With football and soccer sectionals now upon us, we will take a closer look at the matchups Columbia County teams will encounter in the first round of play.

FOOTBALL
Chatham The undefeated Panthers capped off a 7-0 regular season with a thorough victory over Catholic Central on Friday. With that win, the Panthers locked up the top seed in the Class C South Division and now face off with North Division number 4 Corinth on Friday. The Panthers come in averaging over 40 points a game while giving up less than 9. Their potent rushing attack has racked up nearly 400 yards a game this season. Corinth comes in 3-4 and has struggled to put points up on the board. Class C is absolutely loaded this year, but for at least the first round, the Panthers seem to have an easy go of things.

Hudson The Bluehawks head into sectionals with a 2-5 record, having lost their last two battles. Still Hudson has looked better and better as the season progressed behind quarterback Talib Barksdale and a solid all-around defense. The trouble for Hudson comes in their match up against top-seeded Schalmont. The Sabres have already beaten Hudson once this year by a score of 36-6. It will be a tough road, but Hudson is playing their best football right now.

BOYS SOCCER
Ichabod Crane The fifth-seeded Riders head into Class A sectionals having played against smaller-sized schools all season long in the Patroon Conference. Still the Riders finished the season strong and seem to gelling at the right time. Nick Boardman has shifted to defense and seems to be finding his groove, while speedy Josh Stall and Trent Andros are becoming more dangerous scoring threats. In the first round, the Riders will host Lansingburgh. Although they play in a solid league, it would seem as though the Riders at home will hold a slight advantage, especially considering how well they’ve been playing of late. If their forwards can find the back of the net, the Riders have a good chance to advance.

Chatham & New Lebanon Both teams were seeded high—second and first respectively in their classes. With the high seeds, both teams earned byes in the first round of sectional play.

GIRLS SOCCER
Ichabod Crane The Rider girls were also seeded fifth in Class A this year and will host Mohonasen, a team that plays in a very tough Suburban Council. Mohon didn’t win a game all year but sometimes that can be deceiving because of the type of competition they play against all year long. The bad news for the Riders? The two teams competed in their first game of the year, and the score finished tied at 1. Mohon hasn’t built on that early season tie, while the Riders have clearly gained momentum. I think the Ichabod Crane defense has tightened since the beginning of the year, and the offense is high powered. The Riders should get out of the first round.

Chatham The Panthers are seeded sixth in Class B after struggling to close out the regular season. Chatham dropped two of their final four regular season games to slip to the sixth seed. Still the Panthers have experience and some talented players. They’ll face off with Cohoes who finished in the middle of the pack in the Colonial. The Panthers have been struggling of late but should have enough fire power to advance.

New Lebanon The Tigers finished in the middle of the pack of the Central Hudson Valley League, which garnered them the second seed in Class D where they will face off with Salem. The Tigers haven’t been in top form so far this season but won four of their last six, and with Geneva Furlano up front, the Tigers should have enough offense to contend.