This week is the Sectional Semifinals, as the field of 20 teams gets whittled down to the 10 teams that will be playing for sectional titles next week.
After the jump, a look at all 10 games that will be played this week.
CLASS AA SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
Both games are Friday, 7PM kicks
4-Guilderland Dutchmen (5-3) at 1-Shaker Blue Bison (8-0): A three point loss at the hands of the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks sends Guilderland back to Latham for the second time this season. In the first go around, the Dutchmen were unable to muster a point as the Shaker Blue Bison scored four rushing touchdowns in their 27-0 win.
Guilderland isn't known for their explosive offense. The 41 points they scored in the regular season finale against the CBA Brothers was their season high. They average 22 points per game, ranking them 29th in Section 2 and fourth among the four Class AA playoff teams.
By comparison, their opponent in Shaker averages 35 points per game, third best in Section 2.
Vincent Lia is the go-to guy for Guilderland. He leads the Dutchmen with over 300 yards rushing, and also is a target on the receiving front with 13 catches for 192 yards. He has 8 total touchdowns. Michael Gitto is the threat under center, one of six players in Section 2 to have over a thousand yards passing. At 81/138, he's one of the more accurate passers in the section, but hasn't been as known as other quarterbacks in the capital district as he has only found the end zone 7 times this season.
One of Guilderland's strengths is spreading the ball. In addition to Lia's 192 yards receiving, Chris Ardito leads the Dutchmen with 224 yards on 9 catches. Brad Igweike has 13 catches accounting for 193 yards to go with his 238 rushing yards on 34 carries.
But most of these kids were held quiet in that game against Shaker. Lia only had 24 yards combined rushing and receiving against the Blue Bison, and Igweike was held to negative yards. Gitto only was able to get 63 yards passing in the losing effort, his second lowest total of the season.
The Shaker Blue Bison have topped the 60 point mark twice this season, the first being on their turf field debut against Albany in Week 1 when they put up a 76 point effort, and the second coming against Schenectady a week after their match against Guilderland.
Joe Toutai doubled his touchdown count for the season with his two against Colonie last week. Not known for his breaking free for large runs, Toutai could be one to watch for small yard situations for the Blue Bison. Ravion Burt has been deadly with the ball, scoring 9 touchdowns along with his sidelined teammate Jovani Wiggs. He has not seen any time on the field since exiting in the game against Shenendehowa in Week 4. In his absence, Logan Souza has emerged as a threatening back for Shaker, amassing 330 of his nearly 500 yards rushing over the past four weeks.
At the quarterback position, Connor McHugh has tossed for all 538 of their passing yards, with an admirable 34 for 63 completion rate.
Prediction: This will be a tough game for Guilderland to win. In order for the Dutchmen to have a shot against the perfect Blue Bison, they will need to spread out their offense and catch the holes in the Blue Bison defense. Gitto's got the arm to pass well, but he has not found the touchdown that often this season and will need the rushing corps to be on target this week.
Shaker cannot look past this game. Guilderland will come in wanting to prove their season, and Shaker would love to make it back to UAlbany for the Sectional Championship next week. But in the end, I think the weapons for Shaker are too much for the Guilderland defense to handle, which is why I see Shaker winning 35-21.
3-Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks (6-2) at 2-Shenendehowa Plainsmen (7-1): The Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks had the chance to make the setting for this Sectional Semifinal on their West Avenue campus.
Instead, after last week's 35-7 loss, it will be played 17 miles south in Clifton Park.
The Plainsmen not only beat the Blue Streaks, they put a lid on their biggest offensive weapons.
Ashton Capone was limited to 17 yards on 4 carries after coming into the Week 8 contest with 378 yards on 57 carries. The 9 time touchdown scorer was kept off the ledger.
And although Chris Klimek scored the lone touchdown for the Blue Streaks, it was a game to forget for him as well. 7 carries for 17 yards, after coming into the game as their leading running back with nearly 500 yards rushing. Jake Williams came in with a respectable 26/53 passing, but got picked apart by Shenendehowa, completing 5 of his 20 passes and throwing 2 picks.
And that comes down to a major reason for Shen's success. Their defense. The Plainsmen have held their last four opponents to less than 10 points. Even in the one game they lost this season, to top-seeded Shaker, the Plainsmen held the Blue Bison to a season-low 14 points.
