Nobody gave the Guilderland football team a chance to beat two-time defending Section II, Class AA champion LaSalle in last Friday’s first round of the playoffs.
Nobody, that is, except Guilderland’s players and the coaches.
And when Michael Lavelle nailed an extra point in overtime, the Dutchmen (4-4) scored the biggest upset of the weekend a 34-33 victory over LaSalle.
For us to pull off the upset that we did, the kids had to buy into the idea that they could pull it off,` said Guilderland coach Dan Penna.
The Dutchmen came back from one-touchdown deficits three times in the fourth quarter and overtime to get the win. They also had to try the winning extra point four times due to various penalties against both sides, the last of which pushed Lavelle back five yards before he made his kick.
`We certainly made it tough for ourselves,` said Penna. `But with each repetition in the overtime period, [Lavelle] kept his focus, and he drilled it.`
The game started as a defensive showdown on a rainy night in Troy. Guilderland struck first when Peter Quinn hauled in a first-quarter touchdown pass from Ryan Smith. LaSalle (7-1) tied the game in the second quarter on Mike Murray’s touchdown pass to Nick Edgington before the Dutchmen regained the lead on a scoring strike from Smith to Anthony Stanish. Lavelle added the extra point to give Guilderland a 13-6 halftime lead.
`The first half, we played one of our best defensive games of the season,` said Penna. `We were gang tackling, and we were following the ball well.`
LaSalle tied the game again in the third quarter when Tyler Washington capped a Cadets drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Cadets then took their first lead on Vinny Planz’s 70-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
At that moment, Guilderland could have caved in. But the Dutchmen fought back with a big play of their own ` a touchdown pass from Smith to Matthew Ward ` to get within a point of LaSalle. Guilderland misfired on a two-point conversion, though, leaving LaSalle with a 20-19 lead.
It got worse for the Dutchmen when Cory Rifenberick scored on a 30-yard run and Delory Garrett added the extra point to put LaSalle ahead 27-19. Smith, though, had a big play left in his arm ` a long touchdown pass to Stanish with 13.3 seconds left. Smith then found Ward in the end zone for the game-tying two-point conversion.
`We made our share of mistakes,` said Penna. `We had three interceptions, we had two huge missed plays on defense and we had some miscues on special teams.`
Planz opened the overtime period for LaSalle with a 20-yard touchdown run, but Delory missed the extra point. That gave Guilderland the opening it needed. Smith found Quinn in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass, and Lavelle added the extra point to send the Dutchmen into the semifinals.
`All that matters is that we believed that we could do it because it takes a lot of mental fortitude to do something like [beat LaSalle],` said Penna.
Guilderland faces another challenge in Friday’s Sectional semifinal, as it travels to Ballston Spa to take on the once-defeated Scotties. The Dutchmen were in the Saratoga County town two weeks ago for an Empire Division game, and though they wound up losing to Ballston Spa 39-0, Penna saw some positives in that contest.
`We were inside their 15-yard line four times and didn’t score,` said Penna. `You have to credit Ballston Spa somewhat in that they made the plays they needed to, but our goal is to get the ball into the end zone this time.`
Ballston Spa (7-1) is coming off a hard-fought 21-14 quarterfinal victory over Bethlehem last Friday.
The Eagles (3-5) tied the game at 14 in the third quarter on Cody Nolan’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Trey Silver, but the Scotties marched down the field and took the lead in the fourth quarter on Nick Tubolino’s 15-yard scoring run.
Tubolino scored all three of Ballston Spa’s touchdowns, and quarterback Mark Seager rushed for 140 yards. Tailback Devin Stampley led Bethlehem with 110 rushing yards and a second-quarter touchdown.
Bethlehem concludes its season Thursday with a crossover game at Shaker. The Eagles defeated the Blue Bison 21-13 in Week 5 of the regular season.
In other Sectional football action last weekend, Voorheesville couldn’t get its offense going against Cambridge in a 41-0 loss Saturday.
The Indians (7-1) scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to take control, and their defense did the rest in handing the Blackbirds (6-2) their first loss since the opening week of the regular season.
Voorheesville travels to Corinth Friday for a Class C crossover game.
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (1-7) earned its first win of the season last Friday with a 40-7 victory over Johnstown in a Class B crossover game. Tailback Mike Garza led the Indians with 194 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
R-C-S hosts Broadalbin-Perth Thursday in a Class B crossover contest.“