News & notes

 Troy High's Vulonn Forde is in the running for ABC10's Play of the Week from last week's win over Queensbury. The deadline is fast approaching before tonight's game vs. Burnt Hills.

In other Troy news, in case you missed it over the summer, Troy hired former Shaker coach Brandon Bradt to succeed Jamil Hood as men's varsity basketball coach. Hood left Troy in March after 2 seasons to take the job at his alma mater, Albany. Best wishes to both.

The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk district has announced that their football field will be dedicated to Hall of Fame coach Gary VanDerzee, with ceremonies to take place as early as tonight, assuming the Ravens are home. An honor well deserved.

What is wrong with Troy men's soccer? Russell Hines' Flying Horses are 0-10 after getting throttled, 10-0, at Schalmont on Thursday.

The simple answer may be a lack of both offense & defense. Troy has been shut out in 4 straight games, and, apparently, the defense took the day off vs. the Sabres. Ouch!

Shenendehowa finally has a new team nickname, the Mustangs. They'll host CBA tonight on Spectrum News 1's Friday Night Matchup, as the Brothers make their 2nd appearance in 3 weeks.

Niskayuna is on the clock.

High School Fridays: Week 3 roundup, 9/18

 Most of Friday's games could've been sponsored by Campbell's tomato soup, as they were one-sided.

Saratoga 28, Ballston Spa 7. The Blue Streaks bounce back after losing to CBA last week. Speaking of the Brothers.....

CBA 75, Albany 0.

Mohonasen 32, Bethlehem 28. Mohon came back from a 22 point deficit to win.

Troy 31, Queensbury 0. Jordan Canzeri's crew returns home next week to face Burnt Hills.

Shaker 45, Guilderland 0. This game was over at halftime, and they went with a running clock in the 2nd half, as they likely did with CBA as well.

Averill Park 32, Chatham/Ichabod Crane 8.

Niskayuna 44, Schenectady 6.

Schuylerville 56, Granville-Whitehall 0.

Canajoharie-Ft. Plain 48, Scotia 21.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 28, Johnstown 14.

Shenendehowa 31, Colonie 6.

Fonda-Fultonville 34, Coxsackie-Athens 0

Glens Falls 45, Cohoes 12.

Greenwich 24, Hudson 0.

Lansingburgh 63, Green Tech 0.

Ravena 21, LaSalle 14.

Schalmont 36, Gloversville 7.

Burnt Hills 56, South Glens Falls 20. It won't be that easy vs. Troy next week.

Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 39, Watervliet 0.

High School Fridays: Saratoga @ CBA, 9/11/26

 10 months ago, Saratoga ended CBA's string of sectional titles in an instant classic that brought the Blue Streaks their first title in 10 years. The task at hand Friday night, then, was to prove it wasn't a 1-time thing.

Saratoga won the opening coin toss, but could do nothing, even with Cam Toomey at running back. CBA, with 1st year quarterback Matt Kowalski at the controls, marched down the field, with Kowalski running it in from 11 yards. Logan Kayser added the extra point, and it was 7-0 CBA after the first quarter.

The 2nd quarter began with Toomey evening things for the Streaks from 14 yards out. On CBA's next drive, Kowalski scored again on a quarterback keeper, and it was 14-7 Brothers at the break.

After a relatively quiet 3rd quarter, CBA seemed to put the game away 20 seconds into the 4th quarter with Jack Hulett running back a punt 77 yards to make it 21-7. Saratoga tried to make it interesting late as Bobby Morris found Tasiah Ladore for a 6 yard TD. However, after an exchange of interceptions, CBA ran out the clock to take a 21-14 victory.

Other scores:

Troy 34, Mohonasen 23.

Amsterdam 52, South Glens Falls 36. The Rams bounce back after getting blown out by Troy last week.

Averill Park 35, Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 0.

Queensbury 23, Ballston Spa 12.

Cobleskill-Richmondville 28, Schalmont-Duanesburg-Berne-Knox 15.

Voorheesville 23, Coxsackie-Athens 16.

Fonda-Fultonville 35, Mechanicville 8.

Ravena 54, Gloversville 33.

Granville 34, Scotia 0.

Hudson 34, Chatham-Ichabod Crane 20.

Johnstown 34, LaSalle 27.

Glens Falls 35, Lansingburgh 21.

Schuylerville 28, Greenwich 0.

