iona lost some very very talented players in Woodson, mack etc..
Iona has a very good core group of seniors with 6 of them playing on their 2008 CHSFL AAA Championship team. The QB will be Tim Perley who should perform well – Talented players like Sidney Weston RB/LB, Travon Malone RB/S, Michale Longo LB, Michale Alfano WR should complement a very strong and deep OL and DL- Right now St. Anthony is the favorite in the CHSFL AAA but teams like Iona Prep, Chaminade, Xaverian, Farrell and Holy Trinity are all grouped together in battling for playoff positioning- Mount St. Michael and St. Joseph in Staten Island will also be good teams.
Just curious
why are askin when according to you. You already know. So you please tell us.
Just a fact
thanks, you know something never change(curious George)!
Iona power
i know replacing Mack & woodson will tough but the staff there is good! Any div1 players this year over there.
Prince Purple-
I would say Michael Longo LB who is a beast is possibly a Division 1 AA player- I think 5-7 players can play some type of college ball- Maybe D2 or D3- As you know it it very hard securing high level Division 1 offers- Last year the CHSFL AAA had 12 teams in the league and you had about 7 kids overall in the league get Big East and ACC offers- Holy Cross in Queens has a kid coming back at WR who is a beast with offers already from ACC and Big East schools- St. Anthony will have several kids ending up playing college ball.
Iona power
how big is longo. Yes I agree securing a scholarship is very hard especially coming out of n.y. Lingo acc,big east type of player what you think I seen him twice and he was very good. Any linemen prospect over there.
Prince Purple
Longo could play ivy or patriot league
Iona power
I think Jordan Lucas, Capri corn, butts and mayb 1of the cargill can possibly be scholarship player and I like big malcom def tackle
New ro had. Three players take m.v.p. At the sec1 combine and had 1 of the fastest time. That’s dangerous those four players as well corn, butts and the other cargill should make a nice group can they. get back to the dome. Do they have enough weapons to pull it off?
Prince, based of the lack of hype for the other teams in Sect 1 AA, you have to think New Ro has a cake walk to the Sect title. Of course anything can happen if you show up unprepared, AA way too good. But with Coach D. you know that is not going to happen.
So early, but you almost have to start thinking who is next after Section 1. Is MW going to rule Sect 9. Is Warwick ready to make the next step and if so will either be able to compete with New Ro?
Big question for New Ro, will New Ro have a QB ready to step up. Getting out of the section with a mediocre QB very possible. To the Dome, I don’t think so.
I keep seeing the RB’s you are throwing out there, but who is ready to step into #10, #11 and Louie Jr’s shoes(front 7/8)?
Front 7/8, I meant defensively?
Just a fact
I think that’s a good ? If some1 Is ready fill those shoes , they are big but I think that they have some returnee that will Do fine l think they will not very deep in the front 7 but there. Starters will b good it’s the 2nd string players that will b ? I think that most of the talent Is at the skill position. I be lieve that they will have more team speed on def.
Just a fact
I believe m.w. Do not have anything in the pipeline coming up! Warwick will give them fight and around here white plains should be good but I dnt think they will upset n.r. Unless they catch new ro. Sleeping. They have a good chance of getting back to the dome. but we gonna have to have a half of a passing game if we planning on winning you not gonna when a chip running unless you. Have a real stud r.b. Or a serious line
Prince,
There have been a few positive comments about WP, though I personally am not ready to hand them the keys to the #2 position in AA. I wonder if any team in AA North is good enough to beat WP???(anyone for fishing?)
I have not seen one post about what to expect from North Rock come Fall 2010, so makes you wonder if they can defend their runner-up title. Since 2005, there have been a few not so good seasons for the Red Raiders so 2010???
Hopefully after Spring Camps Josh, 10960, and 3 Yards will give the North Rock updates. I expect North Rock will have depth, but overall talent might be down from 2009.
Do you know what O and D White Plains is running for 2010?
Just a fact
I not sure what w.p. Is running but I would image they would run something in the power direction with some playaction. There coach looks like he feel more comfortable going north&south straight at you not alot of misdirection stuff. As far as there def. I dnt see much change it work for them most of the time
North rockland I think this is a down year they j.v. Wasn’t that strong I didn’t see alot over there.
Who do you like in the north. What do u think bout gorton.
I think until proven otherwise, Gorton is rounding out the bottom.
Since Dutchess has not jumped in, I will unleash the ever changing AA rankings:
1. New Ro – Tons o talent at the skilled positions
2. North Rock – back on the band wagon until Camp reports start coming in
this is where the trouble begins:
3. White Plains (see if that provokes a response)
4. RCK (The Year of the Keevins)- Two top RB’s returning in Morganstern and Snead should give this team a real shot. Problem is lack of depth. These two RB’s on North Rock would make for a better story this year. If these two were on New Ro, don’t know is they start. Scary!
5. Mahopac – loads of talent returning and depth certainly makes them the favorite in the North, however, with the same players last year the team performance lack luster.
6. JJEF – don’t even have to say the name of the RB returning. Best football player returning in the section based on what I saw at North Rockland and overall stats last year. New Coach, my reason for why this team can not be ranked higher.
7. Arlington – good RB returning and with one of the highest enrollments, they are assured to have depth. They probably should be higher but still a soccer school until you do it back to back years.
8. FoxLane – strong passing game last year and talk of a good RB this year(Elliott).
9. Ossining – Coach Ricci will find a way
10. Clarkstown North – return a very good RB(Turner), and should be able to build on last year. If nothing else, they will be beat C-South again.
Could easily put MV in this position, but what fun would that be.
Where the hell is Carmel?
Clarification on JJEF: not because the Coach is bad, just unproven with this team. Does the New Coach change the style from a ground and pound? Should be interesting.
Just a fact
I like your picks I would change a few things. Around
1). New ro
2) rck
3) white plains
4) north rock
5)jjef
6)mao
7) OSS
8) lane
9) aril
10) c/north
7)
Just fact
this is base On every1 staying healthy and the coaches not blowin the game(lol)
I not sure how. Good m.v. Gonna be but I do not believe. They do not have much over there I think there best returnin player will b #4 burns I believe that’s his last name 6’ 180lb but one player do not beat a good team last. Year it was proven to w.p. When they thought they would beat every1 with schuler.
Prince, I cant say who will be top 10 in AA, however, I agree with the first two you have. RCKs skill players are for real.
Just a fact, theres nothing wrong in questioning JJEFs coaching move. They had a proven, elite coach. When theres moves, its no guarantee that the progress that has been made will continue
Riley, this is very far outside but looking in, if you had the JJEF job and built up that program, would you leave because some of the admin were getting under your skin? Or they would not build you proper facilities?
Prince, nice list, almost got nervous. For a second I thought your Mao was for Mamaroneck, but I have to assume that is Mahopac. Someone said on the AA thread, they thought Mamaroneck and Scarsdale would be good this year. For anyone with info that thinks this, please let us know why?
It would be interesting to see what Josh has as the top 10 list this early and reasons why?
Riley girl
I think jjef I will be strong I do not se. N/roc having the talent to beat jjef have some all section caliber players returning that’s gonna be alot.