Thoughts from the Press Box: Saying Goodbye

CLIFTON PARK - As the last of the fans began to leave Steuerwald Field, an empty feeling began to fill Shenendehowa High School.

It was twenty minutes after Queensbury finished the Burnt Hills Spartans season, winning the Class A Super Bowl 34-13 to advance to the State Tournament.

The custodial staff was cleaning up the debris left by the fans.

The Times Union reporter James Allen was interviewing coach Matt Shell for his newspaper article.

And one player, kneeing on the five yard line.

Like several of his teammates, Danny Maynard had his high school football career come to an end on Saturday night.  Unlike those other teammates, Maynard spent the last minutes before boarding the bus back to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School kneeing on the field.

It's then when you realize.   It's tough saying "goodbye".

Even if you are a successful athlete who will be playing sports during his collegiate career.  Maynard signed a National Letter of Intent this week to play collegiate baseball at Notre Dame as a catcher.

Danny Maynard was a member of the 2012 Burnt Hills State Championship team.  In fact, he was the State Class A Most Valuable Player that year as a Sophomore, and has seen his game improved over the years.  Coach Shell, when I spoke to him prior to the first meeting in Week 7, had nothing but outstanding things to say about Maynard.

In fact ... maybe all those accolades he has earned made it harder to say "goodbye".

Danny Maynard did not play in the Exceptional Seniors bowl at Shenendehowa this week, which made this game his true exit from the game he played exceptionally well.

So the last image of him on the football field will be this.  Whatever comes of his baseball career moving onto Notre Dame after his senior year this upcoming Spring, we wish Danny Maynard a lot of success.

He's earned it.

And it's images like this that makes you realize what goes through the minds of our local athletes when they realize their high school football career comes to an end.

Queensbury Adjusts To Sectional Title

CLIFTON PARK - The Queensbury Spartans made some adjustments during the half.

It only took 1:29 for it to pay off.  After coming out of the locker room up 8-6, the Queensbury Spartans showed off their offensive adjustments, as Tyrell Adams scored on a 56 yard run to extend the Spartans lead to 14-6.

It was the first of 19 straight points for Queensbury as they would win their second straight Class A Sectional Championship title over the Burnt Hills Spartans 34-13.

Queensbury will now travel north to face the Massena Red Raiders, the Section X representative, up at Potsdam High School on Friday, November 14th.

For the first 25 minutes, the game felt like it was going to be very tight and close, like last year's Sectional Championship where the Queensbury Spartans won on a last minute Kody Bruno touchdown to win 14-7.

The first quarter ended with no score, helped by Tyrell Adams picking off John Clayton in the end zone to snuff out a Burnt Hills drive.  But Queensbury was unable to do anything with the ball, and gave it back to Burnt Hills.

Erik Wettersten broke the scoreless tie with his 56 yard run, and Brett Rodriguez ran the ball in for the two point conversion to give Queensbury a 8-0 lead.

Queensbury's next drive ended in their own territory with the decision to go for it on fourth down.  But Brett Rodriguez was unable to make it to the marker, giving the Burnt Hills Spartans the ball at the Queensbury 27 yard line.

A couple minutes later, John Clayton hooked up with Brendan VanAllen for the two yard touchdown reception, but the two point conversion run failed to leave the southern Spartans trailing 8-6.

But the third quarter was big for Queensbury.  After Tyrell Adams's score, Burnt Hills was unable to answer back.  With less than three minutes left to play in the quarter, Drew Wilson fired his first pass to Brett Rodriguez, who scored from 6 yards out to pad Queensbury's lead to 20-6.

In the fourth quarter, Brett Rodriguez scored on a 17 yard run to give Queensbury a comfortable 27-6 lead, which became valuable when Burnt Hills scored on a one-handed Patrick Brown grab on a John Clayton pass to score from 45 yards out to return the game to a two possession lead for Queensbury.

But Drew Wilson's second pass of the game, a 39 yard reception to a wide-open Brett Rodriguez, sealed the victory for the Queensbury Spartans.

For the second straight year, the Burnt Hills Spartans season comes to an end at the hands of the Queensbury Spartans in the Sectional Championship.

And for the second straight year, the Queensbury Spartans will face the Massena Red Raiders in the State Regionals.

