High School Fridays: Week 6 roundup, 10/9

 Well, you can't say I didn't warn you ahead of time.

Shaker coach Greg Sheeler had waited 9 years for another crack at Troy, and, on Friday, the Blue Bison made the most of the opportunity, defeating Troy, 30-22, at Casey Stadium on the UAlbany campus. Shaker goes to 5-1 on the season, while Troy dips to 4-2.

Spectrum News' Kelly O'Donnell, filling in for Chris Watson this week, may have given Niskayuna the kiss of death by repeatedly using their now defunct team name, the Silver Warriors (they're now known simply as Nisky), during Friday's game at CBA. 

The Brothers simply rolled again, 54-0. Jack Hulett ran for a touchdown, and caught two TD passes, one each from Matt Kowalski & Leo Field, to lead CBA (6-0). Nisky falls to 2-4, and will need help just to make the playoffs. Good luck.

The rest of the scores:

Saratoga 19, Albany 0.

LaSalle 59, Green Tech 6.

Watervliet 17, Granville 0.

Schalmont 57, Cohoes 0.

Canajoharie 50, Rensselaer 0.

Bethlehem 21, Amsterdam 14. The Eagles visit Troy next week.

Lansingburgh 14, Ichabod Crane 12.

Burnt Hills 42, Mohonasen 7.

Ballston Spa 43, Columbia 13.

Glens Falls 48, Scotia 14.

Averill Park 48, Ravena 7.

Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 42, Mechanicville 0.

Taconic Hills 34, Corinth 13.

Queensbury 29, South Glens Falls 12.

Troy High fall sports: How it's been, and where it's going

As we're hitting the homestretch in the fall sports season, it's way past time to take a look at Troy High's fall teams. Our weekly sports review will return in the winter.

Women's swimming (combined with Averill Park):

After losing their first three meets, Troy/AP had won 2 in a row before losing to Ballston Spa yesterday. The mergers with AP for the women, and CBA & Columbia for the guys, are keeping a once proud program afloat at Troy (no pun intended), and it speaks to an overall problem for secondary sports in recent years. Lack of interest. The school district and the alumni, I'm sure, want to keep the program going, but finding enough kids to field a team for Troy and Troy alone has become extremely difficult due to today's social interests.

Women's tennis:

The season will end Tuesday in the 1st round of team sectionals vs. Burnt Hills. Winning has been difficult in recent years, another program long detached from the successes of years ago.

Golf:

The regular season ended with a record of 7-4, and Troy finished up the track in the Colonial Council championships. The sectionals await.

Women's soccer:

Current record: 9-6. Jarrett Farrell's club has won 4 in a row with a week to go in the regular season. Heck, I'd wager they could probably beat the guys in a co-ed scrimmage. Speaking of the boys.......

Men's soccer:

Current record: 0-14. It would be safe to suggest that coach Russell Hines has lost the locker room. 9 straight shutout losses. The defense seems to have vanished at inopportune times, such as a 7-0 loss to Ichabod Crane on Wednesday. If this was college, Hines would likely be already gone. The school board will decide his fate after the season.

Volleyball:

Current record is incomplete, heading into a non-league match vs. Amsterdam tonight. Talia Valenti's club won't run the table like they did last year, but they will be a tough out in the sectionals, depending on seeding, as long as they don't get screwed like they did last year.

Football:

Jordan Canzeri's club is 4-1 going into a road match vs. Shaker at UAlbany tonight. The Bison are going to be angry and motivated after losing to Saratoga last week. And James Allen thought Troy would run the table? A loss tonight won't hurt Troy's chances of bouncing back to win Class A, not when they finish the regular season at home, and possibly lock down a home playoff game.

Looking ahead to the winter, women's basketball took a hit prior to the start of the school year with news that leading scorer Amaya Harris, daughter of coach Will Harris, decided to go the prep school route, transferring to the Darrow School (NEPSAC) in New Lebanon, which will keep her close to home. Amaya, 15, is already getting offers from Siena & Towson. Troy still has some key players returning, so they're not going to be terrible, as one source claimed. Stay tuned.

Section 2 2026 women's tennis brackets released

 Sectional season picks up again with women's tennis. As with football, classes C & D are combined due to a lack of teams. Here we go.

Class AA:

Friday: 

Holy Names @ Ballston Spa. Winners to play Guilderland on Tuesday.

Colonie at Albany Academy. Winners to play Shaker.

Albany @ Niskayuna. Winners to play Shenendehowa.

Also Tuesday:

Bethlehem @ Saratoga. 

Semi-finals are on Wednesday at sites to be determined, with the finals next Thursday at Central Park in Schenectady.

Class A:

Tuesday:

Catskill/Coxsackie-Athens @ Averill Park. Winner to play Queensbury the next day.

Troy @ Burnt Hills.

South Glens Falls @ Columbia.

Class B:

Tuesday:

Hudson Falls @ Scotia.

Voorheesville @ Ichabod Crane. 

The winners will play Wednesday at Shenendehowa.

Classes C/D:

Tuesday:

Maple Hill @ Greenwich. Winners will play Greenville the next day at Columbia.

That there are just 3 teams in C/D and 4 in B tells a daunting tale of the lack of teams.

Good luck to everyone.

News & notes

 While Troy High's Vulonn Forde didn't win Play of the Week honors from WTEN last week, WNYT named him the Player of the Week for his performance so far this season.

Troy's game vs. Shaker tomorrow will be at Bob Ford Field at Casey Stadium at UAlbany. Shaker will have the game livestreamed on their Facebook page. Maybe on Hudl, too. Game time is 7 pm.

