High School Fridays: Guilderland @ Shenendehowa, 10/28/22

 For the home teams playing their final regular season games throughout Section II tonight (i.e. Troy, Amsterdam, Shenendehowa), it's Senior Night.

The Plainsmen have the #2 seed in Class AA, and will host Shaker next week in the semi-finals. Tonight, though, they closed the regular season schedule against Guilderland, which needed to win, and get some help from Colonie in their game vs. Saratoga to have any chance of making the playoffs.

Guilderland won the toss, but opted to defer to the 2nd half. You just don't do that against the elite teams in Section II.

So, the Plainsmen marched down the field, relying more on the running game than usual. Henry Picard, who had the game winning touchdown in overtime vs. Shaker earlier this season, cut through the middle, and ran it in from about 20 yards or so, diving into warp factor one for the last few yards.

"Number 1, Warp Factor One. Engage!"

Sorry, couldn't resist.

After a Guilderland punt, Shen went right back down the field, and after a long pass play to Luke McAuliffe, QB Michael Whatley gave the ball back to Picard, who scored from 20 yards out to make it 14-0 after the 1st quarter.

Give Shen coach Brian Clawson credit. He had to know the Dutchmen's defense would start to key on Picard, so he shifted gears in the 2nd quarter.

Ihsaan, run!

Yeah, I know. A Looney Tunes joke.

Sophomore Ihsaan Alozie extended the Plainsmen's lead to 21-0 after a 3 yard run early in the frame, and after another Guilderland punt, Alozie exploded through the secondary for a 43 yard run. That sent Shen into the break with a 28-0 lead, seemingly insurmountable.

In the 3rd quarter, after an exchange of turnovers set Guilderland up just outside the red zone, Travis Burschwinger found Justin Kapusinsky for a 22 yard strike. Unfortunately, that would be all the scoring for the Dutchmen.

Roughly 90 seconds into the 4th quarter, backup tailback Aurelio Guido put the game away with a 70 yard scamper. With Saratoga dominating Colonie, Guilderland's goose was cooked. Defense took over for the balance of the frame, and Shen comes away with a 35-7 victory.

Throughout the night, announcers Chris Watson & James Allen, highlighting Shen lineman Brett Steiner, referenced wrestler Scott Steiner (no relation), who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year. Brett is a junior, so expect more of the same whenever Shen is on TV next year, or even in the post-season this year.

Other scores:

Stillwater 49, Broadalbin-Perth 8.

Schuylerville 56, Ichabod Crane 12. The Black Horses snap a 2 game losing streak in emphatic fashion.

Gloversville 38, Cohoes 0.

Niskayuna 9, Burnt Hills 6. The upset gives Nisky the Class A Grasso Division title.

Troy 21, Columbia 14 (OT).

Amsterdam 41, LaSalle 14. The Rams end their 3 game losing streak, and clinch the final playoff spot in Class A, eliminating both LaSalle & Troy.

Class AA playoff pairings for November 4:

Saratoga at CBA (we'll have the scores from their games no later than Sunday).

Shaker at Shenendehowa.

Class A playoff pairings:

Amsterdam at Niskayuna.

Burnt Hills at Averill Park.