The Guilderland football team needed a furious fourth quarter rally to edge Christian Brothers Academy 22-21 in last Thurs-day’s Empire Division opener in Colonie.
The Brothers (0-1 league, 0-3 overall) took a 21-3 lead at the start of the fourth quarter on Zach Zaloga’s 2-yard touchdown run and Jack Reilly’s two-point conversion. But the Dutchmen (1-0, 2-1) forced four turnovers over the remaining 11 minutes to give themselves a chance to win.
Quarterback Ryan Smith led the charge with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Peter Quinn and scoring on a 1-yard run. Two missed extra points, though, left Guilderland with a 21-15 deficit.
Following CBA’s fourth turn-over of the fourth quarter, Smith quickly led Guilderland down the field and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Stark with less than one second left. Mike Lavelle kicked the go-ahead extra point to give the Dutchmen the victory.
In other weekend football action, Columbia defeated Bethlehem 24-7 in a Class AA Liberty Division game last Thursday, while Voorheesville downed Cairo-Durham 42-12 in a Class C South Division contest Saturday.
Columbia (1-0, 1-2) jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and limited Bethlehem (0-1, 1-2) to a Casiem Maxwell touchdown.
By contrast, Voorheesville (2-1) scored 28 points in the first quarter on its way to a convincing win over Cairo-Durham (1-2). Jason Slingerland led the Blackbirds with 119 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (0-1, 1-2) fell to Albany Academy 52-35 in last Thursday’s Class B Reinfurt Division game.`