The growing pains are over for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football team.
Since a 38-7 loss at Amsterdam in Week 2, the Spartans — who had to replace several starters from last year’s Section II championship squad — have been an unstoppable force. Even Lansingburgh, which was ranked No. 1 in the state, couldn’t contain BH-BL’s high-octane offense when they met Sept. 28 a 35-22 Spartans victory.
They’ve been improving every week, and they want to learn,` said BH-BL coach Matt Shell.
The Spartans (3-0 division, 5-1 overall) kept their wheels rolling Saturday when they defeated neighborhood rival Scotia-Glen-ville 41-7 in a rain-shortened homecoming game in Burnt Hills. The victory sets up a showdown with Bishop Maginn (3-0, 5-1) for the Division I title Friday in Albany.
`We have a really big game against a really big opponent,` said Shell.
If BH-BL can get off to the type of quick start that it did against Scotia-Glenville, the Spartans should have a good chance to beat Bishop Maginn. On the first play from scrimmage Saturday, quarterback Paul Layton faked a handoff and raced 69 yards for a touchdown to give BH-BL a 7-0 lead 21 seconds into the game.
`It’s a play we’ve been working on, and the kids executed it great,` said Shell.
The Spartans showed more facets of their attack in the first quarter. The next drive took approximately five minutes to cover 72 yards, with several running backs sharing the carries and Layton connecting on a couple of passes. Tyler Paluba capped the series with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Layton added the extra point to double BH-BL’s lead to 14-0.
Layton got one more touchdown in before the end of the first quarter. The junior saw Derek Seward open in the middle of the field and threw a pass to the senior wide receiver. Seward caught it and ran untouched to complete the 60-yard scoring play that extended the lead to 21-0.
Ethan Gori became the fourth different Spartan to enter the end zone early in the second quarter. The senior running back took the handoff from Layton at BH-BL’s 41-yard line, made a move past a Scotia-Glenville defender and took off on a 59-yard touchdown run. Layton’s extra point sailed wide of the goalpost, but the Spartans still had a 27-0 lead.
All the while, BH-BL’s defense kept Scotia-Glenville (1-2, 1-5) from getting anything going. The Tartans managed only two first downs in the first quarter and didn’t enter the Spartans’ end of the field until late in the second quarter. Even that required a little luck, as Ethan Revelia threw a halfback option pass to Niko Verrigni in coverage.
Verrigni was a major factor again later in that series when he leapt and caught a Dakota Aker pass inside BH-BL’s 10-yard line. That set up Brett Evensen’s 5-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left in the second quarter. Eric Hoey added the extra point to pull the Tartans within 20 points of the Spartans at halftime.
Any momentum that Scotia-Glenville had going into the locker room quickly swung back in BH-BL’s direction in the third quarter. Layton avoided a couple of tackles and got a good downfield block to complete a 50-yard touchdown run that put the Spartans up 34-7. Then, the Tartans fumbled the ball back to BH-BL at their 15-yard line, and Brandon Beatty took it from there into the end zone on the next play to give the Spartans a 41-7 lead.
Shell pulled his starters after Beatty’s touchdown. The officials wound up pulling both teams off the field in the fourth quarter, though, after a thunderstorm appeared near the school.
Layton finished with 126 rushing yards on three carries and added 72 passing yards to lead BH-BL’s offense. Gori contributed a season-high 100 rushing yards on five carries.
Meanwhile, BH-BL’s defense limited Scotia-Glenville to 116 total yards of offense, most of which came on the Tartans’ lone scoring drive.
The Spartans will face a stiff challenge in Friday’s game at Bishop Maginn. The Golden Griffins have scored 42 or more points in their last two games, thanks to their multi-faceted running game that includes tailbacks Keon Moore and Isaiah Oliver, as well as quarterback Bunduka Kargbo.
Plainsmen, Scotties keep winning
There are three other games with playoff implications Friday night. Shenendehowa (6-0) can wrap up the class AA Empire Division title with a victory over Guilderland (5-1), but Ballston Spa (5-1) could also lay claim to a share of the title with a victory over Queensbury (1-5) and a Shen loss.
Meanwhile, Saratoga’s chances of making the playoffs hang by a thread. The Blue Streaks (2-4) need a victory over Albany (1-5) Saturday and a CBA (2-4) victory over Bethlehem (2-4) to clinch fourth place and the final playoff berth. A loss or a Bethlehem win eliminates them.
Shen gave itself a chance to clinch the division title after pulling out a 24-7 victory over Bethlehem last Friday in Clifton Park. The Plainsmen broke the game open with two Charles Miller touchdown runs in the second quarter that made the score 17-0. Suhayb Banks added a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Ballston Spa kept pace with Shen following a 21-16 victory over CBA. Dan Decker’s 2-yard touchdown run and Jordan Kaplan’s extra point in the third quarter provided the Scotties’ margin of victory.
Saratoga could have moved into sole possession of fourth place with Bethlehem’s and CBA’s losses, but the Blue Streaks couldn’t slow down Guilderland’s offense in a 34-27 loss. Ben Cook scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull Saratoga even before Guilderland quarterback Drew Smith put the Dutchmen ahead for good with a 5-yard scoring run.
Smith rushed for 82 yards for Guilderland, while Cook and Ford Plowman each rushed for 50 yards to lead Saratoga.“