Burnt Hills Spartans	0	6	0	7	13
Queensbury Spartans	0	8	12	14	34

1st Quarter:
No Scoring

2nd Quarter:
8:30 - Erik Wettersten (QSBY) - 56 yard run.  (Rodriguez run) - 8-0
3:23 - Brendan VanAllen from John Clayton (BH) - 2 yard pass.  (run failed) - 8-6

3rd Quarter:
10:31 - Tyrell Adams (QSBY) - 56 yard run.  (run failed) - 14-6
2:38 - Brett Rodriguez from Drew Wilson (QSBY) - 6 yard pass.  (pass failed) - 20-6

4th Quarter:
6:10 - Brett Rodriguez (QSBY) - 17 yard run.  (Escamilla kick) - 27-6
4:06 - Patrick Brown from John Clayton (BH) - 45 yard pass.  (Perregaux kick) - 27-13
3:22 - Brett Rodriguez from Drew Wilson (QSBY) - 39 yard pass.  (Escamilla kick) - 34-13

STATS - Stats are those we kept in our radio booth and are not official stats.
RUSHING:
Burnt Hills: Danny Maynard: 19-79 (long: 17); John Clayton: 6-5 (long: 5); Mike Leveroni: 2-1; Tyler Dowdle: 2-12 (long: 7)
Queensbury: Brett Rodriguez: 13-74-1 (long: 17); Tyrell Adams: 13-91-1 (long: 56); Erik Wettersten: 6-86 (long: 56); Chris Goudy: 4-5; Drew Wilson: 1-6; Hunter Scott: 1-(2); James Kassebaum: 1-(5)

PASSING:
Burnt Hills: John Clayton: 13-30-145; 2TD/INT (long: 45)
Queensbury: Drew Wilson: 2-2-45; 2TD (long: 39)

RECEIVING:
Burnt Hills: Tyler Dowdle: 6-37 (long: 17); Patrick Brown: 4-45 TD (long: 45); Brendan VanAllen: 1-2 TD; Mike Leveroni: 2-48 TD
Queensbury: Brett Rodriguez: 2-45 2TD

©2014 FOX Sports Radio 1230/WMML-AM  All rights reserved

Matt Shell Interview: Shellstrong Foundation

During the half of our broadcast on Friday between Queensbury and Burnt Hills, we ran a feature with Burnt Hills coach Matt Shell about a foundation that is near and dear to his heart, the Shellstrong Foundation.

As we know there were many of you who were unable to listen to the interview, we're giving you the chance to hear it here online.


If you want to help out the Shellstrong Foundation, click here.

Queensbury blanks Burnt Hills, wins divisional title

BURNT HILLS - Chris Goudy scored a couple first-half touchdowns as the Queensbury defense shuts out the Burnt Hills Spartans 42-0.

The win seals the Northwest Division for the Queensbury Spartans, guaranteeing them home dates for the Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the Class A Sectionals.

It didn't come easy for the defending state champions as the first possession for the Queensbury Spartans ended with Drew Wilson fumbling the ball in the red zone, giving Burnt Hills the ball.

But it quickly became apparent that the Queensbury defense was going to be stingy.

The defense held John Clayton, the Burnt Hills junior quarterback, to 5-for-16 for 57 yards, and was picked off by Terry Karanikas on a fourth and long in the second quarter.

The running game for Burnt Hills also had trouble, with Mike Leveroni running for 22 yards on 7 carries.  Danny Maynard, Burnt Hills leading rusher, only picked up 14 yards on 6 carries, but left the game early in the second half with an ankle injury that kept him on the sidelines for the remainder of the game.

Any attempt Burnt Hills made to get deep in Queensbury territory was met with heavy resistance, resulting in several turnover on downs.

It was Burnt Hills's first loss at home since 2005, when they lost to eventual sectional champion Amsterdam in the semifinals, and the Spartans first shutout since 2004, when the Queensbury Spartans shut them out in a regular season game.

Chris Goudy finished with 115 yards on 17 carries, and Brett Rodriguez had 95 yards on 10 carries.  Rodriguez showed off his arm on an option pass, as he aired it out to an open Keegan O'Leary for a 50 yard gain before Rodriguez ran it in from the 1 yard line.

Queensbury returns home to face Averill Park, who fell into the #4 seed in the Southeast Division after Troy and Amsterdam won their games over Lansingburgh and Bishop Maginn respectively.  Burnt Hills will remain home for their quarterfinal match against Troy next week.  Burnt Hills beat Troy soundly back in Week 3.

Week 7: Queensbury at Burnt Hills

We're off to see the wizard.

Actually, we're heading for the Hills.  Catch live coverage of the Queensbury Spartans and the Burnt Hills Spartans starting at 6:45PM.  And for more coverage during the game, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

We'll be tweeting when we can.  You can also follow The Post-Star's Pete Tobey for more frequent updates from Burnt Hills.

During the pregame, we'll have both coaches, Queensbury coach John Irion and Burnt Hills coach Matt Shell, as they talk about the upcoming game and their game plan.

