High School Fridays: Friday's sectional scoreboard, 11/6

 Five weeks ago, Saratoga handed Shaker its worst loss of the season at the time. Friday brought a rematch in the Class AA semifinals, but this time, it was a closer game.

Saratoga took the opening kickoff, just like they did on October 2, and went right down the field, with quarterback Bobby Morris calling his own number to go 21 yards for the first score of the night. A PAT made it 7-0 in favor of the hosts.

Shaker responded in kind, with Avery Jones taking it in from 40 yards out, and the game was quickly knotted at 7. It didn't take long for the Blue Streaks to respond, as Morris found Jalen Lockrow, who caught a deflected pass, and sprinted 66 yards to the house. On the ensuing Shaker possession, Lockrow struck again, this time on defense, as he picked off a pass from Austin Marohn, and ran it back 33 yards to paydirt. The PAT failed this time, and Saratoga led, 20-7, after the 1st quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, Morris tallied his 2nd rushing touchdown of the night, this time from 18 yards, then ran in the 2 point conversion to extend the lead to 28-7. Late in the frame, Shaker's Liam Gilchrist, who had a 35 yard TD catch taken away due to penalty, ran it in from 9 yards out, and it was 28-14 at halftime.

Saratoga virtually put the game away in the 3rd quarter, as Morris & Lockrow connected again, this time with Lockrow sliding to make the catch in the corner of the end zone from 13 yards. Minutes later, Bolio Flores brought Shaker back to within two scores, running it in from 13 yards out. 35-21 Saratoga heading into the 4th quarter.

Shaker kept coming back, and actually got it to within a single possession, as Jemel Bellamy galloped 30 yards to the house just 2 minutes into the frame. Morris completed the rushing hat trick from 6 yards out, but Bellamy struck again for the Blue Bison, this time from 11 yards out, to get the Bison within 7 at 42-35.

However, what did Marohn in were 4 interceptions on the night. Not just the Lockrow pick 6, but Thomas Georgeadis sealed the game with a pick in the end zone late in the 4th quarter. Morris had only 1 interception in return. 42-35 was the final, and the defending champs will seek to repeat next week in Colonie against CBA, a 42-0 winner over Shenendehowa.

Other scores:

Class A:

Troy 28, Queensbury 16.

Burnt Hills 41, Mohonasen 6. 

Class B:

Averill Park 34, LaSalle 14.

Glens Falls 57, Gloversville 7.

Class C: 

Schuylerville 48, Cobleskill-Richmondville 6.

Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 28, Fonda-Fultonville 21.

Crossovers:

Johnstown 42, Lansingburgh 17.

Scotia 40, Cohoes 14.

Women's volleyball:

Class AAA finals:

Shenendehowa 3, Saratoga 0.

Class AA finals:

Burnt Hills 3, Bethlehem 1.

Men's volleyball:

Bethlehem 3, Niskayuna 1.

Columbia 3, Saratoga 0.

Shaker 3, Colonie 0.

Shenendehowa 3, Guilderland 0.

Section 2 football playoff preview

 We never got around to making picks in the 1st round in Classes B & C, so we'll catch up with the semifinals in those classes. But, first, Class AA starts things off.

Class AA semifinals:

Shenendehowa @ CBA:

The Mustangs ended up with the invitation to the massacre, but have they figured out how to slow down the Brothers, who have scored 60+ in 6 of 9 games this season? We'll soon find out. It ain't gonna be pretty.

Pick: CBA.

Shaker @ Saratoga (Spectrum News 1, 7 pm):

Two weeks ago, the Blue Streaks ran over the Bison. Expect more of the same, unless Greg Sheeler has adjusted his defense to shut down Bobby Morris, Cam Toomey, and company. A rematch with CBA seems likely.

Pick: Saratoga.

Class A semifinals:

Queensbury @ Troy:

The Flying Horses dropped 30+ on the Spartans in a week 3 shutout. However, as Queensbury showed last week, things may be a wee bit different this time. Just not enough to change the result.

Pick: Troy.

Mohonasen @ Burnt Hills:

Mohon was completely outplayed and outclassed by Queensbury last week. A rematch with Burnt Hills will end their season, likely in embarrassing fashion.

Pick: Burnt Hills.

Class B semifinals:

LaSalle @ Averill Park:

The Cadets have improved greatly after a winless 2025 campaign. However, all roads lead to a rematch between the Golden Knights and Glens Falls. Pray for an upset.

