The Saratoga football team turned in one of its most dominating performances against Shenendehowa in the rivalry’s long history.
The Blue Streaks amassed nearly 240 rushing yards while limiting the Plainsmen to 120 total yards of offense in a 35-7 victory last Friday in Clifton Park.
Coming down here and winning one is great for the kids, said Saratoga coach Blase Iuliano. `The defense was superb. We stopped a pretty good running attack, and we shut down their passing attack.`
`They’re a very talented club, and they’re maturing as the year goes on,` said Shen coach Brent Steuerwald.
Saratoga’s first unit defense seemingly was in Shen’s backfield almost immediately after the snap. Senior Zorry Williams ` who was moved from linebacker to defensive end ` had several tackles and constantly pressured Shen’s quarterbacks, and senior linebacker Ryan Munro was in on several tackles.
`Basically, we did like we did against Albany (in a 55-10 win) ` we came out and played our best,` said Williams.
With Shen’s offense bottled up, Saratoga (2-1) could afford to keep the ball on the ground when it was on offense. Quarterback Dan McLaughlin evenly distributed the ball to Williams, Vonzel Legall and James DeLoatch, who combined to rush for 184 yards and three touchdowns.
`I thought Saratoga made an excellent adjustment by playing Williams at fullback,` said Steuerwald. `Teams are going to have a hard time stopping (their running backs).`
DeLoatch capped Saratoga’s first scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Then, Legall demonstrated Saratoga’s explosiveness in the second quarter. The senior tailback started down the left sideline, cut back near midfield and raced for a 57-yard touchdown run to give the Blue Streaks a 14-0 lead.
`I just broke late, and after I got the corner, I saw a lot of green grass,` said Legall, who led Saratoga with 95 rushing yards. `Max Higgins made a great block on the play.`
Things got worse for Shen when DeLoatch recovered a fumble at the Plainsmen’s 5-yard line. Two plays later, Williams surged up the middle of Shen’s defense for a 4-yard touchdown run that made the score 21-0.
McLaughlin gave Saratoga a four-touchdown lead with a 2-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter. Shen put together a scoring drive against Saratoga’s second defensive unit midway through the fourth quarter, but the outcome was decided by that point.
Saratoga looks to extend its winning streak to four games Thursday night when it hosts Queensbury in a divisional game. The Spartans (2-1) have made a quick adjustment to the class AA level after spending several seasons as a class A team ` thanks to a veteran-laden lineup and their double wing offense, which uses a tight formation and three running backs to create confusion in opposing defenses.
`I know they’ve got a good group of kids back,` said Iuliano. `What concerns me is who they have, not what (offense) they run.`
Meanwhile, Shen will try to bounce back from its worst start in school history Thursday when it travels to suburban Syracuse to play Baldwinsville.“