Any question about how good the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football team is may have been answered in the second quarter of last Friday’s Northwest Division showdown with Gloversville.
The Spartans (1-0 division, 3-0 overall) scored three touchdowns in the period on their way to a 46-6 victory over the Huskies.
I thought our kids played extremely well the whole ga,e, said BH-BL coach Matt Shell. `We made some big plays.`
Quarterback Phillip Neumann led the charge with another strong performance. The senior threw for 158 yards and three touchdowns, including a 53-yard scoring strike to Keaton Flint late in the second quarter to give BH-BL a 27-6 halftime lead.
`It’s been great because we’ve been able to throw the ball and run it,` said Shell. `It’s not 50-50 yet, but we have made some big plays through the air.`
The game looked like it would live up to its billing early on, as both teams scored in the first quarter. Evan Nusbaum gave BH-BL an early 7-0 lead on a 27-yard touchdown run, but Gloversville (0-1, 2-1) answered with a drive capped by a Nick DiPasquale 3-yard scoring run. The two-point conversion failed, though, which allowed the Spartans to carry a 7-6 advantage into the second quarter.
BH-BL padded its lead after that. Neumann connected with Flint on a 25-yard touchdown pass to open the second quarter. Then, tailback Jahi Owens swept left for a 3-yard scoring run to make the score 21-6. Neumann ended the quarter with his long touchdown pass to Flint.
The third quarter was much like the second quarter. Neumann found Tyler Paluba for a 38-yard touchdown pass, and tailback Brandon Beatty capped another series with a 10-yard scoring run to turn the game into a blowout.
`We were able to keep momentum on our side and not allow them to make big plays,` said Shell.
Nusbaum contributed 90 yards on the ground for BH-BL, which entered the game as the No. 2 ranked Class A team in New York.
The Spartans hit the road Friday to play an Amsterdam team that is an uncharacteristic 0-3 following a 42-14 loss to Glens Falls last weekend.
`It’s a league game, and it’s a big game,` said Shell. `You only have five league games in the regular season, so it’s huge.`
Scotties roll past Plainsmen
In other football action last week, Ballston Spa staked its claim as the top team in the Empire Division by defeating a shorthanded Shenendehowa squad 34-18 last Thursday.
The Scotties (1-0, 3-0) racked up more than 330 yards of offense on the ground, led by 100-plus yard efforts from quarterback Mark Seager and tailback Kyle Warmt.
`I must say that I won’t miss seeing Mark Seager at quarter-back [next year],` said Shen coach Brent Steuerwald. `He runs that offense extremely well.`
The Plainsmen (0-1, 2-1) had a hard time keeping up with Ballston Spa’s speedsters because they were missing their own speedster, Suhayb Banks. The senior is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the first half of Shen’s 28-27 win over Schenec-tady one week earlier.
`I don’t know how much that affected Brent’s playcalling, but the bottom line is that Suhayb is not only an impact player for Shen, but he’s also an impact player for Section II,` said Ball-ston Spa coach John Bowen.
It wasn’t just Banks’ absence that hurt Shen. Several linemen were also nursing injuries, which helped Ballston Spa control the line of scrimmage.
`We did have some other people out, and that had an impact,` said Steuerwald. `But that doesn’t take away from the fact that coach Bowen had his team prepared, and that the play up front was in their favor.`
Seager started the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Warmt added a 56-yard scoring run a short time later to put the Scotties ahead 14-0.
Shen didn’t go away in the first half, though. Xavier White pounced on a blocked punt and returned it six yards for the Plainsmen’s first points. Quarterback Andrew Kalish then found Bronson Greene for a 20-yard touchdown pass to pull Shen within two points of Ballston Spa at halftime.
`We really felt that going into halftime, the score was not indicative of how we played,` said Bowen. `There were a couple of mental mistakes and a couple of physical mistakes that we had to address.`
The Scotties quickly shook off the second quarter slump. Seager marched Ballston Spa down the field and capped the series with his second 4-yard touchdown run of the game to make the score 20-12. Tailback Matt Clark added a 2-yard scoring run to increase the Scotties’ lead to 27-12, and Shen never recovered.
`John Bowen did a great job of getting his team ready, especially on the defensive side,` said Steuerwald. `There were too many three-and-outs on our side.`
Ballston Spa will try to keep its record clean Friday when it hosts winless Albany, while Shen returns to Steuerwald Stadium to face Guilderland.
Bowen said the most important thing for Ballston Spa to remember Friday is not to take Albany too lightly. `If we get caught up at all in Albany’s record, it will be a long night for us,` he said.
Albany is coming off an impressive defensive effort in an 18-0 loss to Saratoga Springs last Friday at Bleecker Stadium. The Blue Streaks (1-0, 2-1) managed only one offensive touchdown in the game ` a 15-yard scoring run by Luke Fauler in the third quarter.
Most of Saratoga’s points came on defense and special teams. Tony DeLoatch returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown, while the defense recorded two safties.
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