Our second poll of the football season is closed. The first poll saw White Plains picked at the team most likely to challenge New Rochelle for the Class AA title. The second poll chose last year’s runner-up Horace Greeley as the preseason favorite in Class A.
Now, on to our third poll: Other than defending champ Croton-Harmon, which team is the top contender in Class B?
Vote early. Vote often. Vote NOW…
51 Comments
I think Ardsley is going to be much better this year….don’t sleep on Kennedy though. Lourdes juiced up this year so expect them to run the ball 40 times a game. Westlake and Pville will be down
gael fan- Agree with you about Lourdes, they are big, have good back and good coach. Ardsley QB is good but they lost their big lineman so will probably not have enough to compete with Croton. Kennedy also probably lost too many key players to contend for title.
Disagree about Pville and Westlake. Pville was very young and was down last year, they are now more seasoned and have a very good junior Charlie Montgomery coming home from a Prep school, and I think they will be most improved team in class B. Westlake lost a lot but they return two D1 level players in D’Onofrio their QB and Hopkins a lineman who plays both sides of ball plus two other starting linemen Manzo and Morales who are good. D’Onofrio might have best arm in section and line will be notch below or equal to Croton and Lourdes. They also have a good junior back that did not get the ball much last year as they had an all section back in DiBiase. Line, QB and back will carry Westlake as other guys develop and they will be peaking towards end of regular season.
Expect to see Lourdes or Westlake against Croton in final and either team will be underdogs as Croton is the best team in class B but both of those teams are capable of an upset.
How’s Nanuet this year? I know they were down last year.
Ardsley probably won’t have enough to beat croton, but they did beat both pville and westlake last year and have a very good QB returning…don’t sleep on ardsley
Lucky Pelham isnt in B this year.. they would have ran the table
Not sure if Pelham would run the table, except for Miller they are losing lot of linemen and last year Westlake manhandled them and Westlake, Lourdes and Croton would have big advantage on line to offset Stallworth. Key will be if Landis plays. If he does then they would have a shot to get to final against Croton, if not they would not make it that far. Not saying they will be bad, just that they would be a strong contender but would not run the table.
section 1 best section and bclass, lol. pelham would have done something similar to what they did last year. if westlake graduated their wr, id take pelham and i doubt the new rb will be as good as 1 that graduated. pelham’s defense would have stopped lourdes again especially if thier rb graduated and they had absoltley no answer for stallworth.
Sounds about right for Pelham if stayed in B, similar to last year a good regular season although with Piner system playing a loaded schedule not sure they could go undefeated and falling in play-offs in either semi’s or finals, although if Landis plays they would have a better shot of getting to finals. Would be good games against Lourdes or Westlake as would probably be ball control offenses vs. Pelham explosiveness of their skill players. Their new QB would need to be able to keep people honest with his legs or arm for them to beat Croton. Doesn’t matter now as they are in A, good luck and am sure they will be competitive.
Enough with the Pelham talk already…..they barely got out of the first round of the playoffs last year against kennedy and then got smacked by Westlake….Stallworth is soft and rattles easily….Wait until he goes over the middle against Sleepy..one hit and he takes himself out of the game…
Croton is also overrated….its up for grabs in Class B….
Anybody know who the new coach at Irvington is and his history????
Stallworth is better than anyone on the Gael’s….... and he caught the game wiwnning interception to end it.
Mike Olivea is the new coach at Irvington. He coached at South last year, and he has an Iona Prep connection. I’m assuming he’s a Spread guy. It appears that every new coach is running some version of the spread. Are any new head coaches running something other than the spread?
Agree with Gael fan, no disrespect to Pelham as good kids and parents seemed like nice people, but they had their shot in B with a big enrollment advantage over many of the other schools in B and now have moved on and wish them luck in A.
Focus on want is remaining in B. Looks like decent % of Nanuet and Pville votes. Assuming some of the folks are familiar so would like to know why they are contenders. From what I know about them I think they will be good but think Lourdes and Westlake have better shot against Croton. I know Pville is improved as young last year and got new addition, how is their line? Nanuet is always well coached and had very good JV but I think unlike other schools that had numbers issues and had their better sophomores on Varsity, believe Nanuet kept their underclassmen down so they might have been a factor in strong JV showing, anyway would like to know who their key returners and new guys are that makes them a contender. Gael fan, seem with Kennedy, why do you think they are contenders as I thought they lost key seniors.
Never, ever, ever leave out Nanuet. Ever.
I know Nanuet is always good and will be good and be a contender but who are the key returning and upcoming players and team strengths (e.g Croton- their line and Maniero) as they are not as well known individually this pre-season as last year going in everyone knew about QB and TE.
It is clear too me atleast that Croton is the heavy favorite. When we played them in the playoffs last year we thought we had a solid chance, croton never let us even come close.. They have experience, size, and a QB who can keep all defenses on their feet. The big 3 lineman they have are a force to be wreckoned with. If you compare any other team in class B to croton, Croton wins in every category. Westlake did not have a good showing at the big apple, neither did Pelham. I know 7on7’s aren’t the best example of how a team plays, but it does show how many athletes and skill a team has. For Pelham, they had the easiest schedule last year in class B..clearly they are overrated and wouldn’t even be able to make sections in class B. Westlake is still strong when comparing them to other class B teams, but when compared to Croton, croton is favored ; more experience, more returning starters, and better coaching
Pelham will be 0-2 going into week 3 with losses against Sleepy and Ossining….then your joke of a schedule will make you look like a contender, just like in Class B. Hen Hud, Byram, Yonkers, Beacon and Peekskill, real tough…wouldn’t be surprised if Hen Hud beats you…
Class B is very tough to preview….I think some of the big teams that had a good run like Edgemont, Pville and Nanuet maybe be somewhat down this year. I think Ardsley, Lourdes and Kennedy will be surprises.
Putnam Valley numbers are dwindling, wouldn’t be surprised if they only had 18 kids on the roster..Briarcliff the same….Irvington has a new coach so maybe they will improve, at least offensively.
1. Croton
2. Lourdes
3. Westlake
4. Ardsley
5. Kennedy
6 Pleasantville
7. Edgemont
8. Nanuet
9. Irvington
10. Putnam Valley
11. Briarcliff
Good list, my list below is just little different:
Heavy favorite- Croton
Top contenders- Westlake, Lourdes
Contenders- Nanuet, Pleasantville, Ardsley
Possible contender- Kennedy
Rest- Edgemont, Irvington, Putnam Valley, Briarcliff
Had hard time grouping them in exact order so grouped by category. Croton definitely heavy favorite and will be tough to beat but maybe little less dominant then last year as Tralli is irreplaceable on both sides of ball, but anything less then section title will be a surprise to most people. Westlake and Lourdes are toss up and with couple of breaks/turnovers could upset Croton as unlike most teams Croton would not have an overwhelming edge on line where most teams just can not match up physically but these two teams might be able to. Nanuet is always good, Ardsley QB will keep them in every game, Pville after a down year will be most improved team in section. Kennedy can go either way, join the contenders or slide down with the rest. Opposite of Pville, I think Edgemont will have big drop-off, lost all their impact players
gael fan, section 1 best section is right, stallworth would be the best player on the gaels by far so you cant talk bad about him.if stallworth was on your team, you would have won the game but you dont and you lost. croton overrated? they were barely challenged last year, they are much more likely to win b, than harrison is to win a
Bclass, i dont like talking about pelham in the b blog but some1 else brought it up and im the #1 pelham blogger.
ardsley dad, pelham beat ardsley last year. so ardsley must be terrible in your mind.
gael fan again, ranking made the schedueles so no1 really should complain, but the better record of your opponents increases your chances of making the playoffs, maybe you misses when that came out a few months ago
All good comments. However, Gael Fan, I believe Nanuet is better than 8th. The Triple Option is just flat out difficult to defend, IMO. Here’s a hypothetical, would Bronxville win the B this year?
I am sorry but Croton is the hands down favorite. I am a Croton citizen and I know the team very well…the pistol offense they have started is almost unstoppable. Mainero will run for more than a grand behind that line this year. I can’t see how teams will compete with them, Croton has 4 potential D-1 athletes – Brennan, riciardi, oconnel, mainero. They also have there receiver (#4) coming back and there starting runningback (#1) coming back. If Croton does not make the dome this year, it will be a disappointing season in the town of Croton. I can see my tigers beating every team by almost 3 touchdowns..please explain how teams are going to compete with them..
Agree that Croton is heavy favorite and expect them to win section but while they will have their share of blowouts, they will have couple of close games. Westlake lost two close games to them including final and they will have a big line and their two potential D1 (QB and lineman) players back so no reason not to think they will not play them tough again. Lourdes also is supposed to have a big line so they will hang in there as well. Again Croton will be favorite and should win but do not think they will beat them by three touchdowns and if Lourdes and Westlake get a few breaks (turnovers) who know what can happen.
Bclass—I agree, they might play them tough but I don’t see a serious scare unless croton hurts themselves. I am excited too see how the season plays out, croton plays nanuet, Lourdes, and Westlake…should be exciting !
Go Tigers
bclass, Nanuet did have a strong JV team last year even though they did move 6 sophomores up to Varsity due to low numbers. They also moved a freshmen (Ryan Hanney) up at the end of the year who will compete for the starting QB job this year. He is the youngest brother of Tom and Kyle Hanney who have been the Nanuet QBs the past 4 years. They lose 2 studs in Kyle Hanney and Bresovsky but there was not much else on that team who had an off year.
