Saratoga County football teams struggled in last weekend’s opening round of the Section II, Class AA playoffs.
While Empire Division champion Saratoga Springs handled Columbia 40-21 last Friday, Shenendehowa and Ballston Spa lost their quarterfinal games. Niskayuna came to Clifton Park and dispatched Shen 34-28, and Ballston Spa fell to Liberty Division champion Schenectady 27-21.
Saratoga (7-1) broke open a close game with three consecutive touchdowns between the second and third quarters. Fullback Tony DeLoatch started the streak with a two-yard scoring run late in the second quarter. Quarterback Collin Mulholland opened the third quarter with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Joe Scully, and DeLoatch added his second scoring run to give the Blue Streaks a commanding 33-6 lead.
Columbia (3-5) cut into the deficit by scoring the first points of the fourth quarter, but Leejay Pollacchi answered by taking a short pass from Mulholland and turning it into a 66-yard touchdown play to seal the victory.
Pollacchi and DeLoatch combined for 155 rushing yards and scored four of Saratoga’s six touchdowns as the Blue Streaks advanced to Friday’s Class AA semifinals against LaSalle, which defeated Bethlehem 40-14.
Shenendehowa (5-3) hoped to join Saratoga in the semifinals, but it couldn’t handle Niskayuna quarterback Danny Peters in a 34-28 loss. Peters threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Silver Warriors (6-2) into Friday’s semifinal at Schenectady.
Shen and Niskayuna traded touchdowns for the first three quarters. Peters threw scoring strikes of 13, 17 and 16 yards to Kadeem Miller, but Shen’s ground game answered with three touchdowns of its own. Bronson Greene had scoring runs of 33 and six yards in the stretch, and Suhayb Banks playing on an injured ankle added a four-yard touchdown scamper for the Plainsmen.
The turning point came in the fourth quarter. With Niskayuna ahead 28-21, Shen tried a halfback option pass near midfield, but Brian Krol intercepted Tyler Dehmer’s throw and returned it to the Silver Warriors’ 43-yard line. A short time later, Peters found a seam in the right side of Shen’s defensive line and took off on a 42-yard scoring run to increase Niskayuna’s lead to 34-21.
Shen drew within a touchdown on Mike Daly’s six-yard scoring run later in the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Andrew Kalish’s passes into the end zone fell incomplete to end the Plainsmen’s rally.
Greene gained 139 yards on 22 carries, and Kalish completed nine passes for 114 yards to lead Shen’s offense.
Ballston Spa (4-4) also had a chance to tie or win its quarterfinal game against Schenectady (7-1). After quarterback Mark Seager ran for a three-yard touchdown to make the score 27-21 late in the fourth quarter, the Scotties attempted an onsides kick, but they couldn’t recover it and the Patriots held on for the win.
Schenectady established a two-touchdown lead in the second quarter on scoring runs by quarterback Nick Ottati and tailback Mark Thompson. Seager connected with Joshua Fabian on a 57-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to trim the deficit to 14-7, but Ballston Spa never got any closer than that.
Seager threw for 106 yards and rushed for 75 yards to lead the Scotties, who will meet Shen in a crossover game Friday. Thompson had 110 rushing yards, and Ottati threw for 129 yards for Schenectady.
Spartans roll past Warriors
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake had no trouble advancing in the Class A playoffs as it rolled past Averill Park 56-6 last Friday.
The Spartans (8-0) used a balanced running attack to defeat the Warriors (2-6). The combination of Paul Layton, Brandon Beatty, Nick Henderson, Eric Vuillaume and Tyler Paluba gained 410 yards on 20 carries. Layton, Beatty and Henderson also scored two touchdowns on the ground.
BH-BL hosts Troy (7-1) in Friday’s Class A semifinal. The Flying Horses are coming off a 42-14 victory over Glens Falls last Saturday.
Salem gets past SCC
Salem scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to pull out a 27-13 victory over Saratoga Central Catholic in last Friday’s final Class D regular season game.
The Saints (1-7) took a 13-6 lead when quarterback Dylan Anderson threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Haley midway through the second quarter, but the Generals pulled within a point before halftime on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Salem then took the lead in the third quarter with a 15-0 run.
Anderson threw for 100 yards, and tailback Shane Matthews gained 101 yards for Saratoga Central Catholic.“