Saturday, September 7, 2013

I Will Not Make a Friday Night Lights Joke...Opening Night Football Highlights

Well, we've survived.

We've all made it through the opening night of high school football relatively unscathed. So, as we all get ready for a Saturday afternoon of more football, let's take a few minutes to check out the higlights from Friday night.

Picking Up Right Where They Left Off: Section II boasts two reigning NYS champions in Burnt Hills and Hoosick Falls. The two squads both lost a good chunk of playmakers from last year's teams, but you wouldn't have known it on Friday night. Led by senior quarterback Danny Maynard, in his first varsity start, the Spartans rolled to a 69-25 victory over Lansingburgh - scoring on all but one of their drives. Meanwhile, Hoosick Falls didn't allow any points until the fourth quarter en route to a 48-7 victory over Tamarac. Brandon Hodges, who saw some time in the backfield last season, stepped into the starting RB position with ease, rushing for 146 yards and scoring four touchdowns. Overall, a pretty good night for teams with expectations that are sky high.

The Inevitable Upset of the Night: If you can call it an upset (I tweeted it was a quasi-upset) Cohoes grabbed an opening night 17-6 victory over Ravena. The biggest thing to get out of that game though - besides the fact that Cohoes could be a major threat in 'B' this season - is the arm of Max Carey. The senior QB threw for 241 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaForest. Oh, and if you thought the Carey-LaForest combination was going to cool off from last season, think again. LaForest pulled in five receptions for a staggering 190 yards and two touchdowns on Friday night.

Speaking of Passing: Rensselaer quarterback Steven Harwood, one of Section II's top performers last season, had a standout game in Friday's 47-14 victory over Lake George. The Rams senior threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Oh, and he ran for 155 yards too. If Rensselaer is looking to go after a second straight Section II title, this is a pretty solid way to start.

Basketball Score: In a back-and-forth game, Averill Park and Amsterdam combined for over 1,100 yards of offensive effort. If there was one standout player, it was Amsterdam's Kolbie Glionna, who had 223 yards rushing and three touchdowns on the ground, in addition to five more catches for 128 yards and two more touchdowns.

The Inevitable Thriller: It wouldn't be football without a little excitement, and maybe a little controversy. After Colonie's Wayne Burnt scored the game-tying touchdown against Niskayuna with seven minutes left in regulation, the Raiders attempted to go for two - and the win. While it appeared that Will McCann was down, there was never any whistle and he was able to hand off to Burt, who scamped into the endzone for the PAT. The Raiders held on for a dramatic 22-21 victory.

That's where we stand after day one. It was fun. It was dramatic. It smelled like fall and it's now socially acceptable to drink apple cider. These are all good things. There are a handful of games this afternoon - and I'll be heading up to the Troy at Queensbury game, so expect some live tweets. I'll have a "What We Learned and What Was Awesome" column from week one in Sunday's paper, so expect that as well. Andddddd if you want to see all the scores from Friday night's game, check it out here.

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