It’s difficult to believe that we are almost halfway through the regular Section II football season. Three games in and some teams are starting to post consistently strong numbers and are breaking away from the pack, while others are falling back into the group.

So let’s take another look at what exactly was the best and the worst about the third week of Capital District football. As always, feel free to sound off in the comments about what you think is right and wrong. I really want to hear. 

Players of the Week

Ryan Griffin (Shaker, RB): Griffin may have only rushed for just under 80 yards but he did rack up four touchdown runs, plowing past the Columbia defense to lead Shaker to a 47-12 Class AA victory on Friday night.

Pat Chamberlain (Troy, QB): The Flying Horses quarterback passed for his first game of 100 yards and rushed for a touchdown on Friday to help Troy grab a dominant 55-6 victory over Scotia. 
Brad Burns (Hoosick Falls, RB): The senior running back carried the ball 14 times and racked up 155 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers cruised to a 47-8 victory over Taconic Hills on Friday night.
Taylor Hotaling (Averill Park, QB): The Warriors' quarterback finished with 101 yards rushing including two touchdown scores and also ran in for a pair of two-point conversions to lead Averill Park to a 34-20 victory over Mohonasen. 


Biggest Surprises of the Week
Columbia Can't Find an Offense: The Blue Devils forced three first half turnovers off of Shaker on Friday night, but couldn't seem to do anything with it. Both Chris Smith and Kenny Mathieu rushed for minimal yards, while Austin Lobban completed just two passes in the Class AA matchup. 
Watervliet Can't Find the Endzone: The Cannoneers put together three pitch-perfect drives against Fonda on Saturday afternoon. The problem was they couldn't seem to finish them. Two dropped passes in the endzone, a penalty that called back a touchdown, and a reception out of bounds, plagued 'Vliet in the 6-0 loss. 

Biggest Surprise That Probably Shouldn't Have Been a Surprise
The Sabre: The rivalry between La Salle and CBA is a bit like a sibling rivalry. The two schools are so much alike that they simply can't stand each other, constantly trying to show the world that they are in fact their own person. So when the two squads lined up for the annual grudge match for the Sabre, we all knew it would be emotional and gritty. Maybe what we didn't expect was for CBA to pull out the 50-14 victory. 

Most Likely To Be on This Blog Every Week:
Anthony Walker: The Lansingburgh junior is his team's entire offense so far this season. Last week against Cohoes he had a season-low 164 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. That was a season low. Granted it's only the third week and we don't want too much hype on one kid, but if that was his worst, he's going to be on this blog every week. 

Best Time to Allow a Touchdown:
Cambridge: The Indians had shut out their first two opponents and they hadn't allowed a touchdown until the fourth quarter against Lake George on Saturday afternoon. It isn't really an issue. Matt Parmenter had 19 rushes for 167 yards and four touchdowns and he also recorded a sack. 

Best - and Biggest -  Shutouts of the Week
Burnt Hills & Shen & Chatham -  Between the three of them, the squads averaged 57 points in their respective games. They also didn't allow points, hence the shutouts.

Worst Reason to Travel North, Part Two
Catholic Central: The Crusaders found themselves in their second shutout loss off the season on Saturday, as Fort Edward held them to just 26 passing yards and 77 yards. Catholic High has scored 14 points all season. 

Game I'm Looking Forward to Most in Week Four - And You Should Too
Hoosick Falls at Stillwater: At first this seems a ridiculous choice. On paper though, it makes almost perfect sense. The Warriors are coming off a a great victory over Corinth that, finally, saw Liam Kane explode in the running game. Meanwhile, Hoosick Falls has been Hoosick Falls; they score touchdowns, they play defense and they win. If Stillwater can pull off a win here, they can make a serious late-season comeback. A Hoosick Falls win almost guarantees another run at a Class C Superbowl.