Billy Beach is blossoming as a running back threat at the right time for Shen. Since the loss to Shaker, Beach's touches have increased. Over the last four weeks he has over 400 yards rushing on over 50 carries, scoring all five touchdowns he has scored all season long. He also saw a receiving touchdown in the game against CBA.
Kiernan Shanahan is another threat in the tailback position. Two 100 yard rushing games, and four touchdowns all season for the senior halfback. Brendan Belott is the man under center, completing 60% of his 104 passes this season, but got himself into a lot of trouble in that defensive tilt against Shaker where he through 3 of his 4 picks this season. Since that game, Belott has eased off the pass some, but should be dangerous when he has the football in his hand since you don't know what he's going to do with it.
Prediction: Immediately from the start the Blue Streaks are going to have to prove that last week was a fluke, and that they are a threat to make it to UAlbany next week. A slow start by the Blue Streaks will put the Plainsmen in rhythm and that will be momentum that will be hard for the Blue Streaks to come back from already having to deal with the weight of playing away from home.
Simply put, if Shenendehowa plays the way they've been all season long, they will be playing next Friday night for the championship. Shenendehowa wins 41-6.
CLASS A SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
Both games are Friday, 7PM kicks
G2-Burnt Hills Spartans (7-1) at C1-Troy Flying Horses (7-1): Section 2's #5 rushing team has one of the four tailbacks who has rushed for a thousand yards this season.
That honor belongs to Vincent Daviero. Six of his eight games this season has seen this senior running back reach the century mark. One of the two times he didn't reach that was his low mark of 74 rushing yards that came in the lone loss of the season to top-seeded Queensbury. That also is the only time he did not score a single of his 16 seasonal touchdowns. And what helps make him a bigger beast in the backfield is the other member of the split back crew for Burnt Hills, DJ Lashley. Lashley had a career day against the top team in Class B's North Division Glens Falls Indians when he scored four rushing touchdowns on his way to 118 yards on 18 carries. He also had a receiving touchdown in that game, one of his four on the season out of eight receptions.
Darien LaPietro is the man who orchestrates the offense. He can pass the ball with accuracy as shown by his 44/78 pass completion rate, and has tossed for 11 touchdowns and only one interception this season on his way to 854 yards for the Spartans. The way Matt Shell likes to adjust the offense on the fly can fool defenses, like it did against the Glens Falls Indians in their homecoming game win.
And it's not just those two. Gordon Adams makes teams think about the pass as the tight end, and Jakai Townsend and Bryce Mussen make for secondary utility backs to keep an eye on for short yardage situations.
Burnt Hills is the #5 scoring team in Section 2, and with good reason. But they're going to meet up with a defensive threat in the Troy Flying Horses. The Flying Horses have seen no team score more than 20 points against them, the most being the 18 that LaSalle put up against them back in Week 3.
On offense, Xavier Leigh has found the end zone the most of any Flying Horse. His 10 touchdowns, seven on the ground and three by way of the pass tops the team. He has carried the ball nearly 100 times, with six double-digit touch games this season. His 697 rushing yards is tops in the Troy backfield as well. He also has 212 receiving yards on 9 catches in 2018.
Leigh is one of Alex Wolfe's favorite receivers. The Troy quarterback has 575 yards passing this season, with a 38/74 completion rate. He had one of his softer efforts in the quarterfinals against Scotia, completing 5 of his 13 passes and throwing 1 of his 4 seasonal picks against the Tartans in their 14-7 win last Friday.
The Flying Horses had several miscues against the Scotia Tartans, but the defense bailed them out every time they needed to last week.
Prediction: This is a tough one. It comes down to which side breaks first, either the Burnt Hills offense or the Troy defense. Burnt Hills has an array of weapons and ran through a strong schedule to get to where they are this season. The adjustments, coupled with the split back threats from Lashley and Daviero may be too much for the Flying Horses to handle as Burnt Hills wins 21-14.
C2-Averill Park Warriors (7-1) vs. G1-Queensbury Spartans (8-0), at Schuylerville: The #15 passing yard quarterback in Section 2, Anthony Childrose, looked good in Averill Park's win over Ballston Spa last week in the quarterfinals.
He scored two touchdowns, one by air and one on the ground, in the 22-0 effort. And that is part of Childrose's biggest strengths. When he takes the ball from center, defenses have to guess what he's doing with the football. He has 676 yards passing and 9 touchdowns, but he has rushed for 627 yards and 5 touchdowns as well. That kind of guessing picks defenses apart. James Finelli is a strong option that lines up besides or behind Childrose in the backfield, as he has been used as both a runner and a receiver. In the win against Ballston Spa, Finelli scored his lone touchdown on a pass from Childrose that turned into a 14 yard score.
