Section 2 Boys Basketball Seeding Preview

Today begins the final day of the High School Basketball regular season.

Tomorrow is the meeting that brings about the seedings for the upcoming sectionals.  There are 90 teams playing in Section 2 this year, plus Albany Academy who is playing as an independent league member and will not participate in Sectionals.

It's a tough job settling where teams should play.  First is the matter of sorting out as many as 23 teams (Class B).  Then you have to make a determination of whether or not a team with a decent record should be penalized seed-wise for playing a league filled with lower enrollment schools.  Or, perhaps, boosting a team with an average record because they played the largest schools in Section 2.

It makes for a tough job.

Like last year, I'm going to try to predict how the seedings will be tomorrow.  However, like any prediction, there's likely there will be some incorrect guesses.

The list is after the jump...

Indian River floods Queensbury's Rush Attack, Wins State Championship

SYRACUSE - Down 19-0?

No problem for the Indian River Warriors, who adjusted their game plan midway through the second quarter and came back to a 63-38 win over the Queensbury Spartans for the Class A Championship.

It is the first state championship for Indian River, and the end of a 25 game winning streak for the previous defending champs.

But the way it started, it looked like Indian River was going to be on the receiving end of the blow out.  It took only two plays before Erik Wettersten ran in from 4 yards out, with Tyrell Adams setting up the touchdown run with a 65 yard gain up the right side.

Then after an Indian River fumble on the kickoff return, Brett Rodriguez scored from 9 yards out to give Queensbury the 13-0 lead.

Indian River would drive the length of the field, but a fumble at the Queensbury 5 yard line gave the Spartans the ball.  Drew Wilson connected with a wide-open Brett Rodriguez to make the score 19-0.

Indian River would storm back with an eight play, 75 yard drive, capped with a quarterback keeper as Densel Barnes ran in from 4 yards for their first score.

But a fumble on the second play of the ensuing drive gave the Warriors great field position to close the first quarter, and Romel Washington made the Spartans pay for that miscue with his 36 yard jet sweep touchdown run to start the second quarter.

The Spartans answered back with Drew Wilson's pass to a wide open Brett Rodriguez, who lined up as a wide receiver on the right sideline, but Chris Goudy's rush on the 2 point conversion failed, to make the score 25-14.

But then the Spartans became unraveled.  And the Warriors began their game of deception.  A fake handoff on the ensuing kickoff got the Spartans to bite, allowing Chase Farrell to run the ball to the Queensbury 45.  Dustin Sharritt would score two plays later, pulling the Warriors to within a field goal.

It only got worse for Queensbury from there.  Tyrell Adams was hurt on the bench, never to return to the game with ice down around his ankle.  On the next series, Queensbury would fall victim to two penalties, with Keeghan O'Leary getting slapped with an "ineligible participation" penalty after his helmet came off during a 1st Down play where Erik Wettersten tried to run to the outside, and Drew Wilson getting tabbed with an intentional grounding call after the ball sailed out of bounds on the next play.  The Spartans would end up punting the ball from their own 15 yard line.

Indian River would score again to make 29-25 at the half, converting a fourth down with a jet sweep to set up Dustin Barnes 4 yard touchdown run.  The Warriors would receive the ball first to start the third quarter, having deferred to the second half.  Connor Brown made that pay off with his 23 yard run to cap a four play drive, expanding the Indian River lead to 36-25.

After another touchdown, Indian River booted the ball towards Erik Wettersten, who bobbled the ball and was brought in by Brett Rodriguez.  However, trying to make something happen, he ran backwards and was down at the 7 yard line.  Rodriguez made up for that miscue with a 93 yard touchdown run to close the gap to 12.

Romel Washington scored the second of his two touchdowns after the kickoff, going in 68 yards for the score to make it 50-31 at the end of the third quarter.

Junior Dustin Sharritt scored the third touchdown of the game, and Freshman Brandon Smith would add to the Warriors lead late in the fourth quarter to make it 63-31.

Brett Rodriguez would return the kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown with two minutes left, but it was too little too late.

Romel Washington was named the game's Most Valuable Player, running 196 yards on 13 carries and scoring two touchdowns.  Dustin Sharrit was a key contributor, scoring 3 touchdowns on his 20 carries, picking up 89 yards in the process.

Brett Rodriguez scored two touchdowns and picked up 146 yards on 18 carries, most of that coming on the 93 yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Indian River used misdirection to fake out the Queensbury Spartans.  The Spartans fell victim several times, allowing huge lanes to open up for the Warriors to gain consistent yardage.  And 5' 4" Romel Washington made his short speed pay dividends on the jet sweeps, allowing him to burn the Spartans with 196 yards.  This helped Indian River convert five of their eight third downs.

