2022 football schedule groups Herkimer County teams, welcomes Frankfort-Schuyler back

Jon Rathbun, Times Telegram
·5 min read
Little Falls Mountie Mason Rowley raises the ball in celebration after scoring the winning touchdown in overtime at Mt. Markham Oct. 8, 2021. The Mounties and Mustangs have played games decided by a total of 10 points in the last four season and are making the move from Class C football to Class D for the fall of 2022.
Little Falls Mountie Mason Rowley raises the ball in celebration after scoring the winning touchdown in overtime at Mt. Markham Oct. 8, 2021. The Mounties and Mustangs have played games decided by a total of 10 points in the last four season and are making the move from Class C football to Class D for the fall of 2022.

As always, changes are coming for the high school football season in the fall and the 2022 adjustments may be welcomed by fans in Herkimer County.

New enrollment numbers have Little Falls and Mt. Markham among the schools changing classes in Section III and they will take their growing football rivalry to Class D East along with a third school switching classes, Sherburne-Earlville. The three former Class C squads will join Herkimer, Dolgeville and Waterville/Hamilton in a six-team league with a distinctly Herkimer County look.

Football: Little Falls Mounties beat Mt. Markham in overtime in football

Football: Little Falls defeats Mt. Markham in overtime after four scoreless quarters

Photos: West Canada Valley beats Morrisville-Eaton in 8-man championship

Photos: Dolgeville beats Adirondack in Section III championship

Two years ago, Little Falls and Mt. Markham were the section’s two easternmost Class C teams and were aligned in separate divisions for a season that was eventually canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Fall II season in the spring of 2021 brought them back together and the teams went to overtime twice that year with Little Falls winning 7-6 in the spring and 28-22 in the fall. Both 2021 games were played in Winfield; the Class D Mustangs and Mounties are scheduled to meet in Little Falls Sept. 16 in the second week of the 2022 the season.

Little Falls’ six-point win on Mason Rowley’s touchdown run in overtime followed three head-to-head meetings between the teams that had been decided by a total of four points. Mt. Markham had won 21-19 in 2019 and 20-19 in 2018.

Little Falls, coming off a 4-3 season and a Class C playoff appearance, plays four of its first five games at home in the fall, starting with Sherburne-Earlville and Mt. Markham. The Mustangs open the season at Waterville and play their first home game against Cato-Meridian in Week 3.

Dolgeville, the reigning Class D sectional champion, gets Herkimer at home to start the season then plays on the road for three weeks before finishing the regular season with three games at home. The Blue Devils will play under Little Falls’ permanent lights for the first time Sept. 30.

Kamryn Comstock, pictured makes a diving catch for a touchdown against Waterville/Hamilton Oct. 2, 2021, is one of the returning players from Dolgeville's 2021 sectional championship team.
Kamryn Comstock, pictured makes a diving catch for a touchdown against Waterville/Hamilton Oct. 2, 2021, is one of the returning players from Dolgeville's 2021 sectional championship team.

Herkimer plays Waterville in its first home game Sept. 16 and is home again the following week against Utica’s Notre Dame Jugglers. Herkimer’s games against Waterville and Notre Dame both wound up being forfeited by the winning teams in 2021 because of player eligibility issues.

Waterville advanced to sectionals with three wins in the regular season in the fall, two of them by forfeit.

With the addition of three new Class D teams in the East, Notre Dame’s combined team with the Utica Academy of Science has been moved to Class D West with Beaver River, Cato-meridian, Onondaga and Sandy Creek. Adirondack, the division winner that went unbeaten into the sectional finals against Dolgeville last fall, is moving back up to Class C and will compete in a division with 2021 Class C finalist General Brown, Holland Patent, Lowville Academy, the combined Southern Hills team representing Tully, LaFayette and Fabius-Pompey, and two newcomers, the combined Westmoreland/Oriskany team that competed as an independent last fall and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, a Class B semifinalist in 2021.

The section-wide schedule originally released in March shows the weekend of Sept. 2 and 3 as scrimmage weekend with the option of picking up an additional game. Sectional playoffs will start Oct. 28 and 29 with sectional finals two weeks later and the eventual state championships at Syracuse University’s former Carrier Dome Nov. 25-27.

The 2022 schedule has been updated as recently as Tuesday and remains subject to changes. There were multiple schedule and alignment changes after the start of practice last fall.

Frankfort-Schuyler plans a return to varsity competition in 2022 after the last-minute cancellation of its 2021 season. The Maroon Knight, Class D sectional champions in 2019, will compete in eight-player football for the first time, giving Section III 10 teams in two divisions.

Quarterback Brayden Shepardson (1) pictured during a five-touchdown game against Cooperstown Oct. 16, 2021, ran and passed West Canada Valley to Section III's eight-player football championship during his varsity debut as a junior.
Quarterback Brayden Shepardson (1) pictured during a five-touchdown game against Cooperstown Oct. 16, 2021, ran and passed West Canada Valley to Section III's eight-player football championship during his varsity debut as a junior.

Frankfort-Schuyler joins first-time sectional champion West Canada Valley in the East Division with Sauquoit Valley, a late addition in 2021, Cooperstown and New York Mills. The nine eight-player teams competed in a single league last fall.

West Canada Valley defeated Weedsport, the winner of the previous two sectional eight-player titles, twice last fall and avenged its only loss in the regular season by beating Morrisville-Eaton in the final. Morrisville-Eaton and Weedsport will both play in the North-West Division with South Lewis, Thousand Islands and Bishop Grimes of Syracuse.

The 2022 schedule sends West Canada Valley north to Thousand Islands to open the season – the Indians defeated the Vikings 94-26 in the first round of sectional play last year and 70-28 in the regular season – and the home opener is Sept. 17 against Bishop Grimes.

Frankfort-Schuyler plays its two non-league games at Weedsport and South Lewis to start the season before eight-player varsity football makes its Lt. Joseph Ferraro Field debut Sept. 23 against Sauquoit Valley.

Jeffrey DeSarro (5) quarterbacked Frankfort-Schuyler to Section III's 2019 Class D football championship prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The Maroon Knights will return to the fall season with an eight-player squad in 2022.
Jeffrey DeSarro (5) quarterbacked Frankfort-Schuyler to Section III's 2019 Class D football championship prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The Maroon Knights will return to the fall season with an eight-player squad in 2022.

Sauquoit Valley starts its season at home against Morrisville-Eaton.

The alignment changes leave Herkimer County without a Class C presence. Central Valley Academy, the county’s largest school, remains in what is now Class B North East with Camden, Oneida, South Jefferson and Indian River, the Class A runner-up last fall. The Thunder schedule includes a Week 0 game Sept. 2 against Section II Fonda-Fultonville and Central Valley Academy will play at home again Sept. 23 against the Syracuse Institute of Technology followed by Indian River and Oneida.

Realignment has taken 2021 sectional champion New Hartford out of Class B and moved the Spartans to Class A.

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Herkimer County high school football 2022 changes