Titletowns!
Southwestern, Maple Grove Win State ChampionshipsBy Scott Kindberg skindberg@post-journal.com
Article Photos
SYRACUSE - When Southwestern High School football coach Jay Siranni was a young assistant at Maple Grove in 1998, he often heard his boss, Curt Fischer, talk about how the best players perform their best in the biggest games.
They both got to see that first hand on Saturday at the Carrier Dome.
On the New York State Public High School Athletic Association's biggest stage, the Red Dragons and the Trojans proved to the rest of the Empire State that the best Class D and Class C teams do, indeed, reside about 12 miles apart in Chautauqua County.
Maple Grove junior Chris Secky, the most valuable player, tossed three touchdown passes to senior Joe Caporale and ran for two others to lead the top-ranked Red Dragons (13-0) to a 55-7 rout of No. 2 Moriah (12-1) in the Class D final.
Meanwhile, Southwestern junior Zack Sopak, who also earned MVP honors, threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another to lift the No. 1-ranked Trojans (13-0) to a 35-7 throttling of Croton-Harmon (11-2) in the Class C championship.
The title was the second for Maple Grove - it earned its first 10 years ago - while Southwestern earned its first.
''It's truly overwhelming,'' Fischer said. ''I told our team before the game that there are two (Class D) teams on top of the mountain here today. Who's going to push the other one off to be on top? Fortunately, we're standing on top of the mountain today.''
Well, as it turned out, the Red Dragons are happy to share a place on the summit with the school on the other side of Chautauqua Lake.
''Chautauqua County should be proud of these two teams,'' Sirianni said.
For complete coverage, see sports, page C-1.
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SWCS79
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12-08-08 4:26 PM
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wow what are you like 12 years old? dude grow up. your just mad becasue falconer didn't win a state title. and now that southwestern is in there class theres no way for falconer to ever win a state title. lol. hago.
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Section5Guru
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12-05-08 12:49 AM
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do you guys think southwestern could play with cal-mum not this year but back in the 90's when they were class c?
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Leasha
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12-01-08 10:54 PM
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SWCS does not pick the classification. New York State sets the classification numbers. This year and forever possibly SWCS will be a C school in football. If you are under 440 students in grades 10-12 you are in the C class. Next season SWCS will be at 369 for grades 10-12 putting 5 other Cs bigger than SWCS. In fact, Fredonia and Eden will be a C as well. All schools are getting smaller. Great Job SWCS. You are where you belong, state champs. Westfield combines with Ripley in Sports which put them in the C. In Fact SWCS beat 2 schools when they beat Westfield.
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trap2009
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12-01-08 9:53 PM
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Good Job Guys!.Curt and the Boys Congrats on Repeating ...
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SWCS79
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12-01-08 4:07 PM
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So please hammonddanyay grow up, get a life, and give them the praise that they, as a team, have earned. WAY TO GO SOUTHWESTERN!!!! I'm proud of my alma-mater!!!
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SWCS79
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12-01-08 4:02 PM
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The one thing that comes to mind is no matter what Southwestern Varsity Trojans have always been and will always be a great team. Maybe I’m biased because at one point in time I played for them. But then again that was the first year that the team went to the Ralph Wilson Stadium. No matter what class you play in it is still just a game and these kids should be praised for a job well done. Because to get a state championship is one*****of a feat. And just as a side note: Hammonddanyay you really need to grow up. If what you say is true and you really are big into sports... then you should know that to do what the Trojans did this year was a great feat, and a hard one at that. And further-more that it's not the caliber of the team that determines what class they are in, it is how many kids go to school there. So as I said before Southwestern has always been a great team, just now there are not as many kids going to the school as there were before.
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swcsupporter
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12-01-08 2:04 PM
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Congratulations Trojans, it was a great season, you all should be very proud of your state championship. It is too bad that some must feel the need to demean others and their accomplishments, I am guessing to somehow make themselves feel more important than they actually are in their every day existence, kinda sad.
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danyay
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12-01-08 1:33 PM
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The impostor is a failure at sports, a failure at the internet, and a failure at life. Go pout somewhere else, you wannabe.
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pjshiner
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12-01-08 11:52 AM
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WOW! HAMMONDDANYAY I can't believe you are still making comments. I told you to STOP following their success if you couldn't be supportive. I really feel sorry for you. You must be living a sad and pathetic life. Maybe you should be a real man and stop hiding behind your screen name…OH WAIT, that’s the whole problem you make these idiotic comments because you are not a REAL MAN. You need to grow up, get a life and keep your mouth shut. I’m sure you would never make the comments face to face because you are LOSER!
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matteson
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12-01-08 9:07 AM
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hammonddanyay never complained when Southwestern was bumped up from C to B in the 90's but now he's crying all over instead of being proud of any of our local students, coaches and schools for doing so well. Can you say help for this small minded poor excuse of a good citizen? Good job Southwestern and Maplegrove we are proud of all of you. hamdanyay get a life
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ciecie
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11-30-08 10:56 PM
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BOTH SCHOOLS HAVE A REASON TO CELEBRATE!
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SWfootball
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11-30-08 10:08 PM
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BECAUSE I DONT THINK YOU CAN. so i suggest you shut your mouth because your biting off more than you can chew.
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SWfootball
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11-30-08 10:06 PM
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I dont know why this guy is being such a prick, but let me say this. . CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A STATE CHAMPION HAMMONDDANYAY? c
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21Jan2013
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11-30-08 12:53 PM
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Great job! Also great job to Time Warner Cable for wonderful coverage on channel 3. I felt like I was watching a pro game, minus only the HD and yellow 1st down line! The cameras, replays and announcing was great.
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mercyman88
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11-30-08 12:22 PM
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Give credit to these kids they earned a state title stop being so negative hammonddanyay. Section 6 put the Trojans in that division not the school or the coach or the players. Congrats Trojans !!!
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Dark77
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11-30-08 9:09 AM
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Great job by the Trojans! By the way they are playing in the right Division. They have meetings at the beginning of the year before to set up Divisions. Next year Salamanca and SilverCreek go to Class D. I Guess everyone is in the wrong Division! Great Job Trojans for Winning the State Title in your correct Classification!
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