BY JOHN ANDERSON
CANISTEO – It’s been over three decades, but there was a time Canisteo and Bolivar football circled each other on the calendar as one of the biggest games of the year.
During those years, Section V only took the top four teams in the class for sectionals, and many of those years, Canisteo or Bolivar would have been a favorite to win the championship.
However, the teams played in a league filled with Class B and C powerhouse. As a result, Canisteo and Bolivar may have had an undefeated record against other schools in their class, but their overall record wasn’t good enough to make the Section V tournament. That all changed when Section V started taking the top 8 teams.
Tonight in Canisteo at 7 p.m., there could be 100 total points scored as undefeated Bolivar-Richburg and Canisteo-Greenwood, both 5-0 in 8-man football, go head-to-head.
Chris Brooks will be provided the coverage with a story and photos. You can follow him at @iambrooksie on Twitter tonight as well.
Canisteo has scored over 40 points in four of their five wins, including 50 or more twice. Bolivar-Richburg has scored over 40 points three times and in two games had 40 points by halftime twice.
Canisteo-Greenwood is ranked #1 in the state and has the #1 seed in Section V. Bolivar-Richburg is ranked #2 in the state and currently is the #2 seed in Section V behind C-G.
Common opponents have been Red Jacket, Wellsville and Holley.
C-G beat Red Jacket 50-16, B-R won 42-26 on opening night. Against Wellsville, both teams cruised to 40-point half-time leads and took off the gas in the second half. C-G beat Wellsville 40-0, B-R won 42-24. Against Holley, C-G won 50-16, B-R won 34-0.
C-G also beat Mynderse, 48-0 (Mynderse then forfeited to B-R three weeks later) and Pembroke, 28-14.
C-G finishes the season with C.G. Finney and Mynderse.
B-R also beat C.G. Finney, 40-7. B-R has Pembroke and a tough contest with Red Jacket to end the season.
Both teams have traded Section V Player of the Week awards the first five weeks.
For Canisteo-Greenwood, Beau Zeh was Defensive Player of the Week and Keegan Foote was Offensive Player of the Week.
For Bolivar-Richburg: Caden Allen (who also plays quarterback) was named Defensive Player of the Week, Trent Sibble was named Defensive Player of the Week and running back Ethan Coleman won an Offensive Player
Here is a look at the rosters and the Section V standings:
