Two traditional powers will clash for the Section II, Class B football title Saturday in Amsterdam.
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk advanced to its ninth Super Bowl in the last 12 years with last Friday’s 34-7 victory over Hudson, while Hudson Falls defeated previously unbeaten Cohoes 28-21 Saturday to earn its second trip to the finals in the last six years.
We’ve been blessed with a lot of good athletes, and our staff has stayed together for a long time, said R-C-S coach Gary VanDerzee.
Hudson Falls (8-1) might be considered the favorite heading into Saturday’s showdown at Lynch Middle School. The Tigers pounded R-C-S (7-2) 35-13 in their regular season opener thanks in large part to tailback Joe McMurry, who rushed for more than 200 yards.
`Unless anybody’s got a secret as to how to stop him, what we’ll have to do is keep the ball away from them and limit Mr. McMurry’s touches,` said VanDerzee.
The Indians have improved vastly on both sides of the ball since that opening week loss. That point was hammered home in last Friday’s semifinal victory over Hudson, as they rushed for 283 yards and three touchdowns while allowing the Blue Hawks (3-6) 150 total yards.
`We played better (Friday),` said VanDerzee. `I don’t know if it was our best game of the season, but we played better.`
Quarterback Keith Hoyt had a strong all-around game for R-C-S. Hoyt rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown, and he completed five of his seven passes for 66 yards including scoring strikes of 32 and seven yards.
Tailback C.J. Murray also came up big for the Indians. He gained 102 yards on 13 carries including a 65-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter and give R-C-S a 21-0 lead.
Saturday’s Class B Super Bowl kicks off at 3 p.m.“