Gridiron Glance: Titans host Panthers

CRARYVILLE — Taconic Hills football coach Mark Anderson is well aware of the challenge his Titans face when they host unbeaten and state-ranked Chatham tonight at 7 p.m. in a Class C South Division game.

The Titans haven’t had much success against the Panthers over the past 10 years. In fact, they haven’t won a single game against their county rival in that time span.

“To be honest, for the last bunch of years it’s been a hammer and a nail,” Anderson said. “We’ve kind of got whitewashed by them. I’m excited this week, based on last week’s effort under a lot of adversity, and having some different kids in different positions. We came together as a team and the big thing going into a game like this is to go in with confidence and feel that we can play with anybody.”

Taconic Hills fell to 0-3 last Friday, suffering a heartbreaking 22-16 loss to Watervliet when Cannoneers quarterback Tyler Beauregard tossed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Dom Rogalo with no time left on the clock.

The Titans held the upperhand for the majority of the game, outgaining Vliet, 349-191, in total yardage.

Dusty Snyder rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, the first Titan this season to top the century mark in rushing. Donavan Mier contributed 89 yards and a score on six carries and Devon Charron had 88 yards on 10 carries.

Snyder also stood out on defense, making five solo tackles and intercepting a pass. Ed Smith and Mier each had three solos and three assists, Josh Hemmings four solos and two assists and Zach Colwell four solos and one assist.

Anderson feels the Titans will have to put forth the same kind of effort, especially on defense, to have any shot at handing Chatham its first loss.

“They’re well-disciplined,” Anderson said of the Panthers. “They run an offense that’s been very effective over the years and we just have to get our kids in the right places and that’s what we’ve been striving to do defensively all year. Make sure our kids are in the right places to make plays. If we can keep them so that they don’t score 40 points in the first half, we just keep grinding and we’ll just see what happens in the end.

“We have some pride to play for,” Anderson said. “We’re starting to make the turn. I just want us to block out the craziness that was the end of the last game and just move forward and put on a good showing for our community and the student body. I hope we have a great turnout on Friday. It would be great to get a W for the orange and white.”

Chatham improved to 3-0 after disposing of previously unbeaten Voorheesville, 42-20. The Blackbirds were the first team this season to score on the Chatham defense, with two of their touchdowns coming late in the contest.

Offensively, Tristan Schermerhorn led Chatham’s attack, rushing for 167 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. The Panthers finished with 334 yards on the ground.

Chatham coach Rich Sitzer is looking forward to tonight’s game and insists his team will not take the Titans lightly.

“Obviously, Taconic Hills has been a rival since when I played back in the ’80s and we’ve been back and forth over the years,” Sitzer said. “We’re certainly expecting a fight after that tough loss they took to Watervliet last week. I can imagine those guys are hungry to get back on the field and redeem themselves and they’ve been playing real good football. From what I’ve seen on film, they’re getting better every week. We’re preparing for a dog fight Friday night and as long as we stay healthy and we can execute, we’ll have a real good opportunity to win the game.”

The Panthers move up two spots to No. 16 this week in the New York State Sportswriters Association Class C rankings, and while Sitzer is proud his team is getting statewide recognition, he doesn’t put too much stock in it.

“It sounds good, but we’re not taking too much out of that,” he said. “There are a lot of good teams in Class C. We have four of the top 16 teams in Class C from Section II, so we have some good football teams right here in our section. While it obviously feels good to be ranked in the state, we understand we have a lot of work to do.”

After a successful two-game homestand, Hudson hits the road to take on Johnstown in the Sir Bills’ Homecoming game.

The Bluehawks improved to 2-1 with a 38-9 victory over Lansingburgh this past Friday night. The Knights avoided the shutout when they scored late in the game after recovering a fumble at the Hudson eight-yard line.

Spencer Goldstien had a huge game on the defensive side of the ball for Hudson, making 10 solo tackles, assisting on three and coming up with two sacks. Nick Bernockie had three sacks to go along with three solo tackles and three assists.

