As the leaves fell and the temperatures dropped, action heated up on the gridiron and cross-country trails for local athletes.

One football team had its best season ever, local runners continued to show they are among the best, and their was a surprising result on the volleyball court.

Here is a re-cap of fall sports in 2007 with winter and spring sports to be covered in next week’s issue.

Football

The story on the gridiron this fall was the ascension of the Guilderland football program. The Dutchmen had just one winning season in the past decade — 2006 — and been in the playoffs only twice.

Coming off a 6-3 campaign in 2006, the 2007 proved to be even better for the Dutchmen.

Guilderland lost to Ballston Spa but won big games against Section II powers Saratoga and Shenendehowa to forge a tie for first place. The Dutch were co-champions of the Empire Division of Class AA with Shen and Ballston Spa, as each finished with 6-1 records.

Guilderland blasted Schenectady in the first round of the playoffs and then avenged their lone of the season by beating Ballston Spa in the sectional semifinals. The win gave the Dutch their first ever berth in the Class AA Super Bowl.

The Dutch faced LaSalle Institue of Troy and held a 17-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

LaSalle, however, came back by scoring 28 unanswered points to pull out the win and send the Dutchmen home in tears.

Guilderland, which finished with an 8-2 record, were led a talented group of seniors.

Andrew Smith and Paul Booker provided the biggest sparks on the field and will take their talents on the gridiron to the University at Albany. Linebacker Pete Stanish and Paul Malamood were the leaders of a stingy defense. Stanish will play at Union College next year along with teammate Nick Ranalli. Joe Cardillo was also a key player on defense and will play at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute next fall.

The Voorheesville football team was bitten by the injury bug last fall.

With key players Adam Duncan, Pat Jones, and Chris Massaroni out the Blackbirds dropped the final game of the regular season to Coxsackie-Athens and the Birds fell to the eighth playoff spot.

The Blackbirds had to travel to take on top seed Cambridge and lost a tough game to the perennial Class C power.

Voorheesville was led this year by a slew of players that will play in college next fall. Quarterback Jay Conde will play at St. Lawrence, Massaroni, Dan Flynn and Sean Fitzmaurice will play at Hartwick, and Duncan and Jordan Murphy will play at Alfred.

Cross-country

Section II is a power in cross-country and local athletes can stake their claim as being among the best in the area.

It was a successful season for Voorheesville and Berne-Knox-Westerlo teams.

The Voorheesville boy’s team on the Class C sectional title. BKW was the runner-up.

Senior Mackey Lloyd led the Birds by winning the Class C race. Ian Powell, Conor Cashin, and Nathan Bub were also very strong runners for the Blackbirds last fall.

The BKW boys finished second at the sectional meet after winning the Western Athletic Conference meet earlier in the season. The Bulldogs were able to accomplish those feats without top runner Jared Finke who missed most of the season with mononucleosis.

David Haverly qualified for the state meet as an individual.

Ada Lauterbach represented the girls’ team at the state meet and won the WAC meet. The Lady Bulldogs also won the WAC meet.

The Voorheesville girls’ team finished second at the Class C meet and senior Hilary Edmunds qualified for the state meet.

Eighth-grader Michelyn Little also qualified for the state meet.

The Guilderland boys’ cross-country team finished fourth at the Class AA meet held in Saratoga. Senior Roland Graves qualified for the state meet for the second year in a row.

The Guilderland girls’ team took serious strides last fall.

The Lady Dutch finished third at the Class AA Section II behind powers Saratoga and Shen. Guilderland also earn a bid to the invite-only Federation meet.

The young Lady Dutch will return a slew of talented runners including ninth-grader Erin Mossop who finished 12^th at the sectional meet.

Volleyball

The Voorheesville girls’ volleyball team made an impressive run in the Colonial Council and in Class C last fall.

The Lady Blackbirds advanced all the way to the state semifinals at the Glens Falls Civic Center where they finished third in the state.

The Birds beat Lake George in five games to win the Class CC crown and then beat Hoosic Valley in the CC/C playoff.

Voorheesville then swept their regional opponent to earn their first-ever spot in the state tournament.

The Blackbirds were led this season by Taryn Smith, who will play at Franklin Pierce next year, Kristen Lysenko, and Alyssa Cave. Amanda O’Brien, Alissa Hatch, and Arielle Smith were big contributors for the Blackbirds last fall.

Soccer

The Guilderland boys’ soccer team won the Gold Division of the Suburban Council last fall and earned a high seed for the Class AA Section II tournament.

That was the good news for the Dutchmen. The bad news for Guilderland was that they lost in the quarterfinals to Niskayuna in a four-overtime affair.

The Dutch were seeded second heading into sectionals.

Guilderland was led by Frank and Tony Campagnano as well as seniors Zak Duguay, Justin Sedafin, and Karl Mohr.

The Voorheesville boys’ soccer team also had a successful season. They advanced to the semifinals of the Class CC tournament but lost to top-seeded Galway, 3-2. The Eagles were the eventual champions.

Voorheesville was led in the fall by seniors Kevin Klembczyk, Kevin Vanderwende, Noah Gorka, and Josh Glover. Junior Ryan Dimmit was a big contributor for the Blackbirds as was goalie Lee Fenner.