The Ballston Spa football team may have one of the smallest rosters in class AA, but its heart makes up for the lack of depth.
For the second time in three weeks, the Scotties had a chance to hand an opponent its first loss of the season. This time, they were successful as they fended off Guilderland 32-27 in Friday’s Empire Division game.
Ballston Spa (4-1) nearly had a repeat of its loss to Shen a game it led 21-14 in the fourth quarter before falling 27-21 in overtime when Guilderland (4-1) made a late comeback attempt with two fourth quarter touchdowns. But Chris Schaefer intercepted Drew Smith’s deep pass with 9.3 seconds left to seal the Scotties’ victory.
`We have a large number of guys playing both (offense and defense), but we tell them that’s not an excuse,` said Ballston Spa coach John Bowen. `We need to be conditioned to win a game like this.`
It didn’t look like it was going to be Ballston Spa’s night early on. From the moment Tony Denn returned the opening kickoff to the Scotties’ 20-yard line, Guilderland put Ballston Spa’s back to the wall by keeping the ball deep in Scotties’ territory. Yet, the Dutchmen didn’t score a point in the first quarter. The closest they came was a missed 27-yard field goal by E.J. Genzano.
`The field was tipped the entire first quarter, and I turned to my offensive coordinator and said, ‘Can you please tip the field in our favor,’` said Bowen.
Before the Scotties could do that, Guilderland got on the scoreboard. Smith returned a punt to Ballston Spa’s 35-yard line early in the second quarter and engineered a drive that Jason Lawrence capped with a 9-yard touchdown run. Genzano added the extra point to give the Dutchmen a 7-0 lead with 8:05 left.
The next minute determined the outcome of the game, though. Eric Marciano brought the Ballston Spa fans to their feet with an 82-yard kickoff return for the Scotties’ first touchdown. Jordan Kaplan’s kick tied the game at 7.
`We really needed it,` said Marciano. `It got the team fired up, and it got the fans fired up.`
`Eric’s speed is well known around here, but you have to look at what the other 10 guys on the field did to set up the return,` said Bowen.
Guilderland started its next series from its own 20-yard line ` or tried to, anyway. A stunt by Ballston Spa’s defensive line caused Guilderland’s center to snap the ball too soon, which led to a fumble. The Scotties fell on the loose ball while the Dutchmen looked for an encroachment penalty to no avail.
Ballston Spa quickly took advantage. Quarterback Mark Seager kept the ball and ran 20 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Kaplan’s extra point made the score 14-7, 26 seconds after Guilderland took its 7-0 lead.
Smith tried to get the Dutchmen back on track with a big run on his next play from scrimmage, but he fumbled the ball into Ballston Spa’s hands at his own 40-yard line. Again, the Scotties struck quickly as Steve Duncan broke free down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown that put Ballston Spa ahead 21-7. Only 18 seconds separated Seager’s and Duncan’s touchdowns.
`We made too many mistakes (in that stretch),` said Guilderland coach Dan Penna. `When you make mistakes against a good team like that, it hurts you.`
The scoring pace slowed down after that. Shane LaChance made a 32-yard field goal with 3:34 left in the second quarter to give Ballston Spa a 24-7 halftime lead, and there was no scoring until 3:45 left in the third quarter when Smith capped a Guilderland drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.
The offenses quickly heated up after that. Three plays into Ballston Spa’s next series, Marciano found a seam and ran 55 yards for a touchdown. Kaplan added a two-point conversion with a fake extra point kick that he turned into a pass to Max Rosenberg to increase the Scotties’ lead to 32-14 with 2:03 left in the third quarter.
Smith quickly put Guilderland into scoring position at the end of the third quarter with a long pass that deflected off a Ballston Spa defender’s hands to Parker Wolff at the Scotties’ 8-yard line. Four plays later, Smith dove into the end zone from one yard out to pull the Dutchmen within 12 points with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter.
Smith engineered another long drive later in the fourth quarter. Using a mix of runs and short passes to Nick Ranalli, Smith guided Guilderland to Ballston Spa’s 12-yard line. He took the ball himself the rest of the way to cut the Scotties’ lead to five points with 2:09 left.
`It was a matter of time because their offense is so explosive,` said Bowen. `We had to contain them as much as possible.`
Ballston Spa could have run the clock out on its next series, but a potential first down was nullified by a holding penalty. The Scotties were forced to punt with 50 seconds left, but a fortuitous bounce and a quick tackle on Smith placed Guilderland at its own seven yard line. Smith ran for one first down, but Schaefer’s interception of Smith’s Hail Mary allowed Bowen to finally relax.
`It easily took to that point,` said Bowen. `It was just a matter of time with their offense. We just needed to make sure we put enough points on the board.`
`We just need to make plays,` said Penna. `We have some good athletes on this team, and we’re going to learn that mistakes are hard to overcome against a good team.`
Ballston Spa visits Christian Brothers Academy Friday, while Guilderland hosts Saratoga Springs.“