Shaker 33, Shenendehowa 10.

Watervliet 41, Cohoes 8.

News & notes

 The Tri-City ValleyCats snapped a six game losing streak in beating Down East, 9-2, Tuesday night. The teams will play a matinee this morning, starting at 11 am.

In order to make the playoffs, the 'Cats would have to do all but run the table in the season's final  month.

Torrential rains have forced postponement of what would've been the 1st Wednesday card at Saratoga race course. They'll be back at it tomorrow.

Staying in the Spa City, Saratoga High is merging with three Foothills Council schools---Queensbury, South Glens Falls, & Hudson Falls, to form Northern Peaks for women's wresting, starting in December.

Former Siena men's lacrosse coach Liam Gleason, who passed away last year, is being honored by his alma mater at UAlbany, entering their Hall of Fame.

The NY Knockout captured the American Women's Football League title over the weekend, defeating Carolina, 19-8, in San Antonio. Congratulations to the ladies. Now, local fans are hoping the Albany Firebirds can rebound after losing three of their last 4 to retain the AF1 title when playoff action starts this weekend.

Section II athletes on the move

 In recent days, we've seen four Section II athletes make college commitments, one of which is surprisingly early.

That would be Stillwater lineman James Cocozzo, son of former NFL lineman Joe Cocozzo (Chargers), who is foregoing his senior season at Stillwater to play for Greg Schiano at Rutgers. It is not common for players to give up their senior seasons in high school, so we figure James may already have enough credits to graduate next year, if he hasn't already done so.

Staying in the Wasaren League for a moment, Saratoga Catholic reliever Luke Dejnozka, who will begin his senior season in the fall, has committed to Binghamton, and will pitch for the Bearcats beginning in 2028.

On the women's side, Payton Galuski, who has played both men's & women's soccer at Waterford, has committed to Penn State. I don't know if the Nittany Lions will see her as the next Clare Hutton, but who knows?

Finally, Mohonasen's Ella Mullin has committed to playing soccer at Wisconsin.

Best of luck to all four.

News & notes

 It was Camp Day at Bruno Stadium Wednesday. WNYT's Chris Onorato brought the crew from their new morning yack-fest, Capital Region Lifestyle, to do a feature piece.

Unfortunately for WNYT & the campers, the ValleyCats offense wasn't exactly at peak form.

With Camp Day extended to a doubleheader due to a Tuesday rainout, the 'Cats were swept by Ottawa by a combined total of 26-5. OUCH!

The teams will conclude the series tonight.

It wasn't so long ago that Irad Ortiz, Jr. had come off the suspended list at Saratoga.

Now, his brother, Jose, gets sat down for today's card due to a violation with his riding crop. Jose shares the lead in the jockeys' race with Flavian Prat with 19 each going into today's card, which begins at 1:10 pm.

There was a barn fire at the Old Spa on Tuesday, but this time, no horses were killed, unlike the fire that struck the harness track last month. Officials are still investigating at press time.

As we've been checking on Arbiter the last couple of weeks, they have Jeff Sitterly, who has been an assistant to Paul Reinisch the last few years, listed as athletic director. Nothing has been written about Reinisch, who has been at Troy the last 20-odd years, leaving. Hmmmmmmmm.

News & notes

 It's becoming a trend, with pro athletes in other sports moonlighting as horsemen, owning racehorses.

The first example is former Philadelphia & Washington star Jayson Werth, whose horse, Magic Chuck, named for his manager with the Phillies, Charlie Manuel, was euthanized over the weekend after a training injury.

The latest is Shen grad Kevin Huerter of the Detroit Pistons. Huerter looked so dapper Saturday, as a horse has a share of, The Good Life, upset first time starter Powerline in the 1st race under jockey Manuel Franco.

On the same card, hometown star Dylan Davis scored with Shape Note in the 4th race. Sister Katie finally found the winners' circle in Sunday's 3rd race with Big Brooklyn. Dylan came back three races later to win with Braums Run, then made it two in a row with Silvology in the 7th.

Racing resumes Thursday.

The season is over for the Carolina Blaze.

After Monday's game vs. Oklahoma City was suspended by rain with the Blaze already up by double digits, they resumed play earlier today, and the Blaze won via mercy rule, 11-1, in 5 innings. Ana Gold went 0-2 with a walk. There's always next year.