Carl Nintz also allows Childrose to shine, as his 448 yards on 86 carries helps open the door for Childrose to burn opposing teams. And Joe Milanese has come through with big gains for scores this season, including his 70 yard touchdown run that gave Averill Park the lead against Troy early in their Week 7 battle that determined the #1 seed.
However, Averill Park was unable to maintain that lead, giving up 18 unanswered points as the Warriors fell to the #2 seed as a result.
And the Warriors are hungry for revenge.
It was last October when Queensbury, as the #2 seed in their division, came down to Rensselaer County and beat the Southeast Division #1 seed in the Semifinals.
This year, the field is flipped, as Queensbury rushes in as the #1 seed of the Grasso Division. But revenge will be hard to come by as the Spartans come in with the second best rushing attack in Section 2 at over 2,700 yards.
Liam O'Mara has developed into a back to watch for the Queensbury Spartans. Accounting for all 42 of Queensbury's points in the battle of the Spartans in Week 7, O'Mara comes in with the ability to chew up yards on every gain, with four of his last five games seeing the Senior rush for over 100 yards. He has scored in every game this season, and has scored as both a rusher and a receiver on his way to breaking several school records, including the single game scoring record that was set by Brett Rodriguez in 2015. O'Mara made it easier on the Spartans after Brendan Scott went down with the shoulder injury in the Week 4 game against Glens Falls.
But he's not alone. Joe Slattery has seen a pair of century mark games this season, and James Ward has become that offensive line pushing back who will run with the line for 4-5 yard gains that keeps opposing defenses on the field longer. This trio of backs are a big reason why Queensbury's drives can reach the 12 minute mark, as was the case in the first possession of the game against Burnt Hills in Week 7.
But the running backs aren't what they are without the help of Nathan Angell under center. Angell, like most quarterbacks that preceded him, serves as the main distribution of the football to the running back. But what makes Angell unlike most of the previous Queensbury quarterbacks is that he can toss the ball as well. He has thrown the ball up in the air 35 times this season, with 21 of them landing in a receiver's arms for 478 yards of offense for the Spartans. 7 of those 21 completions have resulted in touchdowns.
Prediction: Revenge may be sweet, but it will be super difficult for the Warriors to achieve due to the explosive nature of the Queensbury Spartans. This is a team that has scored more points than any other team in Section 2, averaging 55.5 points this season. That's 45 points better than the second place team in Cambridge. Averill Park's defense is going to have to be spot-on, otherwise they need to hope their offense is ready for a shootout. And that's going to be difficult against a hungry Queensbury defense. Queensbury wins 52-20.
CLASS B SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
N2-Schuylerville Black Horses (6-2) at R1-Cobleskill Bulldogs (6-2), Friday 7PM: The Black Horses come into Schoharie County on a six game winning streak after dropping the first two games of the season.
Those two losses... to divisional champion Glens Falls and an Averill Park still playing in the Class A playoffs.
Any doubts on the potential of this Black Horses team was silenced when they beat the Schalmont Sabres by three touchdowns at Schuylerville in what was a sign of things to come five weeks later.
Paul Harshbarger is a big reason why Schuylerville is doing well. 844 yards on 89 carries for nearly 10 yards per carry, 7 rushing touchdowns, 220 yards receiving on 11 catches, five of those catches for touchdowns, he is a workhorse. Three of his last four games has been for over a hundred yards rushing. He's joined by the appropriately named Jason Vanderhoof, who uses his hooves to run for 466 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Black Horses.
And Stratton Sherman is back at the quarterback helm for the Black Horses. He has thrown for just over 700 yards, scoring 11 touchdowns with that arm of his. His downside is his turnovers, throwing for six interceptions this season, though three of those six came in the Week 2 loss to a defensive minded Averill Park.
Like Schuylerville, Cobleskill also lost their first two games of the season before rattling off six in a row. The Bulldogs lost in Week 1 to Averill Park before falling to Glens Falls in Week 2 in a game that was tense until the final whistle as the Indians had to come from behind to win that game in Schoharie County. Hunter Edwards leads the Bulldogs on the rush, with just two yards shy of a thousand yards this season. He will have the bulk of the carries for Cobleskill, averaging 14.5 carries per game this season. He hasn't been catching the ball much of late, getting 8 of his 9 receptions this season in the first three games of the season.
