The Ballston Spa football team made history last Saturday night.
The Scotties won their first Section II playoff game in 10 tries by fending off Queensbury 31-21 in a class AA quarterfinal game.
In my five years coaching here, we’ve been 0-3 in the playoffs, and we certainly wanted to get that monkey off our back. Tonight, we were able to do that, said Ballston Spa coach John Bowen.
The Scotties (7-1) relied heavily on their running game, which accounted for 228 yards and a touchdown. They opened up the scoring on quarterback Dom Monaco’s first quarter 44-yard touchdown run. Kyle Baldani added the extra point to give Ballston Spa a 7-0 lead.
Queensbury (3-5) tied the game on Brad Middleton’s 6-yard scoring run and Jeff Benway’s extra point, but Ballston Spa answered with a 40-yard field goal by Baldani. The Scotties then increased their lead with a halfback option pass. Monaco, who kept the ball for four consecutive carries to start the drive, pitched the ball to Steve Duncan, who then threw it to a wide open Kevin Baldani for a 38-yard scoring pass. Kyle Baldani’s extra point made it 17-7.
Ballston Spa scored the eventual game-winning touchdown on its last possession of the first half. Tim Spadaro’s 34-yard run set up Monaco’s 20-yard scoring strike to Duncan to give the Scotties a 24-7 halftime lead.
Queensbury made a game of it in the second half. Matt Howard scored from two yards out on the Spartans’ first drive in the third quarter and added an 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to three points.
Ballston Spa sealed the victory later in the fourth quarter. Anthony Scarpetti gained 41 of his 47 rushing yards on five carries to bring the Scotties to Queensbury’s 25-yard line. Then, Monaco connected with Eric Marciano on a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Scotties some breathing room.
`They (Queensbury) got on a roll (in the second half). They run a momentum offense, and they were hitting that toss lead and cutting it back a little. We made a very small tweak with our linebackers, and we were able to slow them down,` Bowen said.
Monaco rushed for 63 yards and passed for 55 yards to lead a balanced Ballston Spa offense. Scarpetti, Duncan and Ryan Ostrander combined to rush for 125 yards.
`I can’t say enough about him. Honestly, he’s the man, he took that fourth quarter and put it on his shoulders and just wasn’t going to be denied this,` Bowen said of Scarpetti.
Ballston Spa hosts Christian Brothers Academy in Friday night’s semifinal.
`This feels real good, and we would like to keep it going. We’ve got to keep it up in practice and come out and execute our game plan this week,` Monaco said.
Saratoga gets by stubborn Columbia
Saratoga has also advanced to the next round of the class AA playoffs after a 19-14 victory over Columbia last Friday.
All the scoring took place in the first half. The Blue Streaks (7-1) jumped out to a 13-0 first quarter lead on Vonzel Legall’s 2-yard touchdown run and a 12-yard scoring strike from Dan McLaughlin to Max Higgins following a Columbia turnover.
The Blue Devils (4-4) came back to take a 14-13 lead early in the second quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Chad Shaver to Jeff McCormick and Jon Kebea’s extra point, but Saratoga reclaimed the lead on McLaughliln’s 11-yard scoring strike to Nick Torres. The Blue Streaks missed the two-point conversion, but their defense held on to the five-point lead the rest of the way to pull out the win.
Saratoga hosts Colonie Friday in a rematch of its Week 1 meeting, which Colonie won 27-21 in overtime.
Spartans steamroll South High
In class A quarterfinal action, the top-seeded Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Spartans advanced with a 50-0 victory over South Glens Falls last Friday.
D.J. Moore rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns to lead Burnt Hills (8-0), which built a 43-0 halftime lead. Kyle Holmes contributed 67 yards and three touchdowns, and Ben Batty added 59 yards and a touchdown.
The Spartans host Bishop Maginn in Friday’s semifinals.“
