Ralph Wilson Stadium was the venue Thursday night for one of the most anticipated Section VI football finals in recent years, if not ever. On one side sat Sweet Home, the back-to-back state Class A defending champions. On the other was undefeated Williamsville South, led by the most prolific passer in Western New York high school football history, Joe Licata.
During his career, Licata completed 440 of 764 passes for 6,472 yards and 86 touchdowns—all WNY high school records.
Something had to give. Unfortunately for Licata and crew, it wasn’t the Sweet Home defense.
Continue reading ‘Sweet Home Dominates 2nd Half to Win Section VI Title… Again’
Three starters for the offensive line were back practicing for the Buffalo Bills on Thursday after sitting out yesterday’s practice. Demetrius Bell (knee), Eric Wood (knee) and Cordaro Howard (shoulder) were all back on the field Thursday during the portion of practice the media is allowed to watch. All three suffered bumps and bruises from last Sunday’s game in Kansas City.
Linebacker Andra Davis was not on the field for practice. He’s still battling a shoulder injury.
Howard is likely the permanent starting right tackle for the rest of the season after the team placed Cornell Green on injured reserve yesterday with a knee injury to free up a roster spot for Shawne Merriman.
Merriman will not be in uniform Sunday when the Bills try to end a seven-game slide against the Chicago Bears in Toronto. The game is sold out and will shown on television locally.
Unlike last season when the Buffalo Sabres jumped out the gate smoking and eventually skated their way to a division title, there hasn’t been a lot of positive things to write about this time around. The team has lost four in a row and five of their last six. They currently sitting at just eight points, tied for worst in the NHL with Florida and Edmonton.
There’s plenty of blame to go around. Many are thinking Lindy Ruff, who’s been the Sabres head coach since 1997, has finally lost his team. For whatever reason, there seems to be little consistency on the ice and at times, little effort. Perhaps most bothersome is a lot of players barely seemed bothered, at least visibly, by the losses that keep piling up.
Continue reading ‘Montador a Bright Spot on Horrific Sabres Start’
Jonny Flynn has yet to play significant basketball for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. He’s hoping that will change soon.
“I feel great, I keep getting better and I can’t wait to get out there and run up and down the floor.” Flynn told Minnesota reporters on Wednesday.
The former Niagara Falls high school and Syracuse University star has been out of action since having hip surgery in July. He’s hoping to be back in game action by mid-to-late November. He had his first full contact practice this past Monday and admitted to experiencing a little tightness in the hip.
Continue reading ‘Jonny Flynn Getting Closer to NBA Return’
The University at Buffalo volleyball team has placed seniors Kristin Bignell and Marisa Hornbaker on the ESPN Academic All-District First Team. The awards, sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), were announced on Thursday.
Bignell, who has a 3.90 GPA in exercise science, leads the Bulls defensively with 95 blocks, including 17 solos. Bignell is also one of four players on the team with over 200 kills as she has 201 on the season. Bignell was named the MAC East Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season as she had a 13-block performance against St. John’s including 11 block assists. She has seven double-digit kill performances on the year, including a career-high 19 kills against Kent State.
Continue reading ‘UB Volleyball Places Pair on ESPN Academic All-District’
Ryan Fitzpatrick is averaging 230 passing yards per game in five starts this season. If he can stay healthy and head coach Chan Gailey elects to start him for the remainder of the season, and of course Fitzpatrick keeps up his pace, he can join some exclusive company.
Fitzpatrick is on pace to finish 2010 with 3,360 passing yards. Only three quarterbacks in Bills history have thrown for more yards in a season; Jim Kelly (five times), Joe Ferguson (twice) and Drew Bledsoe.
The 3,360 yards would be the ninth-highest in franchise history. That spot is currently occupied by Doug Flutie, who threw for 3,171 in 1999, the last time the Bills made the playoffs.
