By RICK STONE

Let’s again start off with the most important games of the weekend - the league games of which we have four:

SULLIVAN WEST over Liberty - A Sullivan County, Class C showdown. With Marshon Williams leading the offense and Brandon Tompkins the defense, the Indians will give the Bulldogs some solid competition. But Sully West probably has too many weapons with Alsdorf, Erlwein and Murphy plus the big boys headed by all-state Tesseyman.

BURKE CATHOLIC over Red Hook in a B showdown. Remember the tense battles these two had a couple of seasons ago? Both teams are youngish this time around, but there will be plenty of hard-hitting. The Eagles seem to have a slight edge this time around, but we never count out Red Hook.

ELLENVILLE over Tri-Valley - The defending C champs have way too much for the Bears who will still show up and display plenty of heart, thanks in large part to their classy coach.

MILLBROOK over Spackenkill - The Blazers’ power game will be too much for the spunky Spartans who look for a big passing game from Nick Contelmo. This is also a C contest.

Now for the BIG non-league rivalry games. Warwick and Goshen started playing in 1896 while Port Jervis and Middletown first met in 1897. Class AA WARWICK seems to have a real powerhouse this year. The Wildcat offense should be too much for Class A Goshen, as it will be for most of its opponents in 2009.

Meanwhile the Middies and Port should be a closer match. AA MIDDLETOWN will win its second straight Erie Bell down at Glennette, but the A Raiders will make a battle of it. This is the 131^st game between the pair who have met each other at least once each year since 1897 with the exception of 1970. The Middies lead the series, 68-55-7.

For intersectional games, let’s start in the ’Burgh. NEWBURGH will edge Binghamton (Section Four) if the Goldback offense improves over last week. Meanwhile the ‘Back ‘D’ must contain the Patriots’ Feggins much better than M-W did last week. But unlike M-W, coach Bill Bianco’s boys won’t win if the game becomes a shootout. … Coach Brain Vegliando should see his first win this week. Class A WALLKILL is hosting AA Horseheads. Horseheads of Section Four is young and ripe for the pickin’ if the Panther passing game gels and can balance its ground attack. … CHESTER will beat visiting Haldane (Section One) in the Enchanted Forest. Both are Class D teams which could meet again in the state regions. … O’NEILL will travel to Montvale, NJ to play Pascack Hills. The game replaces the originally scheduled matchup with Rondout Valley. This is Pascack Hills’ first game, and I have no idea how good they are. Go, Raiders!! Aaron and the boys should be getting’ in their groove.

There are SNF inter-conference games of interest, too. VALLEY CENTRAL and Kingston will each get to see exactly how good they are. We pick the Vikings here in a fun game to watch. … MONROE-WOODBURY hosts Minisink Valley looking for its 21^st consecutive home victory. If this were last year, we would be seeing the Battle Royale. This year belongs to the Crusaders, however, who are currently ranked #6 in the East by USA Today. … PINE BUSH had its ego bruised a little last week by red-hot Warwick. The Bushmen should get into the win column against Washingtonville.

Defending B champ HIGLAND takes its game to AA FDR. The Huskies are still tough on defense, but its offense is much improved over last year’s. The Presidents will test Highland but the Doggies will win. … After a heartbreaking opener, defending A champ CORNWALL and its youngsters will right itself against B New Paltz. … Class A SAUGERTIES should be able to add offense this week to its rugged defense and defeat Class B Marlboro in a good Ulster County showdown.

ELDRED AND LMR, both Class D, meet twice again this year. This one’s the non-league game, but don’t let that fool you into thinking these squads will hold back. LMR is much improved and will be nobody’s pushover in 2009. But experienced ELDRED has looked mighty good to date. We expect the Yellow Jackets to take control of this one.

PINE PLAINS and Onteora have had it rough lately, so this should be a good game for both teams. The Class C Bombers have lost 15 straight while rebuilding Onteora, a B team playing an independent schedule this year, went 0-9 in 2008 after restarting its program. Look for a close game and a narrow victory by Pine Plains that gives coach Jim Jackson his first ever high school coaching win in four-plus seasons at FDR and PP.

NOTE: Last week Rick’s record was 14-4.