Shenendehowa won its first sectional title since 2014, beating Guilderland 35-7 on Friday night.

This might be the best team Head Coach Brian Clawson has had in his time at the helm.

JOSH SZWARCBERG IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Shenendehowa scored the first touchdown of the game, and it was a beauty. Brody Vincenzi hit Josh Szwarcberg in the corner of the end zone to make it 7-0. It was a great throw and a great catch by Szwarcberg with a man draped all over him. Szwarcberg had a great interception last week that gained him some national praise.

He’s a fantastic receiver, but had been playing mostly defense in recent weeks. It was in an effort to keep players fresh, but when we saw him line up on offense this week, you knew he was capable of big things like that.  

The second touchdown was a short run by Billy Beach, but Beach did so much work on this drive to get Shen in position to score. Beach was a beast during that series and really throughout the game. He finished with 181 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

HALFTIME

At the half, the score was at 14-0, but The Plainsmen opened it up in the fourth quarter.

Potentially, the play of the night was a 27-yard touchdown run by Jaysiah Woodrow. He broke out of a tackle from basically every Guilderland defender twice during the run. It was phenomenal and really sealed the win for the Plainsmen.

Here’s what we can say for sure about Shen: This is a complete team. Yes, they have some players whose names you know, but everything is a team effort. You probably don’t know the players on the offensive and defensive lines, but those guys were outstanding Friday night.

"I think our offensive and defensive lines really established the line of scrimmage all night long and that really propelled us to victory, but you have to give 100 percent credit to our defense," Clawson said. "To hold them to one score was a great effort by them.”  

The players were thrilled. 

“This is surreal. This is everything we’ve worked for," Beach said. "We’re not done yet, but this is everything we’ve ever wanted."

WHAT TO LOOK FOR NEXT

Next up for Shenendehowa is the Section IX champion in the regional semifinal round.

One note: I just want to say how great it was after the game to see the Shenendehowa players and Guilderland players hugging one another and shaking hands before celebrating or going to the sidelines. Those little moments of sportsmanship might get missed by some people, but it was great to see.