New York State Class C regional final
Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m
at Stillwater Central Schools

Ogdensburg Free Academy Blue Devils (9-1) vs. Hoosick Falls Panthers (10-0)

Let's try to figure out a little bit about about Hoosick Falls' next opponent, the Ogdensburg Blue Devils. Everything in red text is a hyperlink that will take you to another page with more information.

Ogdensburg Free Academy Blue Devils 2009 game-by-game results

MASSENA, W, 33-7
WHITNEY POINT, L, 28-20
AUSABLE VALLEY, W, 52-6
Saranac Lake, W, 7-6
PLATTSBURGH, W, 41-6
Saranac Central, W, 47-27
GOUVERNEUR, W, 47-12
Canton, W, 48-27
GOUVERNEUR, W, 21-6 *
SARANAC LAKE, W, 25-14 #

Home games in CAPS

*= Section VII/Section X Class C semifinals
#= Section VII/Section X Class C Super Bowl

Click here to read a story from the Watertown Daily Times newspaper on the Blue Devils' Section VII/Section X Class C Super Bowl victory over Saranac Lake. It was the first intersectional Super Bowl victory for the Blue Devils since they won the Class B title over Peru in 1997.

Here is the Saranac Lake perspective on that from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Saranac Lake won the game a season ago and defeated Watervliet in overtime in the 2008 regional final. Watervliet defeated Hoosick Falls and Chatham on the road before squeaking past Schuylerville in the 2008 Section II Class C Super Bowl.

OFA junior QB Jared Morrow, who was named the Northern Conference Offensive Player of the Year, looks a lot like Hoosick Falls' Mike Brewster, at least by the numbers. He's passed for over 100 yards a handful of times and he's also rushed for 100 yards on occasion.

Hoosick Falls and Ogdensburg have no prior history to my knowledge. Hoosick Falls lost to AuSable Valley, 21-12, in the regional round in 2006. In 2003, the Panthers advanced to the state championship game against Caledonia-Mumford by beating Tupper Lake in the regionals and Dobbs Ferry in the state semifinals.

Schedules are drawn up a little bit differently in Sections VII and X, because the schools are fewer and farther apart than in the Capital Region. In fact, those sections do not contain even a single Class AA team, which is why Saratoga Springs got a bye this week.

Here is Ogdensburg's schedule broken down by class:
Class A - Massena, Canton
Class B - none
Class C - Whitney Point (Section IV), AuSable, Plattsburgh, Saranac Central, Saranac Lake (x2), Gouverneur (x2)
Class D - none

Hoosick Falls, on the other hand, played only one non-Class C school, Rensselaer. The Rams have won the past two Section II Class D Super Bowl and gave the Panthers a pretty good fight in a 21-7 contest way back when.

This game will be Hoosick Falls' third straight on the FieldTurf surface at Stillwater Central Schools, which is getting quite a workout between the football and the soccer playoff games in its first season.

Ogdensburg trivia: New York Giants career scoring leader Pete Gogolak, who also played for the Bills, was turned on to the sport at Ogdensburg. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Gogolak wanted to play soccer when his family moved to America and with no soccer team, it was football for him.

Hoosick Falls Panthers 2009 game-by-game results

Schuylerville, W 39-19
HOOSIC VALLEY, W, 37-0
Tamarac, W, 40-13
STILLWATER, W, 51-6
RENSSELAER, W, 21-7
CAMBRIDGE, W, 21-19
Corinth, W, 21-7
CANAJOHARIE, W, 36-0 *
Granville, W, 32-0 #
Chatham, W 17-14 $

Home games in CAPS

*= Section II Class C quarterfinals
#= Section II Class C semifinals at Stillwater
$= Section II Class C Super Bowl at Stillwater

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I can't really make any predictions yet...but when Saranac Lake finished the 2008 season ranked No. 5 in New York among Class C teams, it was the first time a team from Section VII or X was ranked in the final top five since 1998...when Saranac Lake was ranked No. 5. Just some food for thought.

Rensselaer fans, don't worry. We''ll have a preview post on Friday's game vs. Moriah here on the site sometime Tuesday.