When crunch time came, the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football team delivered.
Four big plays in the second half helped the Spartans (11-1) pull away for a 28-13 victory over Section IX’s Cornwall in Friday’s Class A state semifinal at Kingston’s Dietz Stadium.
The victory propels BH-BL into its fourth state championship game appearance in the last five years. The Spartans meet Section VI’s Sweet Home in next weekend’s Class A final at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.
To get to the Carrier Dome, BH-BL had to shut down Cornwall’s passing game — something no team in the lower Hudson Valley had done this season. Quarterback Mike White entered the semifinal game having thrown for more than 2,300 yards, including a 430-yard effort in Monday’s 34-13 regional victory over Section I’s Somers.
BH-BL had difficulty containing White in the second quarter, as the junior engineered two touchdown drives with short passes underneath the Spartans’ coverage. But BH-BL started blitzing White in the second half, and the pressure got to him as he started throwing wildly.
`No. 11 (White) is a great player, and he’s got great receivers,` said BH-BL defensive coordinator Shawn Kline. `Everybody had to do their job (defensively).`
The first big play came early in the third quarter. Trailing 14-13, Cornwall (11-1) had an opportunity to score the go-ahead touchdown with the ball at BH-BL’s 17-yard line. White heaved a pass toward the front right corner of the end zone, but Michael Danz stepped in front of White’s intended receiver and hauled in an interception at the 1-yard line.
`I knew their offense is really good, and they’re always a threat to score,` said Danz. `So, I knew I had to catch the ball because they could have easily scored on the next play. I just caught it and held on.`
The second big play came on BH-BL’s ensuing series when sophomore tailback Dan Maynard took off on a 60-yard run to move the Spartans to Cornwall’s 15-yard line. Maynard slipped a tackle in the secondary and had clear real estate for a 75-yard touchdown run before a Cornwall defender tripped him from behind.
`There was no doubt in my mind that I had an easy path to the end zone,` said Maynard. `I just ran as fast as I could.`
Maynard’s long run set up Josh Quesada’s 10-yard touchdown scamper a short time later, which gave BH-BL a 21-13 lead.
The Spartans caught a break later in the third quarter. Cornwall drove to BH-BL’s 2-yard line, but on fourth-and-goal receiver Alex Cruz let a sure touchdown pass go through his hands.
`He (Cruz) ran a good route to the outside. We were lucky that he dropped it,` said Danz.
`I didn’t even see it. I thought it was a touchdown,` said BH-BL coach Matt Shell. `I thought he caught it, and then my coaches told me he dropped it.`
The Spartans found themselves starting another drive deep in their own territory, but two more big plays by the offense got them in scoring position. Maynard took off on a 30-yard run to get BH-BL into Cornwall territory. Then on third-and-long at Cornwall’s 32-yard line, BH-BL quarterback Ryan McDonnell scrambled to his right and threw a 24-yard pass to wide receiver Eric Dillon to keep the drive going. Two plays later, Maynard plunged into the end zone from two yards out to make the score 28-13.
`Two 95-plus yard drives is very impressive for high school guys,` said Shell.
The rest was left to BH-BL’s defense. Shomari Ingram picked off a deep pass by White with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Danz batted away a fourth-down throw into the end zone with 1:06 left to seal the victory.
`Our coverage downfield was excellent (all game),` said Shell. `We accomplished what we wanted to do.`
Maynard rushed for 155 yards, and McDonnell threw for 82 yards and a touchdown for BH-BL. More importantly for the Spartans, their defense limited White to 182 yards and picked him off three times.
`They threw the ball very well, and you don’t see that very often,` said Shell. `Just to be able to play great pass defense, it helps us a lot for next week because Sweet Home plays a similar style of offense.`
