GENEVA, N.Y. – Binghamton, Union-Endicott and Susquehanna Valley – Section 4’s brightest flag football teams this season – made their bid at reaching the semifinals of the 2026 NYSPHSAA Flag Football Championships on Saturday at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. It was a first for all three teams.
Despite taking tough losses in the state quarterfinals, all three teams boasted an undefeated section record – a significant jump from previous years, with Susquehanna Valley even pointing to 2026 as “their best year yet.”
“I think this year we’re able to make adjustments during the game, which was not always easy to do in previous years,” said Susquehanna Valley head coach and Section 4 flag football coordinator Mike Ford. “I think just the knowledge, experience, and just the willingness to become students of the game has really helped us.”
Binghamton (14-2, 11-0 Class B), which has conceded an average of less than 11 points per game this season, and Susquehanna Valley (12-3, 11-0 Class C), which leads the Section in rushing yards, were unable to hold up Section 4 in the tournament, both taking shutout losses to Section 6 teams Clarence and Pioneer, respectively.
Pioneer, earning their second-straight shutout victory of the tournament, beat the Sabers 20-0, and the 2024 NYSPHSAA Division 2 state champions, Bishop Kearney (Section 5), 26-0 in the sub-regionals, while Clarence, holding Binghamton to a similar defensive standard, shut out the Patriots 19-0 to advance to the team’s first-ever state semifinals.
Union-Endicott (9-1-1, 7-0 Class A), who made their second appearance in the state tournament but their first in the Class A quarterfinals, held last year’s Class A state semifinalists, Penfield (Section 5), to 25 points and scored six points late in the second half.
“I think each year in this early going, the experience level helps tremendously; eventually, 5 to 10 years from now, [flag football] will catch up across the state,” Ford said regarding the growth of flag football in Section 4, which boasts having a head start when it comes to playing amongst high-level competition, even before the sport’s initial rise and recognition on the state level in 2024.
Pioneer (17-0) will play Northeastern Clinton (Section 7) at Cortland High School, while Clarence (14-2) and Penfield (14-2) continue on and will face Fayetteville-Manlius (Section 3) and Shaker (Section 2) at Homer High School on June 6.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: SV, Binghamton and U-E flag football end the 2026 season at states
Reporting by Aniya Sumner, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