Pick: Averill Park.

Gloversville @ Glens Falls:

Looking at this one, I'm reminded of an old Catskill Game Farm commercial, whose jingle sounds like this:

"Bears, bears, bears, bears...."

Pick: Glens Falls.

Class C semifinals:

Hoosick Falls-Tamarac @ Fonda-Fultonville:

The merger of two suburban Rensselaer County programs has produced great success. If there's an upset to be had, it's here.

Pick: Hoosick Falls-Tamarac.

Schuylerville @ Cobleskill-Richmondville.

The Black Horses are perennials in the Super Bowl. Not this year.

Pick: Cobleskill-Richmondville.

Class D only has a Super Bowl this year, as they only had 2 teams qualify. 

Full picks for the Super Bowls next week.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Section 2 men's volleyball sectional pairings released

 Unlike the women's tournament, the men's volleyball sectionals are split into two divisions. Try figuring out that pretzel logic.......

Division 1:

Tomorrow:

Guilderland @ Shenendehowa.

Niskayuna @ Bethlehem.

Saratoga @ Columbia.

Colonie @ Shaker.

The semifinals are at Schenectady on Tuesday, and the finals are at Schenectady on Friday the 13th.

Division 2:

CBA & Burnt Hills will meet for the title on Friday the 13th at Schenectady.

The other leagues don't have any representation, which is even worse than the women's tournament. Maybe they should wait, and have the sectionals after the other leagues finish their schedules........

High School Fridays: Week 9 roundup, 10/30

 The pairings for Classes AA & A are now set after Friday's action.

Queensbury, with a playoff berth on the line, upset Mohonasen, 21-10, knocking Mohon to the #4 seed in Class A. That, of course, means a rematch with top seeded Burnt Hills, and not #2 Troy, which is what Mohon wanted. Instead, the Spartans go to Troy for a rematch. 

In Class AA, CBA will host Shenendehowa, and Saratoga entertains Shaker.

The rest of Friday's scores:

Football:

Red Hook 47, Cohoes 14.

Greenwich 48, Green Tech 0.

Watervliet-Heatly 27, Canajoharie-Ft. Plain 21.

Averill Park 49, Scotia 0.

Ballston Spa 31, Bethlehem 19.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 53, Voorheesville 27.

Colonie 30, Schenectady 22.

Niskayuna 25, Columbia 19.

Fonda-Fultonville 36, Mechanicville 8.Joh

Saratoga 51, Guilderland 7.

Glens Falls 41, Lansingburgh 14.

Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 15, Hudson 7.

Gloversville 24, Ravena 7.

LaSalle 21, Schalmont 0.

Schuylerville 54, Johnstown 6.

CBA 27, Shaker 6.

Shenendehowa 31, Albany 8.

Troy 43, South Glens Falls 8.

Women's soccer:

Class D final:

Northville 4, Fort Ann 0.

Class AAA final:

Shenendehowa 6, Guilderland 2.

Women's volleyball:

Class B quarterfinals:

Ichabod Crane 3, Schuylerville 1.

Mechanicville 3, Ravena 0.

LaSalle 3, Broadalbin-Perth 1.

Voorheesville 3, Cobleskill-Richmondville 0.

Wednesday @ Ballston Spa:

Voorheesville vs. LaSalle.

Mechanicville vs. Ichabod Crane.

Class C quarterfinals:

Galway 3, Greenville 0.

Saratoga Catholic 3, Schoharie 2.

Stillwater 3, Fonda-Fultonville 0.

Maple Hill 3, Mekeel Christian 0.

Wednesday @ Broadalbin-Perth:

Maple Hill vs. Stillwater.

Galway vs. Saratoga Catholic.

Class D quarterfinals:

Lake George 3, Hadley-Luzerne 0.

Argyle 3, Fort Edward 0.

Duanesburg 3, Berne-Knox-Westerlo 2.

Loudonville Christian 3, Hartford 1.

Wednesday @ Hudson Falls:

Loudonville Christian vs. Duanesburg.

Lake George vs. Argyle.

Thursday's sectional scoreboard, 10/29

 Volleyball:

Class AAA:

Colonie 3, Schenectady 1. The Wolfpack will play Shenendehowa on Wednesday.

Class AA:

Burnt Hills 3, Troy 0. Troy goes 1-&-done again in a match that shouldn't have happened.