The Bluehawks received a spark offensively with the addition of Josh Wallace and Zyonn Clanton, who made immediate contributions. Wallace had 113 yards and three touchdowns rushing, while Clanton gained 71 yards on the ground.

After dropping its season opener to Hudson Falls (45-8), Johnstown has turned it around, defeating Green Tech (18-16) and Gloversville (35-28) the past two weeks.

Senior Trey Stover is coming off a big game against Gloversville, rushing for 246 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. He has collected 362 yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries through three games. His backfield mate, Chase Benton had his best game of the season against Gloversville, rushing for 157 yards and a score on 19 carries.

Sir Bills quarterback Bradley Brownell has completed 17 of 29 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown in three games. He is also a threat to run and has picked up 44 yards on the ground in each of the past two games.

The teams haven’t met since the 2016 season when they played twice. Hudson won both games, 19-18 and 42-0.

Ichabod Crane will be up against one of the more prolific offenses in Section II when it travels to Cobleskill-Richmondville tonight.

The Bulldogs have just a 1-2 record, but the two losses came against Class A Averill Park (33-21) and Class B power Glens Falls (36-28). They finally got their first win last week against Ravena (42-8).

Quarterback Donovan Pacatte is statistically the top quarterback in Section II, ranking first in completions (50) and attempts (74), second in yards passing (658) and third in touchdown passes (7).

Steven Maniscalco leads the Bulldogs receivers with 15 catches for 249 yards and four touchdowns. Patrick Nichols has 11 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns and Hunter Edwards eight catches for 79 yards and a TD.

Edwards has rushed for 383 yards and four touchdowns on 51 carries.

Ichabod Crane is still searching for its first victory after falling to state-ranked Schalmont (63-14) last week.

Junior Austin Walsh stepped in at quarterback and performed well for the Riders, completing 9 of 17 throws for 96 yards and two scores. Haydon Broockman was his favorite target with five catches for 68 yards and two scores. Broockman now has 10 catches for 184 yards through three games.

The Bulldogs have won its last two games against Crane, including a 40-14 decision in 2017. The Riders last win against Cobleskill came in 2014, 22-20.

SATURDAY

Something has to give when Coxsackie-Athens travels to play Hoosic Valley on Saturday at 1 p.m. as both teams are still searching for their first win of the season.

Helderberg Valley spoiled C-A’s home opener last week with a 32-15 victory over the Indians.

Tim Simmons had a solid all-around game for the Indians, snagging four receptions for 18 yards, returning a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and picking off a pass on defense.

C-A’s lone scoring drive was capped off by a four-yard touchdown pass from Joe Notabartolo to Brandon Wolbert.

Hoosic Valley, a Class D school, has scored just 41 points in three games, while allowing 115. The Indians have lost to Cambridge (41-7), Warrensburg (34-14) and White Hall (40-20).

Senior William Scofield is Hoosic Valley’s top offensive threat with 248 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries, including a nine-carry, 107-yard effort against Warrensburg.

Quarterback Ethan Caizza has completed 7 of 21 passes for 117 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He’s also carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards and a score.

Catskill/Cairo-Durham will attempt to snap a two-game losing streak when it visits Voorheesville on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Mustangs lost to Section IV’s Walton, 58-8, last week to fall to 1-2.

Jacob Hall accounted for CCD’s lone score, tossing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jared Gooch in the first quarter and then running in the two-point conversion.

Walton went on to rush for 347 yards, with two players, Alex Brooker (123) and Dylan Jacob (115), topping the 100-yard mark. Jacob also completed 5 of 5 passes for 136 yards and three TDs.

Voorheesville has one of the top rushing quarterbacks in Section II in Ian Owens. The senior signal caller has gained 418 yards on the ground, which ranks fifth in the section. Teammate Jake Palmer has rushed for 203 yards.

Voorheesville won last year’s matchup, 55-13.