Scotia-Glenville entered last Friday’s Southeast Division football game at Niskayuna with thoughts of procuring a home game for the playoffs.
By halftime, it was clear that it wouldn’t happen.
The Silver Warriors (4-0 division, 5-1 overall) scored 21 points in the second quarter to blow the game open and cruised to a 35-14 victory over the Tartans to lock up no worse than a second place finish.
We’ve got a home [playoff] game, and that’s important, said Niskayuna coach John Furey. `Now, we have to play for a divisional championship [Saturday at Troy].`
Scotia-Glenville (2-2, 2-4) showed flashes of the form it displayed in beating Bishop Maginn and Mohonasen the previous two games, but it couldn’t stop Niskayuna’s one-two punch of Ryan Alden and Rob Hilweh. Alden scored four of the Silver Warriors’ five touchdowns, and Hilweh rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown.
`When you think about it, he [Alden] didn’t have a huge game against us,` said Scotia-Glenville coach Mike Turgeon. `It was more their [running] backs that hurt us.`
`He’s a quality running back,` Furey said of Hilweh. `I think people are just starting to find that out.`
Niskayuna took advantage of an early Scotia-Glenville turnover to score its first touchdown. After recovering a Tartan fumble, the Silver Warriors marched down the field, and Alden scored on a 26-yard run for a 7-0 Niskayuna lead. Alden capped the Silver Warriors’ next offensive series with a 1-yard touchdown run to double the lead late in the first quarter.
Scotia-Glenville had a chance to cut Niskayuna’s lead in half early in the second quarter. The Tartans got the ball inside Niskayuna’s 20-yard line, but they couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone. The Silver Warriors turned right around and drove the length of the field, with Hilweh scoring on a 2-yard run to make the score 21-0.
Any chance Scotia-Glenville had of making a comeback essentially crumbled in the final two minutes of the second quarter. First, Alden caught a screen pass from quarterback Kyle Bayly and raced untouched for a 57-yard touchdown to give Niskayuna a 28-0 lead. Then following a Scotia-Glenville turnover, Alden caught a long pass from Bayly at the Tartans’ 1-yard line. Alden then plunged into the end zone to put the Silver Warriors ahead by 35 points.
Scotia-Glenville got second-half touchdown runs from quarterback Cody Rumney and tailback Adam Tabbert to close the deficit, but that was all Niskayuna’s defense allowed.
The Silver Warriors will try to keep their momentum going Saturday when they travel to Troy (4-0, 6-0) to face a Flying Horses squad that hasn’t given up a touchdown since the first quarter of their season opener at Queensbury. Meanwhile, Scotia-Glenville will play for third place in the Southeast Division Friday when it hosts Averill Park (1-3, 2-4).
`We still have the opportunity,` said Turgeon. `You win next week, you play the No. 2 team in the [Northwest] division. If you don’t, then you play [division leader] Burnt Hills.`
Averill Park is coming off a 22-0 victory over Mohonasen (0-4, 0-6) last Friday in Rotterdam. Ryan Macari threw three touchdown passes for the Warriors, who won their first Southeast Division game after three consecutive losses.
Mohonasen faces Bishop Maginn Friday in Rotterdam.
In other football action last weekend, Schalmont (3-0, 4-2) moved one step closer to repeating as Class B West Division champions with last Friday’s 35-18 victory over Cobleskill-Richmondville.
Quarterback Vincent Gallo had another big game for the Sabres. The senior rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns and returned a kickoff 95 yards for another six points. Jaren Ramondo added the other Schalmont touchdown.
The Sabres can lock up a divisional title Saturday when they face Broadalbin-Perth.“
