WEEK 4 PREVIEWS AND PREDICTIONS
CBA continues to shut out opponents and Shen looks to bounce back heading into week four
TROY, NY » Another week is upon us and the sports department went 5-3 last week with the Lansingburgh and Glens Falls game not being played. La Salle and Burnt Hills came down to the wire as we had predicted but it was the Spartans, not the Cadets, coming out on top. Both Ballston Spa and Columbia dropped their respective matchups for week three.
In week four it is Class A with the big Friday night bouts. Burnt Hills travelling to Queensbury and Averill Park travelling to South Glens Falls bode for interesting matchups.
CLASS AA
Shen’s comeback last week against Shaker may have fallen flat but this week’s matchup against Bethlehem will give them a good bounce back battle.
Shen, now 2-1, fell to Shaker 28-14 last
week but the Plainsmen outscored Shaker 14-7 in the second half in hopes of mounting a comeback. Luke McAuliffe caught a pass from Mason Courtney and Patrick House punched a one yard run in for the Shen scores in the loss.
Bethlehem lost to Guilderland 49-0 last week. Bethlehem has been outscored by opponents 160-20 and the Eagles are averaging five points a game.
Shen is outsourcing opponents 81-29 and is averaging 27 points per game. It’s safe to say the Plainsmen are the favorite in the week four matchup and following this week’s game they should be considered that every week until their final game of the regular season against CBA on October 29. Prediction: Shen wins, 45-8 Shaker remains undefeated and the big question will be if that stands…after next week when the Bison and CBA Brothers face off. This week, Shaker should once again be considered the favorite against Colonie.
Shaker (3-0) beat Shen 28-14 last week thanks to Jake Iacobaccio running and passing a touchdown and Porter Ninstant and Donovan Deguire each had rushing touchdowns. Shaker totaled 291 yards in the win and 179 of those yards were rushing.
Colonie is 1-3 this season. Their win was against Saratoga on September 17 and that was followed up by a 48-0 loss to CBA last week. Colonie is currently being outscored by opponents 133-41 and is averaging 10.25 points per game.
Shaker should stay perfect through another week to lead to next week’s battle of the perfect teams.
Prediction: Shaker wins, 42-6 Saratoga finally got the chance to crack the win column after a tough 0-2 start to the season thanks to last week’s 35-18 win
over Schenectady. Now 1-2, Saratoga’s road doesn’t get any easier against Section II’s Fall II champion.
In last week’s efforts, Nate Siewert threw two touchdowns and Jared Arpei, Rodell Evans III, and Gordon Murray all had rushing touchdowns for the Blue Streaks.
Last week Guilderland rolled past Bethlehem 49-0 and had a 35-0 lead at halftime. Ty Santabarbara rushed for a 66 yard touchdown and another from eight yards while also passing a touchdown to Dillon Blanchard. Marcus McClaine, Justin Kapusinsky, and Devon McClaine each had rushing touchdowns in the win.
Saratoga will need to play up against the Dutchmen. Thanks to last week’s win the Blue Streaks are outscoring opponents 5445. The defense allowed 18 points last week, its season high. The Guilderland offense will be putting a lot of pressure on that unit early Friday night.
Prediction: Guilderland wins, 35-14
CBA is a wagon right now. CBA hasn’t just beaten teams so far this season — they have demolished. In the closest game the Brothers have played this year they won by 20 points.
CBA shut out Colonie 48-0 last week to make it their third shutout in the last four weeks of football. The Brothers allowed six points to Bethlehem while allowing zero to La Salle, Averill Park, and Colonie. The Brothers are averaging 42 points per game while outscoring opposing defenses 168-6 this season.
Schenectady is coming off of a 35-18 loss to Saratoga last week and a 62-26 loss to Shaker the week before that. Last week’s win for Saratoga was their first of the season.
CBA has been dominant, but the difficulties lie ahead. CBA will rattle games off against Saratoga, Guilderland, and Shen to round out the 2021 regular season. La Salle is one of the top Class A teams in Section II, along with Averill Park, but CBA will certainly be more battle tested than they have yet this year in the final four weeks of the season.
Prediction: CBA wins, 42-6
CLASS A
Burnt Hills at Queensbury, Queensbury High School, Saturday, October 2, 1:30 p.m.
Burnt Hills and La Salle had the most exciting game of week three last week when the two played to a 24-21 final. Burnt Hills took the late lead thanks to a Michael Sbuttoni 37 yard field goal. With the win, Burnt Hills makes their case for one of the top teams in Class A and they can only make it stronger against Queensbury this week.
Burnt Hills’ only loss to Shaker in week one and a massive 49-0 win over Troy rounds out the first three games of the Spartans’ 2021 season. Burnt Hills is outscoring opponents 8049 while the defense averages 16.33 points allowed a game. Last week, Burnt Hills totaled 325 yards and Tyler Manning passed for 76 yards. Michael Frattarola rushed for 168 yards on 18 carries and Michael Puglisi added 50 yards. Rocco Mareno’s lone catch in the win was a 47 yard touchdown.
Queensbury is no pushover despite being 1-2. They are coming off of a 51-28 win over South Glens Falls after dropping games to Averill Park and Shen to open the season. Aidan Bleibtrey had 156 yards rushing on 13 carries and three touchdowns, including a 43 yard touchdown rush to open the game. Trevon Bailey rushed for 118 yards and eclipsed 100 yards for the second time in a row.
Bleibtrey made Queensbury history by being the first player to record a touchdown, two-point conversion, and extra point in a single game.
Burnt Hills beat Queensbury 49-0 in Fall II.
How the Burnt Hills defense handles the Queensbury line and the dual running backs will determine this one. Burnt Hills will need to stack the box and cause havoc on the line and make it hard for Bleibtrey and Bailey to break free. Once the ball is in Burnt Hills’ hands, Frattarola and Manning will know what to do.
Prediction: Burnt Hills wins, 28-24
Just as Burnt Hills’ status was elevated with last week’s win, I think, despite the loss, the Cadets should be considered one of the top teams in Class A.
With the loss La Salle becomes 1-2. Maybe not the record they would want, La Salle could very easily be 2-1 after last week and held CBA just to 20 points to open the season. Eddie Yamin threw for 121 yards and rushed for another 30 and had a passing touchdown last week and JJ Thompson scored twice while rushing for 76 yards. The Cadets totaled 341 yards in the loss.
Columbia will need to start performing if those Super Bowl aspirations from the preseason are to come to fruition. After a week one win over Saratoga, the Blue Devils have dropped back to back games to Niskayuna and Amsterdam, respectively. Last week the Blue Devils allowed 259 yards and the offense had a mere 93 yards. Jake Baker passed for a touchdown in the loss. Baker was sacked eight times and the offense allowed two safeties.
La Salle will not need to drive very far down Columbia Turnpike for Friday’s matchup. La Salle’s offense is getting more and more dynamic with Yamin getting more downs and the defense has proven to be deadly. Don’t count the Cadets out for the rest of the season because they could very well finish 6-2.