Friday, September 10, 2010

Panthers turn the lights out in Mechanicville; 'Vliet romps at CCHS; Section II high school football scoreboard, Sept. 10

Panthers spoil the party
Hoosick Falls shuts out Mechanicville in Red Raiders’ first night game in nine years

MECHANICVILLE -- An hour before Friday’s game, David Couch prowled around the football field at Mechanicville High School, eyes squinted and fists clenched, ready for action.

During the playing of the national anthem, Couch, a junior offensive guard and inside linebacker, had to excuse himself from the Hoosick Falls sidelines. He was dry-heaving and crouched down behind the Panthers bench to get his breath.

Yet on the first play of the game, Couch buried Mechanicville running back David Funaro with a thunderous hit at the line of scrimmage that set the tone for the rest of the game. The Hoosick Falls defense held the Red Raiders to 32 total yards and senior quarterback Mike Brewster passed for 146 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-0 Class C North Division victory on Coach Ted Weigle Memorial Field.

"I get kind of nervous before every game," Couch grinned. "I get too excited, I get too wound up and I get myself all choked up. Just about every game I do that. But after I get that first hit out of the way, it’s all downhill from there."

Hoosick Falls junior David Couch (51_ looks to make a tackle as a Mechanicville lineman bears down for a block during Friday's game at Mechanicville. (Photo by Mike McMahon - The Record).

Hoosick Falls (2-0, 2-0) forced Mechanicville to punt after three plays on its first drive and Brewster connected with Randy Tutunjian on a 22-yard scoring strike on the fourth play of the Panthers’ ensuing drive.

After forcing another three-and-out, Hoosick Falls scored on the first play of its second offensive drive, as Brad Burns scampered 57 yards to the end zone.

Brad Burns (35) looks for running room as Garrett Foster (53) blocks a would-be Mechanicville tackler during Friday's game. (McMahon photo - The Record).

"I try to make the first hit on the first play of the game so I’m ready to go for the whole game," Couch said. "I don’t want to be gagging up on the field at all."

On the Panthers’ third drive of the first quarter, Tanner Williams ran 11 yards for a touchdown on the fourth play after Hoosick Falls had forced another Mechanicville three-and-out.

Hoosick Falls senior quarterback Mike Brewster eludes a would-be Mechanicville tackler during Friday's game. (McMahon photo - The Record).

"We’ve had a lot of big plays and when we start playing some really good teams, we’re going to have to develop longer drives," Brewster said. "It’s something we’re going to have to keep working on in practice and keep up the pace."

Erick Mulready provided two sacks for the Panthers and Steve Colvin added one sack.

Erick Mulready climbs on board Mechanicville quarterback Sal Cimino for a sack during Friday's game. (McMahon photo - The Record).

Mechanicville (0-1, 0-2), which was hosting its first Friday night game in nine years – the Red Raiders have played home games on Saturday afternoons in recent times – made just three first downs in Friday’s game. One came via a Hoosick Falls penalty. The Red Raiders, who fell 21-0 to Voorheesville in Week One, have yet to score a point in the 2010 season.

John Abele paced Mechanicville with a team-high 37 rushing yards on nine attempts.


For Hoosick Falls, Brad Burns led the way on the ground with 95 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Junior Tanner Williams, primarily a receiving threat a season ago, added 121 all-purpose yards (96 receiving, 25 rushing) for the Panthers.

"It’s a lot more pounding you take, but our line is doing a good job this year and we’re getting yards, getting big plays and breaking them," Williams said.

Tanner Williams looks for running room during Friday night's game against Mechanicville. (McMahon photo - The Record).

Hoosick Falls began its Section II Class C Super Bowl title defense with a 48-20 victory over Corinth in Week One, but the Panthers took a major step forward Friday night, especially with their discipline on defense.

"We just asked them to play within themselves tonight," said head coach Ron Jones. "They did. Our defense was just amazing.

"Last week they were trying to make everything a big hit," Jones continued. "Tonight, let’s make everything a tackle. That’s what I asked them to do before the game and I think they did a great job of that."

HOOSICK FALLS 42, MECHANICVILLE 0
Hoosick Falls (2-0, 2-0) 21 7 7 7 - 42
Mechanicville (0-1, 0-2) 0 0 0 0 - 0

First Quarter
HF - Randy Tutunjian 22 pass from Mike Brewster (Quinn Rasmus kick) 8:20
HF - Brad Burns 57 run (Rasmus kick wide left) 5:45
HF - Tanner Williams 11 run (Williams run) 2:23
Second Quarter
HF - Williams 49 pass from Brewster (Rasmus kick) 11:01
Third Quarter
HF -
Williams 32 pass from Brewster (Rasmus kick) 6:53
Fourth Quarter
HF -
Mike Mattat 3 run (Rasmus kick) 5:10
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Hoosick Falls (33-216): Burns 11-95, Williams 4-25, Brewster 4-11, Brogue 7-44, Sargood 2-18, Mattat 5-23. Mechanicville (32-25) Funaro 11-12, Abele 9-37, Dunn 5-5, Cimino 5-(-23), Williams 2-(-6).
Passing: Hoosick Falls: Brewster 6-9-146-2-0. Mechanicville: Cimino 2-10-7-0-0.
Receiving: Hoosick Falls (6-146): