The Lansingburgh Knights brought their shovels to Saturday's Class B Super Bowl against Schalmont, digging themselves a hole from which they would never escape.

Schalmont scored three first quarter touchdowns and took a 28-0 lead into halftime, cruising to a 35-20 victory over the Knights on Larry Mulvaney Field at Schenectady High School. It was the first Super Bowl championship in Schalmont history.

"I just tried to tell them that today the better team won," said Lansingburgh head coach Al McNall. "Let’s face it, they came out on fire and we came out a little flat. I tried to explain to them that we battled adversity for the last month. We lost two key starters on defense, but there are no excuses. Schalmont improved from Day 1 and from week-to-week and we knew it was going to be a test for us today when we came in here."

Lansingburgh senior quarterback T.J. McLaughlin points to his target during Saturday's Section II Class B Super Bowl at Schenectady High School. (Photos by Tom Killips - The Record).

A Lansingburgh cheerleader reacts to the score.

Lansingburgh's Kynan Vandenburgh celebrates with quarterback T.J. McLaughlin (7) after connecting on a touchdown pass in the second half. Vandenburgh, in fact, caught a pair of touchdown passes from McLaughlin.

Kynan Vandenburgh looks for running room downfield after catching a pass from quarterback T.J. McLaughlin.

Lansingburgh's Collin Billingsley (23) attempts to defend a pass intended for Schalmont's Jaren Ramundo.

Lansingburgh's Aunje Newell returns a Schalmont kickoff during Saturday's Class B Super Bowl at Schenectady.

Lansingburgh head coach Al McNall can't believe what he's hearing from the officials during Saturday's game against Schalmont.

Schalmont head coach Joe Whipple (left) is congratulated by Lansingburgh head coach Al McNall after the Sabres won the 2009 Class B Super Bowl. Three weeks ago, the Sabres won the first postseason game in school history and wrapped that run in the Section II postseason with their first-ever Super Bowl title.

Schalmont (8-2) advances to face Beekmantown (9-0) in a New York State regional round contest Friday at Plattsburgh High School.

Lansingburgh (8-2) has appeared in a Section II Super Bowl seven of the past eight seasons.

"We knew it was going to be a battle," McNall said. "Joe (Whipple, Schalmont head coach) had them ready and they came out on top. They’re a good football team and they’ll represent the section well in the Bs."

A season ago, the Sabres won the West Division but were upset in the Class B quarterfinals by Hudson. Senior quarterback Vince Gallo, who is likely to go down as one of the top 10 rushers in Section II history, has rushed for 1,977 yards on 262 attempts this season.

"This is really great," Gallo said. "From what happened last year when we lost our first playoff game, I knew I had to have a good senior year coming back. I was going to give it everything I had to make sure that didn’t happen this year."

SCHALMONT 35, LANSINGBURGH 20

Lansingburgh (8-2) 0 0 6 14 – 20
Schalmont (8-2) 21 7 7 0 - 35

First Quarter

S – DaShawn Banks 65 run (J.J. Murphy kick) 11:08
S – Jaren Ramundo 38 run (Murphy kick) 7:34
S – Vince Gallo 1 run (Murphy kick) 4:26

Second Quarter

S – Banks 5 run (Murphy kick) 10:36

Third Quarter

L – Kynan Vandenburgh 21 pass from T.J. McLaughlin (kick failed) 4:31
S – Gallo 33 run (Murphy kick) 0:56

Fourth Quarter

L – Vandenburgh 47 pass from McLaughlin (run failed) 10:41
L – Terrance Kemp 48 pass from McLaughlin (Kemp pass from McLaughlin) 2:41

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Lansingburgh (31-143): Gordon 3-12, Nichols 14-68, Kemp 5-43, McLaughlin 6-7,Little 1-4, Turner 2-9. Schalmont (51-310): Gallo 30-133, Ramundo 7-63, Banks 12-98, Beltran 2-16.
Passing: Lansingburgh: McLaughlin 5-13-137-3-1. Schalmont: Gallo 2-5-63-0-2.
Receiving: Lansingburgh (5-137): Vandenburgh 3-77, Kemp 1-48, Gordon 1-12. Schalmont (2-63): Ramundo 1-24, Beltran 1-39.