Ausable Valley's John Fletcher (21) with the stiff arm on Masena's Gage Charleson (24) as he cuts around the edge on the first down run. It would be week #3 of the New York State Football season and we would see an out-of-section game as the Ausable Valley Patriots would travel to Massena and take on the Red Raiders as they were looking for their first win of the season as the Red Raiders look to stay perfect on the year. The game would start off well for the Red Raiders as they would get the opening score of the game with 3:30 left in the first quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Murtaugh and take the 8-0 laead. The game would stay there till halfway through the 2nd quarter when the Raiders would strike again on a 40-yard pass to Garrett Weir and extend the lead to 16-0. Then just two minutes later the Red Raiders would start to take control of the game and a 29-yard run score by Carter King making the game 22-0 Raiders. The Raiders would finish off the scoring in the first half on Dominic Murtagh's second score of the game this time from 38 yards to make it 30-0 at the half. When the teams would return for the second half it would look like more of the same as the Red Raiders scored 2:32 into the half on a Carter King goal-line score to make it 36-0. However, the Patriots would have an answer this time as Dylan Bombard would get the Patriots on the board with an 18-yard run with just under five minutes left in the third quarter at 36-7. The Patriots would keep up the scoring as they would get another one 5:38 into the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run by John Fletcher making it a 36-14 game. However, the Red Raiders would put any hopes of a comeback away when Donovan Turner scored on a 42-yard run with five minutes left in the game to make it 43-14. Although the Patriots would keep up the fight and Ian Bombard would score on the goal line with 3:30 left in the game to make it a 43-21 game. That would be where the game would end as the Massena Red Raiders get the win 43-21 and go to 3-0 on the season as they head into the game next week against Malone Huskies. As for the Ausable Valley Patriots will look to get that first win of the season next week as they host the Saranac Lake Red Storm. Gallery

The Saranac Chiefs are crowned the 2023 Section VII Girl's Basketball champions for the second year in a row with a 50-3 win over the Ausable Valley Patriots. It would be the first game of championship weekend for section vii basketball from Clinton Community College. It would feature the #3 Ausable Valley Patriots and the #1 Saranac Chiefs for the Class B Girls finals. The game would get off to a slow start for both teams as it would be just an 8-4 Chiefs lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the defenses would still be the name of the game as the Chiefs would win the quarter 9-2 and take the 17-6 lead at halftime. When the teams returned for the third quarter the offense would come out of the locker room with them although the Chiefs would still be on top with a 15-15 quarter and take a 32-21 lead into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, it would be more of the same as the Chief's offense would be the name of the game with an 18-9 quarter. As the Saranac Chiefs would be crowned the 2023 Section VII Class B Girls Basketball champions with a 50-30 win and with the win they will advance to the New York State Public Athletic Association Tournament and will take on the Section X representative next weekend. Gallery

Ausable Valley's (10) splits a pair of Hornets defenders and lays it off the window for the score. It would be the semifinals of the Section VII Class B Girl's Basketball Tournament and it would feature the #3 Ausable Valley Patriots traveling to take on the #2 Plattsburgh Hornets for the right to head to next weekend's Section VII title game. The game would start off well for the upset-minded Patriots as they would have the 22-13 lead as they end the first half of the game. When the teams returned for the third quarter the Patriots would keep their hot hand going with a 13-7 quarter and take a 35-20 lead into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Patriots would finish off the upset victory with an 11-8 quarter and get the 46-28 victory. With the win, the Ausable Valley Patriots advance to the Section VII Class B Finals and will take on the winner of the Saranac Chiefs and the Beekmantown Eagles at the Clinton Community College on March 3rd. Gallery

Saranac Lake's Connor Hewitt (23) with the stiff arm on Ausable Valley's Shawn Holzer (2) and gets the extra yards as part of a 4 score game. It would be the semifinals of the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Class C Semi-finals as the #2 Saranac Lake Red Storm would host the #3 Ausable Valley Patriots with the winner getting the #1 Saranac Chiefs in the section VII Class C Finals on November 4th. The Red Storm would waste no time in getting the first score of the game just 1:54 into the game on a 12 yard run by Connor Hewitt for the 7-0 lead. The with just 29 seconds left in the quarter the Red Storm would strike again this time with a nine yard run by Landon LaDue and take the 14-0 lead. The Patriots would have an answer in the second quarter in a 8 yard pass to Korvin Dixon 3:39 into the quarter to make it a 14-7 game. Although with just 18 seconds left in the first half the Red Storm would strike again with a six yard pass to Connor Hewitt for his second touchdown of the game and take the 14 point lead at 21-7. When the teams came back for the third quarter the Red Storm would take little time and extending there lead to 28-7 just 1:06 in on a 27 yard run by Connor Hewitt for third score on the day. Then 3:47 into the fourth quarter the Red Storm would put the icing on the cake with a five yard run by Connor Hewitt for his 4th touchdown on the day. In the winning effort the Red Storm go to 4-4 on the season and will play the Saranac Chiefs for the section VII Class C title while the Ausable Valley Patriots season comes to end at 3-6. Gallery

Ausable Valley's Dylan Bombard (34) fights through the tackle effort of Plattsburgh's Trenton Griffiths (13) and gets the first down. It would be the last week of the regular season in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference and it would be a match up of one win teams as the Ausable Valley Patriots would host the Plattsburgh Hornets on hall of fame night for the Patriots. It would be a defensive game as both teams were fighting for field possession advantage and there would be no scoring in the first quarter. The Hornets would break the scoreless game four minutes into the second quarter on a 33 yard run by Trenton Griffiths for the 6-0 Hornets lead and that's where the game would end the first half at. Although the Patriots would come out in the third quarter hunger and they would get on the board just over half way through the third quarter on a 16 yard run by Dylan Bombard and take the 7-6 lead. That is where the same would stay till the closing stages of the 4th quarter when the Patriots and Dylan Bombard would strike again on a 1 yard run to extend the lead to 14-6 and from there the defense would hold strong and secure the Patriots win and go to 3-5 on the season while the Hornets fall to 1-7. With the win the Patriots will head into there CVAC Class C Semifinals game next week looking to upset the Saranac Lake Red Storm with the right to go to the Class C Finals on the line. While the Plattsburgh Hornets will head to Beekmantown and take on the Eagles in the CVAC Class B Semifinals with the right to take on the Peru Nighthawks in the finals on the line. Gallery

Ausable Valley's Kaydence Hoehn with the shot on net to beat the goalie for one of her four goals on the night. It would be home opener for last years defending New York State class C Champions as they would host neighbor the Peru Nighthawks in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference action. The game would start off good for the Patriots as they would get six goals in the first half from Kate Knapp, Sara Richards, Kaydence Hoehn (twice), Addie Stanley, and Jillian Beizo. In the second half it would be more of the same as they would add another four goals from Lilley Keyser, Kaydence Hoehn (third and fourth of the night) and Addie Stanley (second of the night) to finish of the Nighthawks. In the winning effort the Patriots go to 1-1 on the season while Nighthawks go to 0-3 on the early season. Gallery