Ballston Spa 3, Queensbury 2.

Columbia 3, Guilderland 0.

Bethlehem 3, Niskayuna 0.

Class A:

South Glens Falls 3, Cohoes 0.

Holy Names 3, Hudson Falls 1.

Scotia 3, Lansingburgh 1.

Glens Falls 3, Mohonasen 1.

Women's soccer:

Class AA semifinals:

Ballston Spa 3, Columbia 2 (OT).

Bethlehem 2, Mohonasen 0.

The Eagles & Scotties will meet at Shaker on Tuesday.

Wednesday's sectional scoreboard, 10/28

 Women's soccer:

Class A semifinals:

Schalmont 5, Scotia 1.

Averill Park 4, Ravena 1.

The Golden Knights & Sabres meet Tuesday at Shaker.

Class B semifinals:

Mechanicville 4, Voorheesville 0.

Schuylerville 1, Broadalbin-Perth 0.

Mechanicville & Schuylerville return to Lansingburgh Saturday afternoon.

Volleyball:

Class B 1st round:

Schuylerville 3, Coxsackie-Athens 2. The Black Horses will play top seeded Ichabod Crane tomorrow.

Ravena 3, Tamarac 1. The Ravens visit Mechanicville tomorrow.

Broadalbin-Perth 3, Watervliet-Heatly 0. The Lady Patriots come to Troy to play LaSalle tomorrow.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 3, Schalmont 1. C-R faces another Colonial Council foe in Voorheesville tomorrow.

Class C 1st round:

Greenville 3, Cairo-Durham 1. Greenville will play Galway tomorrow.

Saratoga Catholic 3, Berlin-New Lebanon 0. The Saints will play Schoharie tomorrow.

Stillwater 3, Mayfield 0. Stillwater will be at Fonda-Fultonville tomorrow.

Mekeel Christian 3, Hoosic Valley 2. Mekeel visits Maple Hill tomorrow.

Men's soccer:

Class C semifinals:

Maple Hill 3, Cambridge-Salem 0.

Greenville 4, Loudonville Christian 1.

Patroon Conference rivals Greenville & Maple Hill meet at Queensbury on Saturday.

Class D semifinals:

Northville 12, North Warren 0.

Hartford 2, Fort Ann 0.

Northville & Hartford travel to Queensbury for the D title on Saturday.

News & notes

 We talked about this earlier over at The Land of Whatever, but there's more to discuss regarding the mistakes made by Section II in seeding the Class AA volleyball sectionals for women.

Colonial Council champion Troy is seeded 8th, and will travel to Burnt Hills tomorrow. That's wrong.

Foothills Council champion Queensbury is seeded 5th, and will play at Ballston Spa. That is also wrong.

The Section II committee can argue strength of schedule until they're blue in their collective faces, but it doesn't justify the disrespect.

By sending Troy on the road for the 2nd straight year, Section II is throwing away a champion vs. champion match that should be saved for a later round. Queensbury, should they get past the Lady Scotties, would be next, and that would be another champion vs. champion match.

The correct bracket should have Queensbury & Troy at #'s 2 & 3, playing at home. Section II has made it clear that the Suburban Council has favored nation status, and they've rigged the draw to ensure a Suburban team wins the title. A 9-8 Ballston Spa team is ranked ahead of Queensbury, one of three teams with a 13-3 record? Seriously?

Section II will never learn.

Former LaSalle star Davon Maloney, currently at the Newman School, has committed to Vermont of the America East conference. That means he'll return home once a year when the Catamounts play UAlbany, unless they are also scheduled to play Siena. Figure some old friends will stop by and cheer him on.........

Tuesday's sectional scoreboard:

Women's soccer:

Class C semi-finals:

Lake George 2, Schoharie 1.

Stillwater 7, Mayfield 0.

Stillwater & Lake George meet Saturday morning at Lansingburgh.

Class D (Monday):

Fort Ann 3, Saratoga Catholic 2.

Men's soccer:

Class B semifinals:

Broadalbin-Perth 4, Catskill 0.

Schuylerville 3, Ichabod Crane 2.

The Patriots & Black Horses meet Monday at Bethlehem.

Class A semifinals:

Schalmont 2, LaSalle 0.

Averill Park 3, Cohoes 1.

The Sabres & Golden Knights also meet Monday at Bethlehem.