Lets not give Croton the title yet….they are beatable and I would not be surprised if Lourdes or Hen Hud gives them a run for their money….
Any players from Class B got a shot for the Super 11??
Croton and Westlake have a few potential ones
Gael fan, i think the only class B players with any shot at Super 11 are Jesse Mainiero and Kyle Ricciardi, both of Croton. Westlake people will say Hopkins and D’onofrio, but i honestly just didn’t see it in them last year. Both were good players, but not the best in the section.
IMO, after those kids, the best players in B this year are:—The entire Croton line—The entire Lourdes line—Stein, QB, Ardsley—Marrero, WR, Briarcliff (I know the team is pretty bad, but he looked good last year)
a lil croton bias, 1st of all creative name. whos replacing tralli? you better hope hes great if you wanna go to the dome. i think the team will be slighty worse than last year. the linemne are good and important but cmon d1 rb
5- A case can be made for Maniero, O’Connell, Riccairdi and Brennan to be candidates for Super 11 and for top Class B players, but you seem to have some sort of some issue with Westlake that is clouding your objectivity. Based on having entire lines listed as best players you have 13 players as top players and do not include the Westlake guys, guess you forgot the Putnam Valley punter and Irvington back up free safety ahead of them on your list.
You obviously did not see Westlake’s playoff run, they had solid senior leadership but D’Onforio had great games against Nanuet and Pelham where his passing turned the game around and who knows what would have happened in final if he did not hurt his hand in first half and threw a couple of picks afterward. Hopkins as a sophomore got better every week of the season and had dominating performances in the play-offs including Croton where none of their linemen could block him. There is a reason why D’Onofrio is being looked at by bunch of D1AA schools and Hopkins has solid interest from Big East, ACC and Big 10 schools as well as other D1A, top D1AA programs and Ivy League schools. I would think those coaches have a better eye for talent then you and I.
They are both good candidates for Super 11 and are two of the top players in Class B as are Maniero and the three Croton linemen. Just if you want to make your case for your guys you do need to demean the proven performance of the players who they are competing against. See you in Mahopac!
Does rye country day play any of these teams this year?
Wildcats 1—In my previous post, when i said “IMO, after those kids….” i was referring to both the Croton (Mainiero and Ricciardi) AND Westlake (D’Onofrio and Hopkins) players. Sorry for the confusion. Believe me, I know that Hopkins is a beast on that line
Apologies if I misread. I think all four Croton guys are up there as Brennan and O’Connell are very good as well. Amazing one small school has been so loaded at so many different positions last few years. Right on the other choices, Stein is very good, Marrero is very good, too bad for him Briarcliff is in a bad spell and Lourdes is supposed to have huge line. Montgomery from Pleasantville will be very good, transferred back from a prep school who came back and sure somone from Nanuet will emerge as they always do.
RCD doesn’t play these schools during the regular season, but they scrimmage Croton every year at the Valhalla scrimmage. RCD is stacked.
Funny how Nanuet is top contender when only 1 blogger know’s anything about the team… I think many of you will be very surprised by this Nanuet team… here’s an idea, maybe you should come accross to the right side of the river
and take a look for yourself…. from what I hear, they are looking like a very strong team this year, many returning players…. supposidly look very good in the Nyack 7 on 7
rock fball, cmon rockland county as a whole underacheieved last year and if people arent talking about a team in the summer, its usually not a good sign
Or maybe Rockland teams are not Media hoggs like all of you in Westchester…..
anyone know of the new comers on the croton team…also Melba croton has played very well against RCD the last two years at that scrimmage and they have beaten them pretty bad
From what I heard, RCD beat everyone at the srcimmage except croton last year. I believe they lost 1 TD to none.
Nanuet will be tough, were in state championship 2 years ago and have solid program+run triple option which is hard to prepare for in 1 week.
Croton has never beat RCDS “bad” at that scrimmage. I actually think that would be a great game. Although, RCDS would most likely be a Class C school, if they played in Section 1. If I’m not mistaken, they have under 100 kids per grade. I’m assuming both are attending the Valhalla scrimmage this year.
did anyone see the pride scrimmage. westlake has a secret weapon….WOW can he hit! Found out he is only going into the 10th grade! Who is this kid????
Not a big fan of lourdes, but i hear they just had 3 transfers this summer that will help right away, the recruiting has started already. A few more kids may end up there by the time practice starts. Not fair. Once they get their turf field built they will be a problem for section 1. TI hear this year they will only have 2 or 3 seniors starting. rest are Jr and soph’s. With more and more good kids leaving Arlindton, Newburgh, and the 2 wappingers schools and transfering to Lourdes something will need to be done.
Croton didnt beat rye country day “bad” at that scrimmage. But, Croton was the better team in my opinion.
