Let’s Scout Section II HS Football Champs Opponents – Part I
There are 5 Section II high school football champions playing this Friday and Saturday on their road to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse to play for a New York State Public High School Championship. That was the goal for each of these programs to start the season. They are the only 5 teams left from Section II. So, what do we know about the teams they are facing? We'll start with the A & AA matchups.
Friday night at 6pm at Mahopac High School, Burnt Hills- Ballston Lake, led by Coach Matt Shell, no stranger to championship road will take on Section I champion Somers in the Class A match-up. The BH-BL Spartans only loss of the season came in the first game of the season against a Shaker team that would go undefeated in the regular season. The rest of the year, Shell's teams pounded their opponents. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake was tested in their first playoff game against LaSalle, a 21-20 OT victory. Last week they shut out Queensbury 21-0 to advance.
Undefeated Somers comes in having won all 10 games this season. The scouting report on the Section I champion from the sports team at poughkeepsiejournal.com is "The Tuskers had been dominant on defense, allowing one touchdown or fewer eight straight weeks until Rye had some success during last week's 26-23 Somers win. The defensive line, led by Jake Polito and Dylan Faller, linebacker Ethan Krauss and safety Trey Mancuso make the Tuskers strong through the middle. The offense relies on the big play, namely the arm of Matt Fitzsimons and the speed of Mancuso, Matt Kapica and Ravi Dass Jr."
Saturday at 3pm at Mahopac High School, the Class AA champs from Section I and Section II will face off. Section II champion Christian Brothers Academy of Albany, led by new head coach Bob Burns will take on Section I champion Carmel. CBA comes into the game 9-2. They too lost to Shaker during the regular season and Guilderland. However, when the playoffs started, Burns had his team right where he wanted them. CBA pounded Guilderland 20-7 in the first playoff game and then finished off Shenendehowa last Friday night 28-14 to capture the crown.
CBA will take on a very tough Carmel Rams team. They are undefeated this season at a perfect 10-0. According to the scouting report by the poughkeepsiejournal.com sports team, "the Rams have outscored opponents 374-49 and have won each of their 10 games by 24 points or more. But this team, which has few weaknesses, is about to face its stiffest test. Quarterback Kevin Dall leads an offense that runs behind a powerful line, a quintet led by Owen Boland. Josh Massi has rushed for 100 yards in each of his past four games, but Dylan Shields and Nick Rosaforte are capable change-of-pace backs. Dall's top target, Andrew Fiore, is a threat in all three phases. He's part of a Ram defense led by Dominick Telesco that shut Arlington out for three-plus quarters before bringing in some reserves."
Two awesome matchups. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Head Coach Matt Shell will join The Drive with Charlie & Dan on Friday at 5:15p. Michael Johnson catches up with the coach prior to that evenings match-up. Part II will scout the Class B, C & D Section II opponents. A big thanks to the poughkeepsiejournal.com sports team of Josh Thomson, Melissa Kramer and Stephen Haynes of Rockland/Westchester Journal News for their awesome scouting reports.