Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016: Surprises shake up the top of Class C in football

   Leading off today: This is the time of the season when ranked football teams are supposed to lose, if for no other reason than they're running into other ranked teams.

   But what happened Saturday to the elite of Class C according to the New York State Sportswriters Association ratings was still pretty dramatic. Although No. 1 General Brown stayed perfect by eliminating A-P-W in Section 3, No. 2 Canastota, No. 3 Hoosic Valley, No. 5 Gouverneur and No. 10 Voorheesville all fell to lower-ranked opponents.

   Key among all the Class C games was No. 6 East Rochester/Gananda edging No. 8 Bath 14-8 as Cameron Cleveland ran 39 times and for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The win sets up a much anticipated showcase of running backs with Dahmir Pross of No. 9 Bishop Kearney. Pross rushed 15 times for 232 yards and two touchdowns as the Kings eliminated Attica 54-31 in the other Section 5 semifinal. Kearney QB Matt LaRocca was 8-for-19 for 174 yards and four TDs.

   Section 2 upsets: A pair of two-loss teams will face off for the Section 2 Class Championship.

   Greenwich, ranked 11th, pulled off a 36-22 upset of No. 4 Hoosic Valley as Reece Cristaldi ran for three first-half touchdowns. Quarterback Cole Burgess ran for two more scores, including the clinch late in the fourth quarter after Hoosic Valley had closed to within 28-22.

   Sixteenth-ranked Mechanicville eliminated No. 10 Voorheesville 21-13 to avenge a regular-season loss. A late Keegan McHale touchdown run sealed the road triumph.

   More Class C: Patrick Gardener ran 33 times for 102 yards and two first-half TDs as No. 13 Lowville proved to be too much for No. 3 Canastota in Section 3, setting up a championship game with top-ranked General Brown. Dominic Lutz scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to close out General Brown's 27-7 win over No. 17 Altmar-Parish-Williamstown.

    • The day's other major surprise had No. 14 Ogdensburg dominating No. 5 Gouverneur 36-6 for the Section 10 championship, avenging its one regular-season loss. QB Joe Dalton finished with 86 yards and two rushing TDs on 12 carries, and completed 7 of 11 passes for 71 yards and another score.

    • Rounding out the list of head-to-head matchups, No. 7 Cleveland Hill beat No. 18 Gowanda/Pine Valley 26-6 as Matt Eldridge carried 12 times for 148 yards and two TDs, adding 10 tackles on defense as well.

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   Is this the stat of the year? Senior lineman Dustin Schmieder was credited with 8.5 sacks for No. 11 Alexander's Dustin Schmieder had 8.5 sacks. in a 34-13 win vs. No. 19 Bolivar-Richburg.

   The previous Section 5 record for sacks in a playoff game was five by Dan Liseno for Clyde-Savannah in 2002.

   "I've never seen anything like it," Coach Tim Sawyer told TheBatavian.com.

   Schmieder also had five tackles and Erik Scharlau had 2.5 sacks and seven tackles. The defense also registered a pair of interceptions as the Trojans extended their winning streak to 11 games.

   Schmieder also had a 68-yard reception on the first play of the game.

   Alexander's opponent in the sectional final will be No. 2 Clyde-Savannah, which beat No. 4 Red Jacket 40-14.

   More Class D: Jared Smith went 4-for-5 for 94 yards and two TD passes to Mike Rose as No. 13 Unatego/Franklin defeated No. 6 Groton 28-16 to reach the Section 4 final vs. Sidney. The defense limited Groton to 146 yards of offense.

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