November 12, 2022

Chatham, ranked #10 in the state, and Cambridge-Salem, ranked #9 in the state, met up in Schuylerville for the Section II Championship game. Cambridge got on the board first, rushing down the field for a touchdown behind their bruising RB Evan Day. Chatham would answer right back with 21 points in a ten minute span with behind a Tate VanAlstyne interception and three rushing touchdowns from QB Tyler Kneller. But Cambridge wouldn’t go away and scored 22 unanswered points to close out the first half 30-21, somewhat aided by a brutal phantom pass interference call on Chatham. The second half was a defensive battle and the game ended at 36-21 Cambridge.

Chatham ends the season 9-2, with both losses coming against Cambridge. It was a great season that just came up a tiny bit short at the end. The Panthers should be proud of their effort this year. It was great to follow all the way along.

A note on the photos. The last chunk are from after the game and they are pretty emotional. And you’re going to see a lot of them centered on Tyler. For one thing, he’s a great kid and his team rallied around him at the end. But I also thought he deserved the extra attention. Last year he made a point of getting me to the last game of the season, specifically so the seniors could have great photos of what turned out to be their last game. It seemed only fair to make sure the same applied to him in his final high school football game.