They also clogged up the holes inside, forcing Queensbury runners to the outside, where defensive backs were waiting to take the ball carrier down.  The Spartans had 289 rushing yards, but only 133 yards of that coming in the second half.  They only had four first downs in the second half, limiting the Spartans possession time, an attribute that the Queensbury Spartans used effectively through their 25 game winning streak

It is the first championship for the squad that played in Section 10 until the 2008-2009 season, but is the first trip to the State Tournament as a representative in Section 3.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Queensbury Spartans (12-1)	19	6	6	7	38
Indian River Warriors (13-0)	7	22	21	13	63

Scoring
1st Quarter
11:37 - Erik Wettersten (QSBY) - 4 yard run.  (Escamilla kick) - 7-0
10:57 - Brett Rodriguez (QSBY) - 9 yard run.  (kick failed) - 13-0
03:57 - Brett Rodriguez from Drew Wilson (QSBY) - 57 yard pass.  (run failed) - 19-0
00:54 - Densel Barnes (IR) - 4 yard run.  (Iketau kick) - 19-7

2nd Quarter
11:53 - Romel Washington (IR) - 36 yard run.  (Iketau kick) - 19-14
07:50 - Brett Rodriguez from Drew Wilson (QSBY) - 26 yard pass.  (run failed) - 25-14
07:21 - Dustin Sharrit (IR) - 9 yard run.  (Barnes run) - 25-22
03:01 - Densel Barnes (IR) - 4 yard run.  (Iketeau kick) - 25-29

3rd Quarter
10:29 - Connor Brown (IR) - 23 yard run.  (Iketau kick) - 25-36
05:40 - Dustin Sharrit (IR) - 2 yard run.  (Iketau kick) - 25-43
05:17 - Brett Rodriguez (QSBY) - 93 yard run.  (run failed) - 31-43
04:57 - Romel Washington (IR) - 68 yard run.  (Iketau kick) - 31-50

4th Quarter
04:16 - Dustin Sharrit (IR) - 7 yard run.  (kick failed) - 31-56
02:13 - Brandon Smith (IR) - 9 yard run.  (Iketau kick) - 31-63
02:00 - Brett Rodriguez (IR) - 76 yard kickoff return.  (Escamilla kick) - 38-63

Individual Stats
RUSHING: Queensbury - Brett Rodriguez: 18-146-2; Tyrell Adams: 2-86-0; Chris Goudy: 6-26-0; James Kassebaum: 2-14-0.  Indian River - Romel Washington: 13-196-2; Dustin Sharrit: 20-89-3; Connor Brown: 8-72-1; Densel Barnes: 10-45-2

PASSING:  Queensbury - Drew Wilson: 6-11 162yds, 2TD, INT; Brett Rodriguez: 0-1.  Indian River - Densel Barnes: 1-1 40yds

RECEIVING: Queensbury - Brett Rodriguez: 3-88 57yds, 2TD; Keegan O'Leary: 2-73; Hunter Scott: 1-1.  Indian River - Gary Ruckman: 1-40.

Football's back this weekend!

Queensbury High School, WMML-AM Photo

High School Football starts a football weekend on 1230 FOX Sports Radio and 1410 CBS Sports Radio.

First, we look at the local talent as the Queensbury Spartans welcome the Troy Flying Horses to its campus this Saturday.  Both teams made it to the Class A Sectional Semifinals, with Queensbury bowing out to Burnt Hills and Troy losing to Amsterdam.

In both games, the losing team had the lead at one point in the contest.  But for both teams, it's a fresh new start in a class that could be very competitive.

I met with Queensbury head coach John Irion, now in his 17th year at the helm, yesterday.  In a short interview, he mentioned that he has a wide range of options when it comes to running backs, and also a few returning players that could help push the Spartans to the top of the Class A Northwest.

Phil Wettersten returns as a back option, and should get the main nod for the game this Saturday.  Alston Moses also could provide Irion with a lot of options, both with the run and pass game.


Edit Note: I misheard Irion during our interview, thinking he was mentioning Alston Moses.  Special thanks to Don Lehman of The Post-Star for the correction.


If there's a spot where the Spartans could look rugged, it will be on the line.  Despite returning senior Marc Lambert, the line will be filled with many new faces, which could give Wettersten some trouble if not prepared.

For Troy, last year's loss to the Amsterdam Rugged Rams left a bitter taste after leading 14-0.  But 34 straight points brought the Amsterdam Rugged Rams to the Class A Super Bowl, and gave the Flying Horses their 2nd straight semifinal exit after making it to the Carrier Dome in 2010.

