Playoff picture finally taking shape in Section II
Schalmont set to host Hudson Tuesday with Class B seeds on the line
Although the playoffs begin for only three of the five classifications beginning Friday, the vast majority of the fields in all five brackets already have been determined.
The Section II football committee released the seeding for the Class A, B, and C brackets for playoffs that begin in Week 8.
For fans of Class C football, the return to a three-division format in 2018 meant Section II would be returning to its playoff points formula to determine seeds No. 4-8.
Division champions Cambridge-salem (North), Holy Trinity (Central) and Chatham (South) garnered the first, second and third seeds, respectively.
The rest of the Class C field is comprised of No. 4 Hoosick Falls (6-1), No. 5 Lake-george/ Hadley-luzerne (5-2), No. 6 Stillwater (6-1), No. 7 Voorheesville (5-2) and No. 8 Helderberg Valley (4-3).
Section II football chairman Bob Dorrance said ties in points occurred twice in the seeding process between Hoosick Falls
and Lake George/hadley-luzerne and Voorheesville and Helderberg Valley. Hoosick Falls beat Lake George/hadley-luzerne 38-14 in Week 5 to secure the home playoff game. Voorheesville defeated Helderberg Valley 28-21 in Week 1 to land the No. 7 seed.
Stillwater, ranked No. 8 in the state, dropped its first game Friday with a 35-21 home loss against Holy Trinity for the Central Division crown. It was a rematch of the 2017 Class C Super Bowl.
The Warriors’ loss to No. 4-ranked Holy Trinity denied them a division title and also took away a home playoff game as Stillwater now travels to take on No. 11 ranked Chatham in the quarterfinals.
The Class A field has three of its four quarterfinals being played Friday. Capital Division champion Troy (6-1) hosts Grasso Division No. 4 seed Scotia (3-4), Grasso Division No. 2 seed Burnt Hills (6-1) entertains No. 3 Capital seed Columbia (4-3) and No. 2 Capital Division seed Averill Park (6-1) battles visiting No. 3 Grasso seed Ballston Spa (4-3).
The lone intrigue regarding the Class B bracket will be determined Tuesday when Hudson (4-2, 3-1) plays at Schalmont (4-2, 3-1) in Reinfurt Division. The winner of the makeup game will land the division’s No. 2 seed and host a home game Saturday. The loser will be seeded No. 3 and play at No. 2 Schuylerville.
Three of the four teams have been determined for the Class AA bracket that begin in Week 9. Top-seeded Shaker (7-0), Saratoga (6-1) and Shenendehowa (6-1) have qualified. Saratoga plays at Shenendehowa on Friday and that result will determine the No. 2 and 3 seeds.
The four-team Class D field that also begins in Week 9 with two semifinals at Schuylerville are set with No. 4 seed Fort Edward (2-4) playing No. 1 seed Warrensburg (6-1) and No. 3 seed Hoosic Valley (4-3) taking on No. 2 seed Whitehall (4-3). Those four teams meet Class C non-playoff opposition this week in crossover games.