Three area football teams ended their seasons with crossover victories last weekend.
Niskayuna shut out Albany 21-0 in a class AA contest, while Mohonasen and Schalmont picked up wins against out-of-class opponents. Mohonasen defeated Schenectady 47-30 last Friday, while Schalmont pulled out a 22-20 victory over Watervliet last Saturday.
Niskayuna’s defense limited Albany to 112 total yards to help the Silver Warriors win for the third time in their last four games.
The kids were upbeat, said Niskayuna coach John Furey. `I think the greatest compliment to the kids is they hung with it and stuck together.`
Niskayuna’s defense was especially stingy during its two crossover games. The Silver Warriors allowed six points to Bethlehem in an Oct. 21 victory before their shutout against Albany.
`They’ve played well all year,` Furey said of his defense. `I think in a lot of games, they’d play well in the first half, and then our op-ponents go to some size match-ups in the second half and we wouldn’t match up well. The last couple of games, we’ve played well throughout.`
Joe D’Alessandro led Niskayuna’s offense with 85 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Danny Peters and Greg Rahn split quarterbacking duties for the Silver Warriors (3-6), with Peters throwing for 59 yards and a touchdown and Rahn passing for 84 yards.
Barnes sets record
Mohonasen quarterback Pat Barnes had a field day against Schenectady’s defense on his way to setting several school records in last Friday’s win.
Barnes completed 21-of-35 passes for 392 yards and five touchdowns to finish his senior season with school records for single-season and career passing yards, as well as the single-season record for touchdown passes. Three of Barnes’ scoring strikes went to Josh Provost, who had 258 receiving yards.
Quardel Valentine contributed an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and Sam Olszewski added 103 rushing yards for the Mighty Warriors, who finished with a 5-4 record.
Sabres earn comeback win
In Watervliet, Schalmomt came back from a 20-0 deficit to beat the Cannoneers for the first time in several decades.
`We just seem to like to spot (teams) 20 points,` said Schalmont coach John Gallo, whose Sabres posted a comeback win against Fonda-Fultonville Oct. 6.
Ryan Donadio led the comeback by rushing for 196 yards and three touchdowns. His 19-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter put the Sabres ahead for good.
Schalmont concluded the season with a 3-6 record, and Gallo gets most of his starters back for next season.
`We’ve got a really young team, so it’s a good win to build on,` said Gallo. `I was happy with how we finished the season.“