The start of our High School Football coverage kicks off at 1:15PM this Saturday on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.

Then on Sunday, it is the start of the 2013 National Football League schedule as the Buffalo Bills welcome Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to the Ralph.

It appears that EJ Manuel will get the starting nod, which is a huge weight off the Bills shoulders, as the Bills looked to be a much improved team when he was playing in the preseason.  Without him, the Bills offense looked sketchy, especially against the Redskins and the Lions.

But the task remains tough - trying to figure out how to beat Tom Brady.  You can't just take a lead and expect him to fold.  This was seen in great detail in Week 4 last year when the Buffalo Bills jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the 3rd Quarter, but then hit a brick wall as Tom Brady and the Patriots rattled off 5 straight touchdowns to turn the tables on the Bills, as the Patriots would go on to win 52-28.

Bills coverage this Sunday will be on 1410 CBS Sports Radio as the Mets finish their series against the Cleveland Indians on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.  Pregame for the season-opener for the Buffalo Bills kicks off at 11AM, with the first kick at 1PM.

High School Playoff Recap/Preview

37 teams entered play on Friday with a chance to make it to the Super Bowl for their respective class.  By the end of Saturday, only 20 of those 37 remained with hopes of making it to Syracuse for the championships Thanksgiving Weekend.

With a season as short as there is in Section II Football, every game does matter.  But none matter more than the games we find in week 8 and beyond.

CLASS AA: Week 5 rematch on the horizon?

In Class AA, the big debate over the past few weeks have been about Shenendehowa, who potentially could be playing at home against Shaker in the Class AA Super Bowl in week 10.  To some, it would be giving Shenendehowa what they feel is an unfair advantage being the hosts and thus the home team.  In Week 5, the Blue Bisons beat the Plainsmen 35-8 at Shaker High to propel themselves to the top of Class AA.

But before the Blue Bisons can make plans to be at Shenendehowa, they need to make it past the Schenectady Patriots (Friday, 7PM at Shaker High).  The Pats narrowly squeezed past CBA on Saturday night, winning 28-27.  The Pats gave the Blue Bisons a run back in Week 4, using two touchdown passes to lead 14-0 in the 1^st quarter before the Blue Bisons used the run and the air to combine for three touchdowns to come back for the 21-14 lead. 

And Shenendehowa will have to make their way past Columbia (Friday, 7PM at Shenendehowa).  Columbia made easy work of Guilderland last week, winning 30-10.

Debaters can continue worrying about changes of venues bringing different results until the proverbial cliché cows come home, but if a team is good enough to make it to the finals, they should be able to win both at home and on the road, regardless of who that road opponent may be.

CLASS A: Can anyone bring down Burnt Hills?

In week #1, the Burnt Hills Spartans were questioned when they led off the season with a 17-7 loss to Troy.  Since then, the Spartans have rattled off convincing win after convincing win, keeping their opponents to less than 10 points in all but two of their last 7 games.  One of those two games came against the Queensbury Spartans, but while the Q-Spartans scored 14, the B-Spartans put 49 up on the board back in week 4.

These two teams will meet again in the Class A Semifinals (Friday, 7PM at Burnt Hills).  The Q-Spartans have bounced back from their early losses with 4 straight wins, including a shutout win against the Albany Academy Cadets, and a convincing ground-pound win over the Scotia Tartans in the Quarterfinals on Saturday where the Spartans outgained the Tartans 217-16 in rushing yards, and 79-33 via the air.  Phillip Wettersten rushed for 78 yards and Alston Moses contributed with 66 yards. 

This round of the Spartans vs. Spartans could prove to be interesting, and is a true test to whether or not the Q-Spartans have bounced back from their first four weeks of play where they fell to Shaker, Amsterdam and Burnt Hills.

Meanwhile, in the other bracket, the Troy Flying Horses will have their hands full with the Amsterdam Rugged Rams (Friday, 7PM at Troy).  When we saw them a couple weeks ago against the South Glens Falls Bulldogs, Geo Rodriguez, Brett Stanavich and Hector Diaz all looked good.  And Rodriguez looked even better when the Rugged Rams got revenge for their Week 1 loss when they beat Averill Park in the first round of the Class A playoffs last week 58-14.  He was 6 for 9, throwing 125 yards for two scores, ran in the ball once for a score himself, and was a contributor on an Averill Park fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

Troy made it past Gloversville in the first round, thanks to Pat Chamberlain’s 158 yards on 6 carries and four touchdowns.  Maurice Jones helped out with a 75 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and ran in for a touchdown himself. 