During the half, Matt Shell will join us once again as he talks about a foundation that is near and dear to his heart, the Shellstrong Foundation.

So be sure to listen, and if you miss the halftime interview, we'll have it up here on the blog for you to listen sometime over the weekend.

SUPER BOWL WEEKEND: Week 10

It would have been nice to piece together a 30 minute preview for this weekend's quintet of Super Bowl games here in Section 2, but unfortunately, time coupled with a studio that broke this week resulted in a preview that was written down, but never voiced.

No problem.  These notes will be put to good use when we broadcast our second Super Bowl in as many years as the Burnt Hills Spartans and the Queensbury Spartans duke it out for the Class A title Saturday night at 7PM (Broadcast: 6:45PM).

Two games are in the books, with one game being a lot closer than I anticipated, and one being a lot further away than thought.

CLASS AA: CBA Brothers [Albany] (9-1) 13, Shaker Blue Bison (8-2) 8
CBA wins their third Super Bowl in school history with their 13-8 victory over last year's champ, the Shaker Blue Bison.

Joe Kolbe was the player of the game, contributing in both of CBA's touchdowns, as he found Ryan O'Hagan for a 70 yard score to get the scoring started, and then entered the end zone himself in the 2nd Quarter to give the Brothers the lead for good.

It's CBA's first title since 2006, when they defeated Colonie 18-0 for the title.  The Brothers, after a Regional bye, lost to Monroe-Woodbury 21-0 in the only state tournament game the Brothers played in school history (remember, the state tournament has only existed for 20 years).

CBA's next opponent is either Monroe-Woodbury or Newburgh Free Academy.  The two teams will face in the Section 9 Class AA Championship on Saturday night.  That winner will host CBA at Dietz Stadium in Kingston next Saturday, November 16th at 7PM.

CLASS C: Hoosick Falls Panthers (10-0) 21, Chatham Panthers (9-1) 8
The Hoosick Falls Panthers are winners of 50 straight Section 2 games, winners of 5 straight Section 2 titles, and winners of their 26th Section 2 postseason game as they beat the Chatham Panthers 21-8.

Hoosick Falls took advantage of turnovers, scoring on two of Chatham's miscues to propel them back into the state tournament.

Hoosick Falls will play Section 10's Ogdensburg Free Academy, who beat Saranac Lake 27-19.  The two teams will play at Stillwater Central School next Friday, November 15th at 7PM.

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Two games down, three more to be played.  Super Bowl Weekend continues on Saturday as three more sectional titles are up for grabs.

CLASS D: Cambridge Indians (9-0) vs. Rensselaer Rams (8-1) - 1:00PM at Schuylerville Junior-Senior High School

A rematch of Week 6 is on the agenda when the Indians and the Rams meet under the sunlight at Schuylerville Junior-Senior High School on Saturday.

But it will be a different story this time, as the Rams will have Steven Harwood back.  Harwood played only the first quarter in the first meeting between the two teams before leaving with an injury.

Harwood is a major contributor to the Rams offense, scoring 13 touchdowns on the ground and 20 touchdowns through the air.  His 1,400 passing yards is the best of the remaining quarterbacks in Section 2, and a major reason why Rensselaer trumps most high school programs in the state with a well-balanced run/pass attack, with more passing yards than running yards.

But Cambridge has Ethan English on their side.  English has thrown for over 700 yards, including 151 yards against the Rams back in Week 6.  Caleb Roland and Christopher Warnke will both be players to watch on the ground, helping fuel the Indians offense as they combine for 30 touchdowns.

The winner of this game will travel north to face the Moriah Vikings.  The Section 7 champion shocked the northern tier with their 6-0 win over the Ticonderoga Sentinels, and took care of Tupper Lake to earn the right to play the Section 2 champion up at AuSable Valley next Friday night.

CLASS B: Broadalbin-Perth Patriots (8-1) vs. Schalmont Sabres (9-0) - 3:00PM at Shenendehowa High School

Schalmont's M.O. this season has been to strike early and often.  And keep the opposition from scoring.  It's been a path for success for the Sabres, even in games where Devon Willis was sidelined either due to illness or injury.

However, the team they scored the fewest against is the team that will be facing them in the Class B Super Bowl.

The Broadalbin-Perth Patriots allowed 21 points in their Week 4 loss to Schalmont, but those 21 was the fewest allowed by any team who had to feel the brunt of the Sabres.  Plus, the Patriots remember what happened to Schalmont last year.

It's a recipe that could play into the Patriots favor, who are playing in their first Super Bowl in school history.