Troy volleyball completed a season sweep of Mohonasen for the 2nd time this season with a 3-0 shutout on Wednesday night. Men's soccer's scoring drought has reached 9 consecutive games with a 7-0 loss to Ichabod Crane Wednesday.

 There's just not enough room on milk cartons for the missing Troy offense, let's put it that way.

LaSalle's Maria Glavin won the Section II women's golf individual title Wednesday. An opportunity presented itself when defending champion Hayden Knapp (South Glens Falls) bypassed sectionals in favor of a tournament in Georgia. Glavin won by a whopping 17 strokes.

Albany Academy won their first team title in the post-Kennedy Swedick era.

News & notes

 It isn't often that an opposing coach or manager gets the attention of the local press when he comes to town for a game, but the Albany Times-Union certainly took advantage of that opportunity when it presented itself.

Former NFL star DeSean Jackson is the coach at Delaware State, which came to town to play UAlbany on Saturday. The Great Danes defeated Delaware State, 28-3, to even their record at 3-3. Jackson played with Philadelphia & Washington during his career.

In what must be a school record, RPI destroyed Hibbert, 83-0, on Saturday. It certainly was the most points scored at home since East Campus Village Stadium opened. Either Hibbert is really, really bad, or RPI was clicking on all cylinders.....

Very quietly, the women's pro bowling tour was in town this week for the Albany regional at Kingpin Bowl (formerly Spare Time Lanes) in Latham.

The PWBA and Bowl.TV offered the finals on YouTube:

Something tells me none of the local stations even covered the event.......

High School Fridays: Shaker @ Saratoga, 10/2/26

 Shaker entered Friday's road game at Saratoga tied for first in Class AA, with the Blue Streaks a game back at 3-1. If Blue Bison coach Greg Sheeler thought his club would just roll past the defending champs, he got a reality check very quickly.

Saratoga took the opening kickoff, and marched down the field, ending with Bobby Morris finding Gavin "Vive" LaFrance for a 21 yard touchdown. After a shankopotamus punt by the Bison, Saratoga struck again, this time with Jalen Lockrow taking an end around 15 yards to paydirt. The Streaks led, 14-0, after the 1st quarter.

On the ensuing Shaker drive in the 2nd quarter, Avery Jones, who missed the CBA game three weeks ago, burned the Saratoga defense for a 59 yard touchdown run. The Streaks answered with another touchdown drive, this time with Morris taking it in himself from 5 yards out. However, the point after failed, leaving Saratoga with a 20-7 lead.

After a Saratoga interception in Shaker territory, Morris found LaFrance again, in the back of the end zone. A 2 point conversion made the score 28-7 at halftime.

Saratoga's 1st possession of the 3rd quarter was mostly a Cam Toomey production. The junior rumbled 44 yards, short of the end zone, and, 2 plays later, finished the drive with a 2 yard run. However, Toomey suffered a leg injury, and would confine himself to defense the rest of the game.

In the 4th quarter, down 35-7, Shaker needed to score on every drive. Jones scored his 2nd touchdown, this one from 2 yards, to cut the deficit to 35-14. Saratoga put the game away with a 20 yard run by Judah Wilson, but the defense, mostly 2nd teamers, allowed a Nicky Zin touchdown late, making the final score 42-20. Shaker falls from the ranks of the unbeaten, and now are tied for 2nd with Saratoga at 4-1, with Saratoga holding the tiebreaker.

Other scores:

Glens Falls 41, LaSalle 14.

Hadley-Luzerne 20, Lake George 14.

Mechanicville 44, Green Tech 14.

Mohonasen 24, South Glens Falls 16.

Shenendehowa 31, Niskayuna 22. Nisky travels to CBA next week, with the Brothers making their 3rd TV appearance of the season.

Schalmont 21, Averill Park 20.

Burnt Hills 35, Ballston Spa 13.

Ravena 21, Cobleskill-Richmondville 20.

Queensbury 30, Amsterdam 12.

Greenwich 60, Fonda-Fultonville 6.

Bethlehem 29, Schenectady 14.

CBA 61, Colonie 6.

News & notes

 We are learning that Columbia High had players not only from their football team, but other teams as well, at a party in East Greenbush on September 26, leading to the Blue Devils forfeiting tomorrow's game vs. Troy. The team was left without enough players eligible for the game.

Following is a statement from the East Greenbush School District.

Statement Regarding Columbia Student Athletes

Sep 30, 2026 | Athletics, Columbia, District

Following a recent off-campus incident at a private residence, the East Greenbush Central School District has addressed a violation of our Athletic Code of Conduct involving student athletes from multiple sports. Consequences are being administered in accordance with the Athletic Code of Conduct to all students involved.

The East Greenbush Central School District and Columbia High School hold our student athletes to high standards, both on and off the field. All student athletes and their parents and guardians agree to the Athletic Code of Conduct at the start of their seasons, which outlines standards for academics and behavior.

While we understand that students make mistakes, this opportunity for learning and growth takes precedence over any athletic competition.

We expect our student athletes to learn from this experience and move forward with a successful rest of the season.

12 years ago, Troy had their own issues, with a prank war between football players & cheerleaders spiraling out of control right around Homecoming. 20 students in all were suspended for that. It seems tame by comparison.

Troy will next play at Shaker on October 9.

Former Albany Academy star Jack Louridas, now at Yale, is filing suit against an Albany gym after a recent offseason accident. We'll see how far that goes.

Troy's volleyball team won't run the table this year in the Colonial Council, but they are making some noise in the league, just the same, after defeating Ichabod Crane, 3-2, Wednesday, avenging a loss to the Riders earlier this season. Troy sits at 7-3 overall.