Christian Brothers Academy took the O out of Colonie.
The Brothers kept the Garnet Raiders out of the end zone, and Jimmy O’Brien threw two touchdown passes to lead CBA to an 18-0 victory over Colonie in last Friday’s class AA Super Bowl at Saratoga Springs High School.
It’s CBA’s first Section II title since 1985, and it gives the Brothers an automatic berth into next weekend’s state semifinal in Kingston against the Section I or Section IX champion.
`It feels great,` said CBA coach Jim Smith, who won his first Super Bowl in his 10-year varsity career. `The plaque’s not going on my wall. The kids are the ones who earned it.`
The Brothers (7-3) earned it by playing the same bend-but-don’t-break defense that helped them beat Guilderland and Ballston Spa in the first two playoff rounds. Though Colonie (7-3) was nearly even with CBA in net yardage, the Brothers made several key defensive plays to keep the Garnet Raiders out of the end zone.
`Shutouts are never what you think of,` said running back/defensive back Michael Chaires. `We just did our best to keep them out of the end zone.`
Colonie didn’t help its own cause with turnovers. Heath Furbeck fumbled two punt returns in the second half, and Tom Duff threw a fourth-quarter interception that set up CBA’s final touchdown.
`We didn’t play our best game,` said Colonie coach Mike Ambrosio. `You can’t expect to make mistakes like that and expect to win.`
CBA took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter when O’Brien capped a drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Joe Rajczak in the back right corner of the end zone. Luke Weaver then made certain the lead held up when he broke up Colonie’s best scoring chance in the second quarter by batting down a Duff throw in the end zone.
Weaver came up big again in the third quarter ` this time on offense. O’Brien threw a sideline pass that Weaver leapt and caught in bounds. The senior then eluded two Colonie defenders and raced down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown that gave the Brothers a 12-point cushion.
`We practiced that (play),` said Weaver. `It got up to me, I broke a tackle, broke another and scored.`
Colonie got into more trouble with Furbeck’s fumbles, which gave CBA prime field position. But the Garnet Raiders defense stepped up and made key plays to keep the Brothers from scoring.
Colonie couldn’t dodge all the bullets, though. Late in the fourth quarter, Duff threw a deep pass that Chaires stepped in front of and intercepted. Chaires eluded several tackles before being stopped inside Colonie’s 10-yard line. Four plays later, Joe Zappone scored on a 3-yard run to seal the victory.
`I didn’t feel comfortable, even with three minutes left in the game,` said Smith.
Zappone rushed for 125 yards, and O’Brien completed five of eight passes for 86 yards for CBA, which is on its longest winning streak of the season.
`Their running backs did a great job, and their (offensive) line did a great job,` said Ambrosio.
Furbeck gained 106 yards on 16 carries, and Duff threw for 109 yards for Colonie. However, Duff completed only 10-of-32 passes, and Furbeck was the only effective running back the Garnet Raiders had that night.
`They took away our running game. We were unable to get anything going,` said Ambrosio.
`They try to do what they’re best at ` they try to get you out to the perimeter, and then they try to run up the middle,` said Smith. `We did a good job of stopping them on the perimeter.`
Colonie finishes as the Sectional runner-up for the second time in four years. The Garnet Raiders lost to Shenendehowa in the 2002 Super Bowl.“
