It's no secret the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football team is full of stars.

Over the past couple of years, it has also not been a shock when one of those stars shines bright and lifts the Spartans when they need it. It may not always be the same player - in fact, it's typically varied, but that's how the Spartans have gotten the job done.

And that just what they did Friday night at Dietz Memorial Stadium, ripping apart Section IX's Cornwall, 41-16, to advance to their second straight New York State Class A final at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

Shenendehowa's boys soccer program is deeply steeped in a tradition of success at the state level.

When at the Plainsmen's game field, one only has to take a look at a board adjacent to the field which documents Shenendehowa's soccer accomplishments in both boys and girls soccer.

Things didn't look promising for the Mechanicville girls soccer team entering overtime of the Red Raiders Class B state tournament semifinal game against Livonia on Friday.

The Raiders had broken a scoreless tie just 87 seconds into the second half but seemed to hit a wall soon afterward.

No problem. Sophomore star Abby Maiello took a fine feed from Alysa Russell and beat Livonia goalkeeper Hanna Conine just 3:11 into the first overtime and the rejuvenated Red Raiders held on the remaining 13 minutes for a 2-1 victory.

The Burnts Hills Spartans tried desperately to console one another on Friday afternoon.

It wasn't working.

The Spartans had just watched their hopes to play for the New York State Class A girls soccer championship ended with only about 1:25 remaining in the second 5-minute sudden death overtime.

There were few irregularities Thursday night under the lights at the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake varsity football practice as the Spartans continued to pride themselves on defense and continuity.

Head football coach Matt Shell was unavailable on Thursday night, caring for his son, Jacob, in Boston as he undergoes treatment for cancer, but things went along as planned and its defensive linebacker corps was again ready to read and react.

Actions speak louder than words.

"He's very quiet, he doesn't say a lot, but he plays extra hard," Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake coach Matt Shell said of junior running back Brandon Beatty. "He runs, I would say, a lot louder than he speaks."

Beatty's running made quite the statement Friday night, as he ran for 126 yards and four touchdowns to power the Spartans to a 54-13 win over Franklin Academy of Malone (Section X) in the Class A state quarterfinal at Shenendehowa.

Driving into the city of Mechanicville, welcome signs greet travelers as they arrive just like any other community.

"Welcome to Mechanicville" the largest, most noticeable sign reads. Not far behind that is a smaller, white one that states: "Home of the Mechanicville High School, 3 time Girls Softball Class C New York State Champions, 2000/2001/2002." (The sign is yet to be updated with the two most recent titles, including last year's Class B championship.)

Shenendehowa junior goalkeeper John Mabee enjoys facing penalty kicks.

In contrast, Plainsmen senior defender Matt Telesca doesn't care for the shootout-like format.

Shenendehowa senior swimmer Kelsey Barbour has always been a leader, not a follower and she vowed that she wouldn't be following her two sisters to the University of Buffalo. She followed her heart and not her siblings, but found herself signing a National Letter of Intent in the Shenendehowa High School East Library last week committing her to swim for the Division I Bulls.

Shenendehowa swimming senior Shayne Buckley decided that it was time to get out of the warm Plainsmen pool and not shiver, signing his National Letter of Intent to attend Clemson University next year.

"I don't think my parents were surprised, originally I wasn't looking at any New York schools," Buckley said. "I looked at Marist a little bit, but mostly all the schools I was looking at were in North Carolina or South Carolina.

"They didn't want me to go that far, but that's the only way I would be happy," Buckley said. "Those are where the schools I liked were. I really liked the ACC, that's where I was always originally looking."

Championship-caliber players step up in championship contests and that's exactly what Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake senior captain Monica Wolf did, scoring a hat trick in the Spartans 4-1 Section II Class A regional win over Massena Saturday.

"This is the first time I have ever scored three goals in a game," the senior center midfielder said after the win in a downpour on the Stillwater turf. "I was happy with one goal. I haven't had a goal for a while."

This year's Section II, Class AA high school girls soccer final was a classic match-up between the speed of Shenendehowa and the power of top-seeded Bethlehem.

This time, power won out. It wasn't easy, though, and it took a long time for the matter to be settled - over 101 minutes. Anna Gray's goal 1 minute and 22 seconds into the first sudden-victory overtime period was the clincher, giving Bethlehem a 2-1 victory and a berth in the regional tournament.

Last week was a short, seven-day window for college athletes to make their "early decision" to commit to collegiate athletic programs for the next four years. Not only did David Clemens commit to attend Virginia Tech and play soccer for the Hokies, he's almost ready to pack his bags.

Clemens will graduate from Shenendehowa this December and will move to Blacksburg to begin training.

Playing six postseason games in 15 days would take the edge off a lot of high school athletic teams - or at least slow them down a bit.

Not so for the Waterford-Halfmoon boys soccer team. The Fordians cruised into the New York State Class C semifinals with a 4-2 win over Section X's Northern Adirondack in Saturday's regional final. The game was played on a wet field, with light rain falling virtually throughout.

When former Watervliet high school basketball star and Hudson Valley Community College coach Andre Cook took the job at Division II St. Edward's University he knew where to reach immediately too for talent.

His connection to Section II athletics and the Shenendehowa boys basketball program allowed him to attract Plainsmen guard Matt Miner who signed his National Letter of Intent last week in the Shenendehowa High School East library.

In what seems to have become an annual event, the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School girls volleyball team rolled to its eighth consecutive Section II Class A championship with a clean 3-0 sweep of Queensbury at the Lake George High School gym on Wednesday evening.

It was a typical dominant performance for Burnt Hills (23-3), which was never really threatened in any game as it won by scores of 25-13, 25-8 and 25-15.