The Niskayuna football team has made a habit out of pulling off comeback wins.
One week after edging Schenectady in the closing seconds, the Silver Warriors (2-0) needed overtime to defeat Columbia 34-28 last Friday in East Greenbush.
I think we’re doing a lot of good things, and we’ve overcome some obstacles, said Niskayuna coach John Furey. `We had some turnovers in both games, but we did a good job last week overcoming them.`
The Silver Warriors had to overcome a 28-14 deficit in the fourth quarter to avoid a letdown against a rebuilding Columbia team. Senior quarterback Kyle Bayly orchestrated a pair of scoring drives to tie the game, both of which were capped by short touchdown runs by tailback Rob Hilweh. Bayly then scored the winning touchdown in overtime on a 4-yard run.
`Kyle Bayly ` in game management alone ` is doing a great job for us,` said Furey. `He’s getting the ball to the right people.`
Hilweh led the way for Niskayuna with more than 160 yards and four touchdowns. That performance came on the heels of a 133-yard, two-touchdown night against Schenectady in a season-opening 32-28 victory Sept. 3.
`He’s a quality running back,` Furey said of Hilweh, who emerged as one of Niskayuna’s chief weapons last year as a junior. `He’s just come of age this year. He’s picking up five yards a carry, and we want to keep giving him the ball as much as we can.`
Hilweh gave Niskayuna the lead on a 21-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but Columbia (0-2) came back with a pair of scoring drives to grab a 14-6 lead. Hilweh tied the game in the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion pass to Nick Schuler before the Blue Devils regained the lead in the third quarter with a pair of Cameron Wynn touchdowns.
The Silver Warriors are hoping to do a better job of shutting down their opponent Thursday when they host LaSalle Institute (0-2) in a Class AA Liberty Division game.
`They have a couple of little speedsters who can score at any time, so we have to stop them,` said Furey.
The Schalmont football team is also hoping to remain perfect this weekend. The Sabres (2-0) host Broadalbin-Perth Friday in a Class B West Division game.
Schalmont is coming off a 34-7 cross-divisional victory over Hudson last weekend that was closer than the score appeared. The Sabres had a 7-0 halftime lead before Joe Paskevich broke the game open with a 23-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter. Jaren Ramundo then returned a Hudson punt 72 yards for six points to help Schalmont increase its lead to 21-0.
Hudson scored its lone touchdown late in the third quarter, but Ramundo capped Schalmont’s next offensive series with a 4-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Paskevich sealed the victory with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Alberto Beltran.
Friday’s game against Broadalbin-Perth is Schalmont’s first West Division contest.
In other football action this week, Mohonasen and Scotia-Glenville will try to win their first games of the season. Mohonasen (0-2) travels to Albany to play Bishop Maginn Thursday, while Scotia-Glenville (0-2) hosts Averill Park.
Mohonasen made strides in its second game of the season, but Queensbury pulled away in the second half for a 48-19 Class A cross-divisional victory last Saturday.
Sean Ghikas caught two touchdown passes in the first half ` one from Charles Stone, and the other from Killian Tallman ` to help the Mighty Warriors stay close to the Spartans. But a pair of Queensbury touchdowns in the third quarter gave the host team a 28-12 lead, and the Spartans never looked back.
Nick Bateman added an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for Mohonasen.
Scotia-Glenville lost to South Glens Falls 27-0 last Friday.“