Week in Review: Football

We had four Columbia County teams taking part in three games this week, with ICC heading to Chatham, Hudson playing for playoff position and Taconic Hills looking to play spoiler. We'll take a look at the other local games later tonight or tomorrow as Coxsackie-Athens and Cairo-Durham faced off as well and Rensselaer faced off with Lake George, considered by many the second best team in Section II Class D behind only the Rams.

Ichabod Crane v. Chatham

In a match up of one winless team (ICC) and one undefeated team (Chatham) the game went as expected with the Panthers winning 69-0. The Panthers put 41 points on the board in the first quarter and added 14 in both the second and third quarters.

Josh Keyes scored the game's first two touchdown's but not on the ground like usual. Instead Keyes's returned a fumble on the defensive side before taking a punt back for another score. Keyes added two more touchdowns later in the game and finished with four scores, 114 yards rushing on just three carries.

Ryan Coon added two scores on the ground as David Coon, Gilbert Rivera and Alex Mishkin each scored one rushing touchdown a piece. Tanner Niles attempted just two passes the whole day with the second completed to Ian McGrath for a touchdown. Mike Gilbert converted on 9 extra points in the contest.

Chatham finishes off it's regular season 7-0 and as the top seed in Section II Class C and will host 5-2 Corinth on Friday at 7. The Riders fell to 0-7 and will finish off their season at home against Whitehall on Friday.

Albany Academy v. Hudson

In a game that would determine the third seed in the Class B tournament from their division, the Bluehawks came from behind in an absolute barn burner to defeat Albany Academy 48-46. The contest also featured two of the most exciting players in Class B with Nevin Sheldon from Hudson and Zay Richardson from Albany Academy. The two players combined for 7 scores, five by Richardson but it was Sheldon who would score the go ahead touchdown for Hudson to help earn the win. The victory improved Hudson to 5-2 and earned them that third seed from the Reinfurt Division and will head to Hudson Falls (4-3) on Saturday for a 1 pm game.

Right off the opening kickoff Hudson got on the board when Tayron Bryant took the kick to the house for an 80 yard score. Brian McSween ran in the two point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Richardson responded with a short run for Albany Academy but the conversion was no good.

In the second quarter Richardson scored again before Hudson responded with a 25 yard run by Nevin Sheldon. Before the half the Cadets scored again for an 18-14 lead.

Coming out of the half Hudson fired back scoring two touchdowns in between an Academy score. Talib Barksdale ran in a quarterback keeper before converting on the conversion with another run. After the Cadets score Barksdale found McSween for a 70 yard touchdown as Hudson went up 30-22.

After combining for 52 points over the first three quarters the two teams would put up a remarkable 40 more in the final stanza. Academy struck first with another Richardson run before McSween answered with a 33 yard run of his own. After another Richardson score it was against McSween who found the endzone for Hudson, this time on a 57 yard pass from Barksdale.

The Cadets would run in one more score to retake the lead by two and put the pressure back on the Bluehawks. Hudson came through with the pressure on Barksdale hooked up with Sheldon on a 20 yard pass play to seal the win.

Barksdale finished the game with over 300 yards through the air and 3 TD's and over 50 yards on the ground. The star quarterback also found himself at wide receiver a few times and caught two balls from Tayron Bryant. McSween showed his versatility going for over 100 yards receiving and 40 on the ground as he scored three touchdowns and ran in a two point conversion. Sheldon also went for over 100 yards in the air and scored twice.

Taconic Hills v. Voorheesville

The Titans looked to make things difficult for the Blackbirds on Friday and despite two touchdowns in the fourth quarter came up short, falling 24-22.

The Blackbirds took an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter and that score would hold until the third. Chris McKay got the Titans on the board with a 20 yard run but the two point try was no good and the game was knotted at 6. Right off the ensuing kickoff the Blackbirds took it nearly 80 yards to retake the lead 10-6.

In the fourth Voorheesville ran the ball in to extend their lead to 17-6. Nolan Boice ran in a short score and followed that up with another run for the conversion as the Titans fought to within three. Again Voorheesville responded with a touchdown run and kick as they went up by 10. The Titans got on the board one more time, this time on a McKay reception from Nick Warren to pull to 24-22 but that was as close as it would get.

The Titans finish up their season next week with a crossover game at home against Watervliet on Friday at 7.