It’s only the second game of the Section II football season, but it could say a lot about the direction the Mohonasen Mighty Warriors will go.
After an impressive 34-7 victory over South Glens Falls Sept. 1, Mohonasen travels to Lansingburgh Friday to play a Knights team that is coming off a dominating 52-8 victory over Scotia-Glenville.
The Mighty Warriors’ biggest challenge will be stopping a Lansingburgh offense that racked up more than 300 rushing yards against Scotia-Glenville. The only advantage is that Mohonasen is familiar with Lansingburgh’s double wing offensive set, which is similar to what former class A foe Queensbury runs.
Queensbury is bad enough, but then you take Lansingburgh who’s got great athletes and great speed ` and that will keep me from sleeping a little bit,` said Mohonasen coach Scott Sabourin.
If the Mighty Warriors tackle the way they did against South Glens Falls, though, they may have a tough time slowing Lansingburgh down. Though Mohonasen kept South High off the scoreboard until late in the fourth quarter, there were several occasions where Bulldog ball carriers slipped through initial tackles before being swarmed by multiple Mighty Warrior defenders.
`We’re very happy with the win, (but) we didn’t play the best we possibly could,` said Sabourin.
Mohonasen’s great equalizer is its passing attack. Senior quarterback Pat Barnes demonstrated good poise and a cannon arm in the opening week victory, completing 10 of 15 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns. His scoring strikes were good for 34, 27 and 53 yards.
`I think a lot can be said for seniors. Juniors are great, sophomores are fun, but seniors, they’ve matured physically and matured mentally,` said Sabourin. `I think what you got a glimpse of today is a quarterback who has really matured.`
Alexander Audino caught two of Barnes’ three touchdown passes, and Joshua Provost contributed a 25-yard scoring run on an end-around for Mohonasen, which jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead on South High. Sean Simmons caught a 27-yard scoring strike from Barnes, and tailback Joe Grassia added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Friday’s game at Lansingburgh won’t count in the divisional standings, but it will help gauge Mohonasen’s progress.
`Lansingburgh is a quality team. They’re probably one of the top teams in class A. To beat a team of that caliber at their home field, we need to play at the very best we possibly can,` said Sabourin.
Fumble return helps Sabres tame Tigers
In other football action last weekend, Schalmont topped Cohoes 14-12, while Niskayuna and Scotia-Glenville suffered losses in their season openers.
Schalmont trailed in the second quarter when Coleman Jenns picked up a Cohoes fumble and ran 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Sabres’ defense came up big again late in the fourth quarter, as they stopped a Tigers drive at Schalmont’s 20-yard line.
Ryan Donadio rushed for 143 yards and returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to lead the Schalmont offense.
Niskayuna couldn’t contain Queensbury’s double wing offense in a 26-14 loss last Saturday. The Spartans jumped out to a 12-0 lead on touchdown runs by Jeff Benway and Matt Howard and sealed the victory on Dominick Marino’s 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
Nick DiSarro caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Danny Peters, and Joe D’Alessandro added a 2-yard touchdown run to account for Niskayuna’s points. Peters completed 12 of 15 passes for 123 yards in his varsity debut.
Scotia-Glenville had its own problems containing Lansingburgh’s double wing offense last Friday. Kenny Youngs gained 117 yards on nine carries, and Mike Hepp added 112 yards on 15 carries to lead the Knights’ ground game.
Brett Evensen led Scotia-Glenville’s offense with 88 yards on nine carries ` 68 of which came on a touchdown run late in the second quarter.“