Lourdes will take Class B for the following reason
1. Coach Walsh
2. Line Avg 265+
3. See #1
rock fball, lol westchester has many more teams so theres more to talk about and lohud is in westchester
score 2-0 westchester
Lourdes might win only because they have an unfair competitive advantage. They can draw from anywhere in the area, can unofficially recruit new students and transfers and like many Catholic school probably have a large portion of their “need based” financial aid go to athletes. They are obviously in a recruiting mode with bringing in a seasoned coach and their big fundraising efforts for their athletic facilities. These things along with having one of the larger enrollments in B puts everyone else on an uneven playing field. Kennedy has not done this with football yet to this level but since Catholic schools are competitive with each other, no reason to think they will not in future.
I think Section 1 needs to address this now (maybe too late for this season but address it next year) rather than wait for Lourdes to rattle off three straight titles earned unfairly and come up with some guidelines. If Catholic schools want to play in a public school league either have some strict guidelines like only one transfer and need financial based student allowed on roster on any given time or force them up a class or have something like a factor where you multiply enrollment by 1.5 and place in class based on that. If they do not like it, join the CHSAA or a Private school league.
Note this is not an anti Catholic school bias as I am Catholic and attended Catholic schools but is a fairness issue.
I saw lourdes on film last year and do not remember 1 lineman that big
HS football- I am not sure if these kids are transfers as noted by BClass but here is a list of couple kids. The 5 kids avg 265, that is a huge line for Class B. I had to throw in 5’4 175lbs cause he must be a bull.
54 Ethan Bledsoe* C12DE6’ 3’‘240
51 Devlin Brennan11NG/G6’ 4’‘265
68 James Maher11G/DT6’230
78 Joseph Rhoades11T/DT6’ 4’‘300
45 Ryan Storey12DT/FB5’ 4’‘175
63 Nicholas Stufano11T/DT6’ 1’‘295
I believe Lourdes is strong and we will find out very quickly with games vs Westlake and Croton(ON the road) in weeks 2 & 3. Then JFK & Pville two possible contenders. End the season with Nanuet. They will be tested come playoff time. No doubt about that. Walsh will have them ready. Look for a lot of blogs by Bclass by the end of the year complaining about fairness. Not to stay I disagree with him. Look back to when JFK was dominating in Basketball. Give it a couple years and JFK will be dominating in Lax. So in Class B they will have two teams Lourdes, and JFK winning a lion share of Section 1 titles in two main sports. That is when Section 1 will look deeper into this issue. As we all know Section 1 committee likes to react to issues rather then be proactive.
9/97:00 PMBeacon HSOverlook Field-
9/171:30 PM@ Westlake HSWestlake High School-
9/241:30 PM@ Croton-Harmon HSCroton-Harmon HS-
10/11:30 PM@ Kennedy Catholic HSJFK HS-
10/66:00 PMPleasantville HSOverlook Field-
10/151:30 PM@ Edgemont HSEdgemont JSHS-
10/21TBA Nanuet HSOverlook Field-
I am from Croton, and I have been going to the home games down at Spencers Field for years. I know these guys, I talk to these guys, and they are a confident group of kids who are ready to take it home. First off, congratulations to the 2010 Tigers team, knowing AND proving they were the best in Class B in just their first year in the class is outstanding. Anyway. 2011 breakdown. The offensive line at Croton is going to be DOMINANT; Ricciardi, Brennan, and O’Connell by themselves could clear the way for Mainiero and the rest. Yes, Mainiero will have to do a lot on his own, just like his brother had to back in 2008, but the kid is capable of it being one of the top athletes in Section 1. Tralli, Soares, Mianti, and Frattini leave big shoes to fill on both sides of the ball, but Coach Catano gets his guys to play. And looking at Croton’s schedule, it just seems some what unfair to the rest of the teams in the Class. They even get to beat up on Hen Hud one game…Can’t wait to see that massacre. From what I hear and read Lourdes should compete, but this Croton team is no joke. Best of luck to the rest of the teams, you’ll need it.
Look here, this is Briarcliffs final year, goldstein cebel and marrero are 3 great football players as well as orr meyers and oconnor this is a senior class of 10 who have been playing together forever. Cebel is a monster and Marrero has the best hands in the class, as for Goldstein i dont think ive seen a back his size since Rockafeller years back. This a a hungry group off boys looking to bounce back after being humiliated last season and theres a very good possibility that this is Consorti’s final year so expect him to push the boys in ever way. Im not saying theyll win Class B but they will be much improved since last year and theyll be on the prowl to win a couple of games
Hey everyone just an update on Irvington, with the new coach Irvington has been practicing for 8 weeks now and have been installing the Wing T into the program. A key player returning is RB/LB Kevin Degnan who rushed for over 700 yards last year. Degnan and 13 other returning players plan to turn some heads this year in Class B. Has anyone heard any news about Riverside and Edgemont?
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