CLASS B: Knighted

The big news came Friday night when the Schuylerville Black Horses rolled into Lansingburgh and showed that they were not intimidated by their #1 seed.   After Danny Waldron’s 4 yard touchdown run put the Black Horses ahead 14-0, the Black Horses were feeling really good about their chances.  But the Lansingburgh Knights weren’t going down without a fight, and thanks to a few key Schuylerville turnovers, they came back to take a 19-13 lead in the 4^th Quarter thanks to an Anthony Walker run.  But then Danny Waldron came back with a touchdown to put the Black Horses up 20-19 with 3:07 left to play.  Shane Lyons sealed the victory for the Black Horses when he picked off a pass with 11 seconds left to bring about the first loss of the season for the Lansingburgh Knights.

With Schyulerville’s win on Friday night, the winner of the Albany Academy/Glens Falls matchup on Saturday would gain the right to host Schyulerville in the semifinals.  The Indians showed their running legs early, when Cam Girard ran in to score twice.  Both scores came thanks to big runs by running backs Joe McMahon and Mike LaNoir.  Mike LaNoir showed off his arm with a nice pass play to Jake Dailey on a 2 point conversion, and the Indians went into the halftime break up 16-0.  Before the storm clouds fully made its way to Putt LaMay Memorial Field, Cam Girard ran in for his third touchdown of the game to put the Indians up 22-0.

The Indians returned to the field after a 45 minute thunderstorm delay with more ground and pound offense, as Mike LaNoir came in to score his lone touchdown of the game.  He finished the game with 96 yards, and Joe McMahon added another 150+ yards as the Indians rolled past Albany Academy 36-0 to set up a week 2 rematch against Schuylerville (Saturday, 1:30PM at Glens Falls). 

In Week 2, The Glens Falls Indians defeated the Schyulerville Black Horses 34-15 thanks to three touchdowns from Cam Girard and a pair of interceptions.  The Black Horses are not a team to take lightly, pushing Schalmont to the brink with their 27-24 loss in Week 3.  And coming off a huge upset in the first round, the Black Horses could really be the dark horse of the Class B tournament.

CLASS C: Can Hoo-Falls be stopped?

The Hoosick Falls Panthers have been unstoppable this season, rattling off mesmerizing wins.  The Panthers have surrendered 15 points or less in all 8 games this season, with the most coming against Voorheesville in the first round of the Class C playoffs this past Saturday, when the Panthers won 69-14.  The Panthers have put together 4 shutouts, all in which they scored 40 or more points.

If there is to be a challenge from any team in Section II, it may very well be coming from Chatham in the south.  Like Hoo-Falls, they come into the semifinals sporting an 8-0 record.  Only one team has scored more than 14 points against the C-Panthers, and that was Lyons, a team playing from Section V out near the Finger Lakes region in a game to make up for Cairo-Durham cancelling their season.

First, the Hoo-Falls Panthers need to get past Fonda-Fultonville, a team that shut out Tamarac in the first round last week.  And Chatham will have to get past Mechanicville, a team that will be playing only 10 miles away at Stillwater and will have the crowd advantage because of the proximity. 

CLASS D: Can the North beat the South?  Did Cambridge show vulnerability?

The first round of the Class D playoffs begin this Saturday at Schyulerville High as the Whitehall Railroaders take on the Rensselaer Rams (Saturday, 1PM at Schuylerville).  The Railroaders lost to the Rams back in Week 1 by a score of 21-12, in a game where Justin Hoagland gave the Railroaders some life near the end with a 98 yard interception return to narrow the gap to 9.  Since that game, Josh Hoagland has run his way into the top 5 of Section II for scoring, rushing and rushing touchdowns.  A strong Josh/Justin Hoagland combo could make things interesting for this semifinal.

In the other semifinal, the Cambridge Indians come into play after beating Rensselaer for the #1 seed in a game where they came out to a 27-0 lead, but then allowed three straight unanswered scores where the Rams made things interesting for the closing minutes.  The Indians were pushed to the end before, when they needed overtime to beat the Greenwich Witches back in Week 6

This will be the first meeting of the season between the Salem Generals and the Cambridge Indians (Saturday, 7PM at Schuylerville).  In this battle of Route 22, the Generals will have some offensive weapons, but might have difficulty stopping the weapons that the Indians have put on the field through win after win.  Matt Parmenter, Len Darcy and Ethan English will be the players to watch for Cambridge, who will have to contain Issac Isom and Tyler Morris, and stop Ryan Braymer as the signal caller.