Zach Morreale calls the signals for the Patriots, with several options.  Andre Taylor, Darius Reyes and Luigi Magliocca are just a few of the options.  No player on the Patriots team shouts "Sectional Leader" on the stats sheet, but as a team, they contribute for wins.  And the defense has come up big for the Patriots, seizing control in their semifinal against the Cohoes Tigers thanks to interceptions.

But will it be enough to overcome Nick Gallo, Devon Willis and the rest of the Schalmont Sabres?  No team has put up more than 8 points against the Sabres, allowing only 24 points all season long.  It's a big reason why they have reassured themselves as the team to beat in Class B.  With a 2:1 run-to-pass ratio, the Sabres will make sure defenses keep having to guess what the Sabres will throw at them next.

And Schalmont remembers.  It's all they've been hearing about the past 53 weeks.

CLASS A: Queensbury Spartans (9-0) vs. Burnt Hills Spartans (8-1) - 7:00PM at Shenendehowa High School

In a way, you have to think Queensbury feels like Glens Falls of last year.

They may have the better record, and are better ranked in the state, but it's the Burnt Hills Spartans who many are picking to win the final Super Bowl match of the year.

A lot of that comes down to how the first meeting ended.

A missed extra point turned what could have been overtime for the two teams into a Queensbury win, surviving a 14 point deficit against what was the #1 team in the state at that time and winning 28-27.  Head coach John Irion noted that when Burnt Hills scored the touchdown, his plan turned into what they were going to do in the overtime session.

Yet, it never happened.  Queensbury used that game to propel them into the #1 seed, which came up huge last week as Queensbury used their home advantage last week against the Amsterdam Rugged Rams, putting a season-high 59 points on the board and were comfortably able to swap out their starters for backups in the 4th Quarter.  Burnt Hills, on the other hand, had to travel to Troy and play a full 48 minute game, surviving a surge by the Flying Horses in their 24-19 win.

Burnt Hills has a strong run attack, but they help aid it with a passing game.  Josh Quesada will be a marked man by the Queensbury defense, accounting for 22 trips to the end zone for the B-Spartans.  Daniel Maynard has become more of a runner as the season progressed, chewing up 135 yards on the ground last week against Troy.  Maynard's transition to a runner comes thanks to John Clayton's growth as a quarterback.  Clayton's first varsity game came against Queensbury, and it's safe to say that Clayton has developed since that game.

Queensbury stopped the run attack of Burnt Hills in the first meeting, but might need to watch Clayton's arm in this game.  Queensbury has a strong defense, coming up big when they needed a stop, but has also been open to short pass gains, especially in hurry-up situations.

Queensbury's offense is heavy on the run.  The run outgains their pass by a 24:1 ratio, offering teams little surprise to what the Spartans will do on offense.  However, what usually makes things difficult for the opposition is knowing who will carry the ball.  Queensbury works in the double-wing, and regularly executes double hand-offs before pushing through the line into the secondary.  If that wasn't enough, the Spartans also have 6 regular ball carriers.  Brett Rodriguez will see some carries, but too will Kody Bruno, Phil Wettersten, Kalen Minot, Tim Voorhis and Chris Goudy.  The many back options is a big reason why the Spartans do not have a player over 1,000 yards.

This game could easily turn into a shootout.  But it could also turn into one of the legendary games that gets included in The Post Star's list compiled by Pete Tobey.

High School Sports: Week 3 Recap: What have we learned?

Three weeks down, four to go in the regular season of the High School Football season.

So what have we learned?

We’ve learned that although some things have changed, some things have remained the same.  New faces in new places haven’t brought an end to old success. A lot of the same teams we had our eyes on last year are still in the top spots this year.

Ultimately … what we’ve learned is that this could be another exciting year for Section 2.  More after the jump.

High School Fooball: Week 2 Recap

Rain impacted a lot of games this week.

But perhaps the biggest game it impacted turned out to be one of the best battles we've seen in Section 2 in some time, eclipsing last year's overtime thriller between Greenwich and Cambridge.  Details on this and several other Section 2 games after the jump.

High School Football - Week 1 in Review

New faces, new places.

That seemed to be the theme as the High School Football season opened up with a full slate of games on Friday and Saturday, as new faces replaced the familiar faces we got to know over the course of the 13 weeks last year, and coaches found their clipboards in new places.

John Bowen comes to mind here.  The frontman for the Ballston Spa Scotties for many years, he found his clipboard in Schuylerville, where he replaced veteran head coach Greg O'Connor during the offseason.  With a new group of kids, some having not played a varsity game all season, it was a question whether or not the Black Horses could match strides with the Hudson Falls Tigers, who have returning talent on both sides of the football.