That role of leading receiver belongs to Steven Maniscalco. He has 356 yards receiving on 19 catches this season, finding the end zone 5 times in 2018. The man throwing the ball is Donovan Pacatte, who is one of 6 quarterbacks in Section 2 to have thrown for better than a thousand yards this season. His 78/125 completion rate gives him success on 62.4% of his passes, throwing for 11 touchdowns this season. He has been picked off 4 times. But like Sherman, half of those picks came against Averill Park.
Prediction: Schuylerville's defense will have to defend against a balanced run-pass attack in the Bulldogs, something that isn't heavily seen in Section 2. The best the Black Horses have seen of a balanced attack came in Week 1 when they fell to the Glens Falls Indians, but the Black Horses are a better team than we saw in Week 1. The way they dismantled a tired Schalmont squad last Saturday night on their campus is an example how they have grown this season. Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses, which may make this an entertaining back and forth contest in Schoharie County, but when the final whistle sounds, Cobleskill wins 42-39.
N3-Hudson Falls Tigers (5-3) at N1-Glens Falls Indians (6-2), Saturday 1:30PM: After dropping two games in a row to wrap up the regular season, the Hudson Falls Tigers answered back with one of the best wins in program history. But not for the magnitude of the win, more for the dramatic way they went about getting to the win column.
Down several times in the game, the Hudson Falls Tigers got the stop when they needed it the most, leading 40-38 late in the 4th quarter after retaking the lead back from the Hawks.
Caleb Condon was a huge reason why the Hudson Falls Tigers are still playing this week, getting 245 yards on 13/18 passing for the game against Hudson. He also had 26 carries for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Combined, the senior quarterback has amassed over 1700 yards of offense for the Tigers. He has been responsible for 16 of the Tigers touchdowns, 7 by air and 9 on the ground. One of his favorite backs to hand the ball to is Riley Maddison, who has 476 yards on 113 carries. He has found the end zone 7 times in 2018.
Connor Hermanson is Condon's favorite target when dropping back to pass. Nearly half of Condon's completions are to Hermanson, who has 515 yards on 26 receptions, scoring 4 of Condon's 7 passing touchdowns.
But the Hudson Falls Tigers have already once faced the Glens Falls Indians, a 48-12 Week 3 affair that saw the Indians retain the storied Jug. Joe Girard III threw for 4 touchdowns on 11/15 passing, generating 303 yards of offense in that game. He also had a rushing touchdown. For the season, Joe Girard III tops Section 2 with his 1893 yards of passing, going 102/160 and throwing for a school record 26 touchdowns. He has been picked off 3 times in 2018, all against Queensbury in Week 4.
Aalijah Sampson has transited from a primary running back to a multi-use player for the Glens Falls Indians with the recent development of Griffen Woodell. Woodell now leads the backfield with 305 yards on 37 carries this season, scoring 7 touchdowns in the last three weeks for the Indians. Sampson still can be used for running plays since coming back from his injury, getting 35 yards on 8 carries and 2 touchdowns against the Broadalbin-Perth Patriots. But Sampson has now been used even more as a receiver, getting 8 receptions and 106 yards in the last two weeks, finding the end zone 4 times over that span.
Prediction: Simply put, the Glens Falls Indians have a lot of weapons that the Hudson Falls defense are going to have to silence. The Indians already have the track history of beating the Hudson Falls Tigers this year and it's going to be hard to see the opposite happening this week at Putt LaMay Field. With that being said, this is the second straight year Hudson Falls has played Glens Falls in the semifinals, and the second meeting wasn't quite like the first. And with the weather threatening to be rough, this may play further into the Indians favor and thus Glens Falls wins 40-18.
CLASS C SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
4-Hoosick Falls Panthers (7-1) vs. 1-Cambridge/Salem Indians (8-0), Saturday 1PM at Stillwater: The aforementioned weather will once again force the Indians to move their home playoff game to neutral site Stillwater.
Hoosick Falls has a 1 next to their loss record. That one loss, a 57-31 Week 3 loss to Cambridge. That is the most points Cambridge has surrendered all season long.
Jeffrey Vincent scored 18 of those points against the Indians for Hoosick Falls by way of his three receiving touchdowns in a game where the run was ineffective against the Indians. He gathered one yard on one carry in that game, but had a season-high 106 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving. For the season, Vincent has 11 rushing touchdowns and 6 passing touchdowns, with over 1300 combined yards for the Panthers.
