The Bethlehem football team couldn’t stop Queensbury’s punishing ground game.
Ryan Woodard rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns, and Dominic Marino and Jared Myhrberg added scoring runs to lead the Spartans past the Eagles 27-13 in Saturday’s season opener in Queensbury.
We knew it was going to be tough coming in here, said Bethlehem coach Ron Smith. `They’re a team that if you can’t physically match up with them, then you’re in trouble.`
The Eagles (0-1) knew they were in for a long day against Queensbury before the opening snap. Senior offensive/defensive lineman Cameron Felitte was sidelined with a partially torn Achilles tendon in his right foot he suffered in a preseason scrimmage, leaving Bethlehem without its biggest front line player.
Not that the 6-foot, 2-inch, 245-pound Felitte could have completely countered Queensbury’s line by himself. With five linemen weighing 260 or more pounds and a 6-2, 230-pound fullback in Marino, the Spartans were a handful for Bethlehem to deal with.
`You have to be sound, and you have to be physical to play a team like Queensbury, and that’s not our style,` said Smith. `We can’t counterpunch. We have to use our speed and our finesse.`
Bethlehem’s offense didn’t do any favors for its defense. The Eagles fumbled on their first series, which allowed Queensbury to turn around and march more than 60 yards for its first touchdown ` a 20-yard run by Woodard. Andy Kaier added a two-point conversion pass to Zach St. Andrews to give the Spartans an 8-0 lead.
Bethlehem’s defense did a favor for the offense in the second quarter, though. The Eagles forced Kaier to fumble the ball at his own 32-yard line. Peter Berquist scooped up the loose ball and scampered the rest of the way for a touchdown to pull Bethlehem within two points.
Queensbury’s offense recovered from its mistake, though. The Spartans went on another long drive, and Marino capped it with a seven-yard touchdown run through the heart of Bethlehem’s defense. The two-point conversion failed, but Queensbury still had a 14-6 lead heading into halftime.
Things went from bad to worse for Bethlehem in the third quarter. On its third play from scrimmage, Woodard took the handoff from Kaier, found a seam in the Eagles’ defense and took off for a 79-yard touchdown run that put Queensbury ahead 20-6.
Berquist got Bethlehem back in the game again ` this time on offense. The senior tailback found a big hole in Queensbury’s defense and ran for a 41-yard touchdown. Sam Smith added the extra point to pull the Eagles within seven points with 8:53 left in the third quarter.
Just as it did when Bethlehem scored in the second quarter, Queensbury’s offense responded with a long drive. This time, Myhrberg capped the series with an eight-yard scoring run, and Todd Clear added the extra point to put the Spartans ahead 27-13.
The Eagles had several opportunities to cut into Queensbury’s lead in the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Randy Bowers saw a wide-open Mike Agneta in the end zone one minute into the period, but his pass sailed past Agneta. Bethlehem’s drive stalled on the next play, giving the ball back to Queensbury.
The Eagles drove deep into the Spartans’ territory again midway through the fourth quarter, but bad luck bit them again. First, Kevin Ray dropped a Bowers pass in the end zone. Then, Bowers overthrew another receiver in the end zone, leaving Bethlehem with fourth down and 10 yards to go at Queensbury’s 13-yard line. Bowers’ last pass fell incomplete, and Queensbury engineered a drive that ran out the remaining 4:23 left.
`Twice, we had drops when we had a receiver wide open in the end zone,` said Smith.
The Eagles will try to build on the momentum they had in the second half against Queensbury when they host Ballston Spa Friday in an Empire Division game.
`The teams that are successful improve from week one to week two, and that’s what we hope to do,` said Smith.“