Saratoga Central Catholic’s first home varsity football game in 20 years didn’t go as well as the Saints had hoped.
Warrensburg (2-1) scored two touchdowns and a safety in the third quarter on its way to a 26-6 victory over Saratoga Catholic (0-3) in last Friday’s Class D game at East Side Recreational Field.
We played better tonight (than the first two games), said sophomore quarterback Dylan Anderson. `We’re slowly getting there.`
Things looked good early for the Saints. They took the opening kickoff and drove inside Warrensburg’s 5-yard line before a false start penalty and a missed field goal stalled the series.
Saratoga Catholic didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoreboard, though. Warrensburg fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, and Jeremy Furey took advantage of it. The defensive lineman picked up the loose ball and ran 20 yards for a touchdown to give the Saints a 6-0 lead.
Turnovers became a running theme after that, with the beneficiary being Warrensburg. The Burgers took advantage of four Saratoga Catholic fumbles and a bad snap on a punt attempt to score three of their four touchdowns.
`It’s pretty uncharacteristic of us to fumble the ball,` said Anderson. `I think we just got careless.`
When Saratoga Catholic wasn’t turning the ball over, it was struggling to get anything going against Warrensburg’s defense. Following their opening drive, the Saints didn’t get another first down until late in the fourth quarter in large part because Warrensburg defenders kept knifing through Saratoga Catholic’s offensive line to put pressure on Anderson and stifle the Saints’ running backs.
`We couldn’t get anything going offensively,` said Saratoga Catholic coach Phonsey Lambert. `Their (pass) rush was tough.`
Warrensburg’s pass rush provided the turning point of the game. The Burgers sacked Anderson in the end zone for a safety midway through the third quarter to put Warrensburg in front 14-6. Then, Brendan Frye returned the ensuing free kick 56 yards for a touchdown to make the score 20-6.
That was one of the only big plays Saratoga Catholic allowed. The Saints’ defense limited Warrensburg to 225 total yards one week after the Burgers scored 40 points in a victory over Salem.
`We had a very good (defensive) game plan, and I think we did a nice job,` said Lambert.
Saratoga Catholic gets another chance to impress the home fans Friday when it hosts Greenwich.
`We’ve got some good athletes, and we’ve got some guys to build this team around,` said Lambert. `It’s just going to take time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.`
Showdown set
In other football action Friday, Saratoga Springs travels down the Northway to face Shenendehowa in an Empire Division showdown, while Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake faces Amsterdam in a key Class A Division 2 game.
Saratoga and Shen are both coming off impressive wins last weekend. Saratoga (3-0) downed Christian Brothers Academy 48-6, while Shen (2-1) came from behind to defeat Guilderland 33-23.
Suhayb Banks led the Plainsmen’s charge against Guilderland. The junior tailback rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns, including fourth-quarter scoring runs of 43 and 11 yards to cap the comeback.
Meanwhile, Saratoga used a balanced attack to defeat CBA. Quarterback Collin Mulholland threw for a touchdown and ran for another, tailback Ben Cook scored on runs of four and nine yards, and Tony DeLoatch added a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
BH-BL (3-0) had another dominating performance last week as it defeated Gloversville 45-0 on the road. The Spartans allowed the Huskies only 120 total yards of offense as they recorded their second shutout.
Paul Layton threw a touchdown pass and kicked six extra points and a field goal for BH-BL.
Ballston Spa (2-1) hits the road Friday night to face Guilderland (1-2) in another Class AA Empire Division game. The Scotties downed Albany 55-26 last weekend behind big games from tailbacks Shane LaChance and Kyle Warmt. LaChance rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns, while Warmt added 124 yards and a touchdown run.“