The person feeding Vincent the ball is Sam Richard. The senior quarterback was pushed to pass a season-high 20 attempts against Cambridge, completing only 9 for 151 yards and those three touchdown tosses to Vincent. Rushing for 326 yards on the season, he too was inefficient on the ground against the Indians getting a total of negative 13 yards in that Week 3 contest.
Even Max Kipp, who has 526 yards rushing, found it hard to run against the Indians defense. He could only get 34 yards in that game. Kipp has found the end zone 10 times this season, which includes a 5 touchdown game effort to start the season against Whitehall.
If you haven't picked up a theme here yet, the Indians are solid on defense when dealing with the run. Hoosick Falls has run circles around their other 6 opponents this season, yet had difficulty getting the run game going against the Indians. And it doesn't hurt that Cambridge has the #2 scoring offense in Section 2 at a single point shy of an average of 50 points per game.
Tommy English and Tyler Lindendoll are the two primary backs for Doug Luke's offense. The #4 and #7 rushing TD scorers in Section 2 combine for over 1500 rushing yards on 160 carries, scoring a combined 29 touchdowns for the Indians. Gabriel Sgambettera and Soya Mattison are contributors to the offense, with Calvin Schenider directing traffic for the Cambridge offense.
With four 50+ point efforts this season, you can expect the Cambridge Indians to try to control the offense in this rematch.
Prediction: Cambridge has looked solid throughout the season, showcasing why they are still a threat to make it back to Syracuse despite a jump in classification this year. With wins over other potential states favorites Holy Trinity and Hoosick Falls this season, the Indians have looked unstoppable. The Panthers are going to have to figure out how they are going to answer the Indians drive, and as long as Cambridge shuts the door on the run, it may be a long raw Saturday Afternoon for Hoosick Falls. Cambridge wins 48-30.
3-Chatham Panthers (7-1) at 2-Holy Trinity Pride (7-1), Saturday 1PM: In the second best game of the playoffs this season, the Chatham Panthers had to come back twice in the second half against the Stillwater Warriors to set up this Saturday date against the Holy Trinity Pride.
Signal caller Kaleb Taylor was huge at home, going 7/11 for 143 yards passing and scoring two touchdowns, including the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter that propelled the Panthers to victory. For the season Taylor has passed for 371 yards and 8 touchdowns, and has rushed for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns. On defense Taylor is dangerous as well, scoring two Pick-6's this year.
Triston Schermerhorn is tied for fourth on rushing touchdowns scored in 2018, with 15. Rushing for 818 yards on 70 carries for a better than 10 yards per rush, Schermerhorn also is a receiving back with 110 yards on 10 catches, 4 of which went to the end zone for 6. Hunter Scheriff is also a receiving back for Taylor, getting 94 yards on 7 catches for the Panthers. He is more used for small ground chews, getting 143 yards on 24 carries and 2 touchdown scores this year for Rick Sitzer's offense.
There's a reason why Joe Girard III isn't on tops of the passing touchdown list for Section 2 this season. Holy Trinity's Joe Tortello is why. Tortello has thrown for 27 touchdowns this season, completing nearly 67% of his passes for 1716 yards offense for the Pride Junior QB. That's right, he's a Junior. Providing he stays healthy, he's going to be a beast to watch next season when he's not swapping positions and spotlight with Joe Girard III for top passer in Section 2. However, unlike JG3, Tortello isn't a threat to run.
16 of Tortello's touchdowns have gone to Nacier Hundley, a Junior WR who has 824 receiving yards on 38 catches. He has found the end zone in all but 6 of the games for Holy Trinity. Noah Foster has half the touchdowns, but is another deep threat for Tortello to throw to. Averaging 27 yards a catch with nearly 500 yards receiving, Foster logged two touchdowns in his last game played against Voorheesville in Week 7. Nelon Priest is one of the Pride's primary running backs, picking up 512 yards on 65 carries this season and scoring 6 touchdowns.
Prediction: Both teams have a lot of weapons, and Chatham is hungry to get back to a championship game they haven't been involved with for the past few seasons. But Holy Trinity has the hot hand with Tortello. If the Panthers have no way to stop Tortello from working his magic on the field, then Tortello and Hundley/Priest will have their way with the Panthers. Holy Trinity is hungry to make it back to Syracuse again, but they cannot be looking too far down the road, otherwise a rainy Saturday might bring their season to a premature end. Holy Trinity wins 36-29.