Surprise of the Week: Schuylerville 30, Hudson Falls 7 - The Hudson Falls Tigers took advantage of a turnover to put 7 up on the board in the 1st Quarter, but then the young squad in Schuylerville settled down and scored the next 30 points as the Black Horses looked as powerful as last year's squad that made it to the Class B Sectional Semifinals.  Geno Brancati of the Hudson Falls Tigers led the rushing attack for the Tigers, getting 56 yards on 17 carries and scored the lone touchdown in the 1st Quarter. Josh Thomas was big for the Black Horses, pounding 163 yards on 22 carries on his way to 3 visits to the end zone.  Will Griffen also had a century game, getting 109 yards on 14 carries.

Disappointment of the Week: Schalmont 51, Glens Falls 0 - It's a disappointment only in the sense that you were hoping for better things from the Glens Falls Indians after last season's run.  But one problem exists.  Devon Willis remains with the Schalmont Sabres.  The All-Star Running Back ran for 1,500 yards last year and is expected to meet or break that figure this year.  He's off to a good start after running for 106 yards.  Dalton Cooke was dangerous behind the Center, throwing for 248 yards, including 3 touchdowns.  Zack Infield, who was playing his first game under Center, threw for 35 yards on 4 for 7 passing.

Game of the Week: Cambridge 34, Greenwich 28 - Nothing like starting off your season with a rival.  That's how Cambridge and Greenwich started the season, playing each other in a rematch of a classic that went to overtime last year.  Most of the game saw the trailer behind by only a single possession, which the largest lead coming at 10:16 left in the 2nd Quarter when Greenwich drove to a 9 point lead.  The key moment of the game came following Greenwich's tying touchdown, when Cambridge was able to take advantage of great field position after Caleb Roland's 55 yard kickoff return, and took the lead for good.

Impressed Performance of the Week: Queensbury's Defense.  The Troy Flying Horses was stocked with talent, with Maurice Jones and Rayshawn Johnson both dangerous when they carried the ball.  For much of the first half, the Troy Flying Horses were unable to penetrate the rich Queensbury Defense until Joe Germinerio's two-minute drill attack of passes and runs brought the Flying Horses to the Queensbury 6.  But the drive would end with an incomplete pass, allowing Queensbury to have a two-possession lead at the half.   In addition, the defense forced two key fumbles that helped put points on the board for the Spartans.  The defense gave up 22 points, but never the lead, as the Queensbury Spartans would prevail 40-22.

No Vulnerabilities here: Two State Champions looked really good this weekend, increasing the likelihood of both teams repeating, at the very least, at the Sectional level.  Burnt Hills dismantled a Lansingburgh team that last year won the Reinfurt division of Class B, with their 69-25 Friday night victory, as 6 different Spartans found the end zone.  Anthony Walker helped the Knights with two touchdown runs of 79 yards and 52 yards, but was kept quiet otherwise.  Meanwhile, the Hoosick Falls Panthers were in good shape to shut out Tamarac, but a turnover in the 4th quarter led to Dan Motzer scoring the lone points as the Panthers won 49-7.  Brandon Hodges crossed the plane four times, his largest being a 46 yard run in the 3rd Quarter.

What to listen for - Week #2: Burnt Hills at Troy, FRI 7PM - This game could become a preview of Week 10, the Class A Super Bowl.  But first, the Troy Flying Horses will need to calm down after their Week 1 loss to the Queensbury Spartans.  Last year, the Flying Horses won and provided the Burnt Hills Spartans with their only loss of the season, but neither team is wanting to look at the past as an indication of how the future will play.

In addition, this weekend will give us the first looks at Fort Edward and Salem in Class D.  Both teams had to sit out their first game after forfeiting due to player count issues, so week 2 is the first time we will get to see either the Flying Forts or the Generals play.  Both teams have talent, and if they can keep their small rosters healthy, could be one of the 8 teams contending for the Class D title towards the end of October.  Salem opens their season with a road game at Hoosic Valley, who took a tough loss against a decent Whitehall team last week.  Fort Edward has a tougher trip this week, heading down to play defending Class D titleholders Rensselaer.

We're going to be back at Queensbury High as the Queensbury Spartans play the Bishop Maginn Griffins.  Both teams are 1-0 after the Griffins put away the South Glens Falls Bulldogs 18-8.  Joe Grasso had an inexperienced group of kids last year as the Griffins went 1-8, but feels things will be better this year as he's been impressed how the work ethic of his players have been during preseason camp.

Neiko Bianchino was a key player on the Griffins last week, throwing for over 125 yards and scoring two 3rd Quarter touchdowns.  Jaushiir Weaver rushed for a touchdown too for the Griffins.