The Christian Brothers Academy football team will make its first class AA Super Bowl appearance in seven years Friday night when it plays Colonie at 7 p.m. at Saratoga High School.
They’re (Colonie) tough, and we’re happy to have them. It will be another challenge for us, said CBA coach Jim Smith.
The No. 5 seeded Brothers punched their ticket with a 55-20 rout of top-seeded Ballston Spa last Friday night in a class AA semifinal game.
`We made a few mistakes, and CBA did an outstanding job tonight. Against a team of this caliber, you can’t afford to give up free points, returns or fumble footballs away,` Ballston coach John Bowen said.
Senior tailback Joe Zappone had a big game for CBA (6-3). The senior rushed for 250 yards on 29 carries and scored four touchdowns ` three of which came during a 27-point third quarter that sealed the victory.
`Zappone had a great second half, and it’s tough to recover when your down by that. He broke off a couple of big runs after we were up by 14 (points) and scored a couple of times,` Smith said.
Meanwhile, Ballston Spa (7-2) had to make do without one of its top weapons after senior tailback Anthony Scarpetti injured his leg early in the first quarter.
`We lost the heart and soul of our team there, and you don’t replace ‘Scar.’ We only have 28 guys, so we’re not super deep, and when you lose a kid who means so much, it really eats at you,` Bowen said.
Ballston Spa got on the scoreboard first after Steve Duncan capped a 70-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. Kyle Baldani’s extra point made it 7-0.
The Brothers’ evened the score on Zappone’s 1-yard touchdown plunge later in the first quarter. Then, quarterback Jim O’Brien capped a 10-play drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Joe Rajczak. Ryan Kelly’s extra point gave CBA a 14-7 lead.
Ballston Spa tied the game with 2:54 left in the second quarter. Dom Monaco connected with Ryan Ostrander on a 24-yard pass to move the Scotties near midfield. Three plays later, Monaco pitched the ball to junior Eric Marciano, who scooted to the outside and ran 54 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Baldani added the extra point to make the score 14-14.
That was the last time the Scotties were close to the Brothers. CBA scored two touchdowns in the final 1:15 of the second quarter to regain the lead. First, O’Brien found Michael Chaires with a pass up the middle, and Chaires split three defenders for a 28-yard touchdown. Then, Dave Chambers recovered a Ballston Spa fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the Scotties’ 35-yard line. Three plays later, O’Brien connected with Rajczak on an 11-yard scoring strike to make the score 28-14.
`After they scored that third touchdown to make it 21-14, it was very difficult for us to get our kids to bounce back,` Bowen said.
Zappone added touchdown runs of 32, 44 and 37 yards in the third quarter to help blow the game open. Anthony Camuglia capped CBA’s scoring with a 41-yard fumble return for a touchdown late in the third quarter.
Monaco added a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late for Ballston Spa.
`This team possessed a tremendous amount of heart and desire, and they took this program and said not only do we belong here, but we can also compete at the highest level. I told them that they stamped that on this program this season,` Bowen said.“