Sunday, November 1, 2009

Local Football: Chatham headed to the Super Bowl

Only one local football team was still alive in their quest for a Super Bowl berth this week as Chatham faced off with Cambridge. Hudson, Taconic Hills and Ichabod Crane were each slated to play one last cross over game against another team who was also eliminated from their respective playoffs.

Despite our best efforts we've been unable to find out any results regarding the Ichabod Crane-Hoosic Valley game that was slated to be played on Thursday.

Cambridge v. Chatham

Taking on one of the more storied small school football programs in all of New York state the Panthers came in as the higher seed but considered a slight underdog to Cambridge who was actually ranked higher in the latest New York State Poll.

The Panthers took care of business on the ground as usual and also kept their opponents off guard while attempting 9 passes as Chatham won 31-14 and get ready for their second Super Bowl appearance in the last three years.

As he has all season long Josh Keyes paced the Panther offense with over 300 yards on the ground. In the opening quarter he got his team on board first with a 35 yard touchdown run, followed by a Mike Gilbert extra point.

The Panthers then found themselves in an unusual position as Cambridge went to the air and scored twice before the end of the first quarter as Chatham found themselves down 14-7. In the second quarter the Panthers went back to Keyes again and he responded with two scores as Chatham went up 19-14 and would never look back.

Coming out of the half the Panthers added two more scores as Keyes ran in a 30 yarder and Ryan Coons added a 60 yard trot. Coons rushed for over 130 yards on the ground in addition to Keyes massive total.

Chatham also threw the ball an unusual 9 times with junior quarterback Tanner Niles completing 4 of them. The vaunted Panther defense continued their strong season of play after having a rough first quarter. The Chatham defense has allowed just one team all season to score on them 3 times in one game.

Up next for the Panthers is a highly anticipated showdown against fellow unbeaten Hoosick Falls. The Panthers will come in as the slight underdog as Hoosick Falls was ranked 7th in the latest New York State poll while Chatham was 12th.

Hudson v. Cobleskill

The Bluehawks who season ended earlier than they had hoped had a cross over game this week against Cobleskill. Hudson had faced the Bulldogs once already this year and came away with an 18-13 win.

In this contest Hudson scored first before falling behind and having to then score last to pull out an exciting 22-18 win. Hudson got on the board first when Talib Barksdale hit Tayron Bryant on a 70 yard touchdown strike. Mike Black added the two point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Cobleskill responded with a touchdown in the second quarter and two more in the third for an 18-8 lead before Hudson finally got on board again. Barksdale hooked up with the always dangerous Nevin Sheldon this time and Bryant added the two point conversion to pull the Bluehawks within two.

In the fourth Barksdale hooked up with Bryant again for the game winning touchdown as Hudson pulled ahead for good.

Keep an eye on www.ccSCOOP.com after all our teams have completed play for a look at who the Bluehawks are expected to lose and return next year.

Taconic Hills v. Mechanicville

The Titans season came to a close this week when they fell 21-20 in a heart breaker to Mechanicville. The Titans got touchdowns by Nick Warren and Nolan Boice on the ground while Spencer Winter added a blocked punt for a score.

With under a minute to play Mechanicville marched down the field for a score that pulled them within one. Rather than go for the kick and the tie Mechanicville went for two and converted to pull out the win.

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