CLASS D SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
Both games played at Schuylerville
4-Fort Edward Flying Forts (3-4) vs. 1-Warrensburg Burghers (6-1) - Saturday, 1PM: The Fort Edward Flying Forts are back in the playoffs, but have a rough semifinal against Warrensburg that is a rematch of their Week 4 game at Warrensburg when the Burghers beat Fort Edward 44-6. Colby Phillips had the lone touchdown for Fort Edward in the losing effort.
Phillips had some growing pains this year, throwing 6 picks against 5 touchdowns, but had flashes of brilliancy that shows that he could adjust into a player to watch next season for the Flying Forts. He had a season high 115 yards and 3 touchdowns against Whitehall, although two of them were late in that game with the Railroaders up a safe margin. On the ground it has been the Sullivans, Cameron Sullivan and Brody Sullivan generating the offense. These two account for over a thousand yards of the 1300 rushing yards the Flying Forts have chewed up on the field in 2018. They also combine for 10 total touchdowns.
Not to be forgotten is Logan Cantone, who has 225 yards on 48 carries and 3 touchdowns for Fort Edward. He also accounts for 2 of Phillips's touchdown tosses in 2018.
But they face a Warrensburg team that overcame the weaknesses that Lake George/Hadley-Luzerne exposed in the first weekend of the season and have adjusted for 6 straight wins. The Burghers haven't been scored upon since the 3rd quarter of their match against Greenwich, and that was on a fumble recovery that was ran in for 6. The last time an offense has scored against the Burghers came in the 3rd quarter of the Week 4 game against Cohoes, making it 13 quarters that the Burghers have gone without allowing a touchdown on defense.
Jesse Griffin has been in the century club for 6 of his 7 games, running for 957 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Burghers. He had 4 touchdowns in the game against Rensselaer in Week 6. As a receiver, he has caught 13 passes for 172 yards for quarterback Evan MacDuff. MacDuff has scored 6 passing touchdowns in 2018, throwing for 294 yards and running for 224 yards and 8 scores for Warrensburg.
Prediction: The back options for Warrensburg out trump the options that Fort Edward has and if the Sullivans cannot find a way past the Burghers defense, this game might be out of control fast. The Burghers defense have shown that they can stop even good teams, holding second seeded Whitehall scoreless in the Friday night homecoming game in Week 7. Warrensburg wins 38-6.
3-Hoosic Valley Indians (5-3) vs. 2-Whitehall Railroaders (5-3) - Saturday, 7PM: When Hoosic Valley started the season 0-3, there had to be some questions whether or not the Indians were going to make the playoffs at all this season.
Nope, just turned out that the Indians had to face the toughest three teams on their schedule in Cambridge, Warrensburg and Whitehall.
Since that Week 3 loss to Whitehall, the Indians have rattled off 5 straight wins, scoring no fewer than 39 points during the winning streak. William Scofield rushed his way into the Thousand Yard Club last week with his 192 yards against the Watervliet Cannoneers. With 1,179 yards rushing on 105 carries, the senior tailback has found the end zone 17 times this season. That's tops in Section 2.
What helps Scofield be so efficient is the assistance of Jacob White in the backfield. He has 588 yards on 69 carries and 9 touchdowns for the Indians in 2018. He also caught for two touchdowns from quarterback Ethan Caiazza, who doesn't throw often, but does to mix up the opposing defense. With 36 pass attempts this season, he throws at least twice a game, so the Railroaders will need to watch out for that.
The Whitehall Railroaders come into the game with the momentum that they beat Hoosic Valley 40-20 in Week 3. The Railroaders offer a dual quarterback system in Jake Moore and Brandon Bakerian. Jake Moore is the more accomplished of the duo, scoring 15 touchdowns, which includes a pair of four touchdown games against Rensselaer in Week 4 and again against Canajoharie/Fort Plain last week. But while Moore passes, his turnovers can get in the way, as he has gift-wrapped the ball for opposing teams 6 times this season. When Moore is on target, though, Brenden Covey is one of his favorite targets, scoring three receiving touchdowns this season for the Railroaders. He also has 6 rushing touchdowns.
Prediction: Hoosic Valley comes in the hotter of the two teams by way of their five game win streak, but until they exhibit proof that they can stop the Railroaders, it will be Whitehall who is favored in this semifinal. Whitehall wins 35-19.
Credits to The Post-Star and The Times Union for stat information that was referenced in this preview
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