#BeyondTheKeystone New York (Tonawanda v. Springville Griffith)

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos

Sykotyk | October 19, 2018

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) has 12 Sections. Very similar to PA’s Districts. They’re solidly geographically defined, and the far western Section, covering Buffalo and areas from roughly Olean and west along I-86 are members of Section 6.

Section 6 traditionally follows the seven game regular season, while Class D and AA play an eighth game due to the limited number of teams. The other three Classes (A, B, and C), play a three round playoff of eight teams each. After the Section Finals are played at New Era Field, home of the Bills, the advancing teams move on to bracketed games against other Sections. Almost en masse. As all five play all five from Section 5. And then the winners of Section 3 and 4. The eastern side of the state is a bit more convoluted.

If teams fail to qualify for the state playoffs, there is the Charles Funke Bowl. Which is a small NIT-like tournament for teams just outside the playoffs. In most classes, it’s four teams in a semifinal and final setup. And teams that don’t qualify for that, then, can still schedule consolation games to get 8 or 9 games themselves anyways.

One of those Consolation games was played on Wednesday night in Tonowanda. Between the homestanding Tonawanda Warriors and the visiting Springville Griffith Griffins. The short turn around, bad weather, and poor records certainly didn’t help the attendance. As only a couple hundred endured the rain. But, it did let up in the first half. The 0-7 Griffins and 2-5 Warriors played a rather conservative game, with not much offense. Tonawanda opened up a 14-0 lead before Springville made it interesting late. A one-yard touchdown run and an extra point halved the lead. And the onside kick recovery put the Griffins in position to tie the game. But, a fourth-down sack ended things while Tonawanda was able run out most of the remaining clock.

Springville plays again next week at Alden.

More photos, and larger copies, will be available at http://www.flickr.com/sykotyk/sets/

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