By 
The Section 2 Class A football playoffs start Friday with semifinal play.
Out of the four programs remaining, two of them experienced losing seasons in 2025. The Super Bowl is set to take place Nov. 13 at Colonie High School.
Here is a breakdown of the 2026 Class A playoffs.
Semifinal matchups
- No. 4 Mohonasen (5-4) at No. 1 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m.
- No. 3 Queensbury (5-4) at No. 2 Troy (7-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
Things to know
Mohonasen enters the playoffs with its first five-win season since 2005. The program has dropped nine straight playoff games, starting with a 41-20 Class A semifinal loss to Averill Park in 2005. The last eight losses came in quarterfinal contests in eight-team sectional fields. Overall, Mohonasen is 3-13 in its sectional history, which began in 1996, including consecutive losses against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in 2011 (47-6), 2012 (68-6) and 2013 (67-8). … Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake finished 4-6 in 2025, bowing out in the quarterfinals. The Spartans (9-0) last won nine games in 2021 and seek their first 10-win season since 2017. … Troy is 3-0 against Queensbury in sectional semifinal contests. Overall, the Flying Horses own a 9-4 record against the Spartans in all meetings. … Queensbury is making its third straight semifinal appearance. Troy defeated the Spartans 39-16 in the 2025 semifinals.
Player to watch
There are a number of weapons that opponents must contend with when facing the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake offense. In particular, junior Talon Immel has provided many memorable moments for the Spartans this season at running back. Immel, a recent University at Albany men's lacrosse commit who missed two games earlier this season while competing for the 17-and-under USA national lacrosse team, delivered a season-best 165 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-6 win against Guilderland.
How did James Allen do?
I selected three correct teams in my preseason choices: Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Queensbury and Troy. The team I missed on, well, represents the worst win/loss gaffe I have experienced in 30 years of making preseason football predictions. Not only did Mohonasen qualify for the postseason for the second time in 10 years, it did so with a 5-4 overall record and garnered the No. 4 seed. My prediction was – gulp – for Mohonasen to finish ninth out of nine teams at 0-9. Needless to say, this was a colossal whiff on my part. Considering Mohonasen combined to go 6-23 from 2023-25, this season's squad has surpassed the expectations of even its most ardent supporters.
Prediction time
The best team all season in the classification has been Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, a squad that prevailed during the regular season against each of the other playoff squads with wins against Troy (28-14), Queensbury (42-7) and Mohonasen (42-7). The Spartans are a worthy No. 1 seed and the favorite to advance to the state playoffs, but I am going to select Troy as champion this season. The Flying Horses have been missing key players in some of their closest contests and moving Kyair Carr back to quarterback makes the offense tougher to defend.
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This article originally published at Breaking down the 2026 Section 2 Class A football playoffs.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/breaking-down-2026-section-2-150000365.html
