Five Section II Teams Earn Trip To Football State Semifinals

Five Section II football teams will be making a trip to  this weekend to play in the semifinals of the New York State Tournament.

Shenendehowa had its toughest game of the season nipping North Rockland (Section I), 13-10, in double overtime on the Class AA agenda.  Tony Fusco scored on a 30 yard run in the second quarter for a 7-0 Shenendehowa advantage.

But, North Rockland (9-2) responded as quarterback Devin Bovino reached the end zone from one yard away and the game was tied, 7-7.

Then Paul Prendergast connected on a 35 yard field goal in the second OT to give North Rockland a 10-7 advantage.

But, the Plainsmen had work to do and Fusco took a pass from quarterback Teddy Van Galen and went nine yards for the game-winner.

Shenendehowa, 11-0, will now play Newburgh Free Academy (Section IX) in the state semifinals on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Class A

Burnt Hills 63, Franklin Academy 20

After spotting Franklin Academy of Malone an early touchdown, an explosive Burnt Hills team made a lot of noise to earn its fourth straight appearance in the semifinals.

Tom Ruppel was the offensive star with four touchdowns, rushing for 242 yards on 10 carries while his running mate Daniel Porter had three scores and gained 171 yards on eight attempts.

"The guys upfront did a nice job coming off the ball. Our backs hit the hole hard, finished off runs and made big plays. It was nice to have. Most of the credit to the line upfront and the rest of the credit to the backs. We just got on a roll of what we were trying to do and the kids really responded and executed real well," said Burnt Hills head coach Matt Shell.

Burnt Hills, 10-1, will oppose Cornwall at Dietz Stadium on Friday at 8 p.m.

"The kids played real hard. From the standpoint of just sheer rushing yardage, this is probably the biggest output we've had this year. Our next opponent is pretty awesome. If we want to have any aspirations of moving on we better bring our A-plus effort next weekend that's for sure," said Shell.

Class B

Schalmont 25, Peru 20

Quarterback Niko Nicoletti ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as unbeaten Schalmont earned another trip to the state semifinals.

Schalmont jumped out to a 25-0 lead, and had to fight off a determined Peru squad for the victory.

Nicoletti scored the first two touchdowns and Alex Hildebrand then caught a 22 yard touchdown pass from Nicoletti as the Sabres led, 19-0.

Kyle Strube got into the scoring act with a four yard run and Schalmont increased its margin to 25-0.

Peru stormed back to cut the deficit to 25-20, but it wasn't enough.

Schalmont will take on Croton-Harmon (Section I) on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Hoosick Falls (Class C) and Cambridge (Class D) both advanced to the semifinals with victories on Friday.

Article by Mike Collar