If one looked beyond all the gaudy offensive numbers that the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football team put up this season, they would see another impressive number: seven.
That’s the number of shutouts the Spartans defense has posted this season a list that includes last Saturday’s 19-0 victory over Bishop Maginn in the Section II, Class A Super Bowl at Colonie Central High School.
BH-BL (10-0) barely allowed Maginn (9-1) a first down the entire game, as it held the Golden Griffins to 121 net yards. The only time that Maginn threatened to score was on its first drive of the third quarter when it got to BH-BL’s 20-yard line before a fumble ended the series.
I’ve got to give credit to the defense. To shut out Maginn is a great accomplishment,` said senior quarterback Paul Layton, one of a small group of holdovers from BH-BL’s 2006 Section II championship team.
`Our defense was lights out. They played great,` said BH-BL coach Matt Shell.
Maginn’s defense did what it could to keep BH-BL from running away with the game. The Golden Griffins forced two Spartan fumbles and kept BH-BL out of the end zone on three more occasions when the Spartans had driven inside Maginn’s 20-yard line.
`Maginn is a great team, and a great team will make you (make mistakes),` said Shell.
BH-BL had a good start to the game when tailback Eric Vuillaume capped the Spartans’ first offensive series with a 1-yard touchdown run. However, Layton missed the extra point kick ` a rarity for him ` to leave BH-BL with a 6-0 lead.
Another rare occurrence happened later in the first quarter. After BH-BL’s next drive stalled at Maginn’s 15-yard line, Layton’s 32-yard field goal sailed well over the goalposts but wide, leaving the Spartans clinging to their 6-0 lead.
The missed field goal wound up not being a factor for the Spartans, as the defense stepped up. Tyler Paluba recovered a Maginn fumble near midfield early in the second quarter, and Layton cashed in with a 6-yard touchdown run several plays later. This time, Layton’s extra point attempt sailed through the uprights to give BH-BL a 13-0 lead.
Maginn quarterback Bunduka Kargbo tried to get something going through the air, but Camren McKenna made sure that didn’t happen. McKenna intercepted a Kargbo pass late in the second quarter, which set up a BH-BL drive that Layton finished with a 28-yard field goal as time expired for a 16-0 halftime lead.
Tymear Mallory put a charge in Maginn’s sideline with a long run to open the third quarter, but BH-BL’s defense quickly diffused the situation by forcing a fumble a short time later. That was as close as the Golden Griffins got to putting points on the scoreboard.
The Spartans had two more opportunities to enter the end zone late in the game, but they chose not to. BH-BL had a first-and-goal inside Maginn’s 10-yard line with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but settled for a 17-yard Layton field goal after failing to get into the end zone on three plays. Then after McKenna intercepted Kargbo and returned the ball to Maginn’s 1-yard line with less than two minutes left on the clock, Layton took a knee three times to conclude the game.
`I didn’t think twice about it,` Shell said of his decision to have Layton kick the field goal with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter. `He’s one of the best kickers in the area.`
Vuillaume and Layton each rushed for more than 100 yards to lead BH-BL’s offense. Vuillaume finished with 109 yards on 19 carries, while Layton gained 101 yards, 20 of which came on a fake punt late in the second quarter that helped set up his 28-yard field goal.
`(Winning) two out of three (Sectional finals), it’s a tremendous feeling,` said Layton, who quarterbacked the Spartans to the 2006 Class A title and the 2007 Super Bowl against Lansingburgh. `It feels better this time around because I’m going out on top.`
The victory propels BH-BL into Friday’s Class A regional game against Section X champion Indian River at Watertown High School ` a rematch of the 2006 regional which Indian River won.
`It’s good to have another opportunity (to play Indian River),` said Shell. `We’ll see what we can do.“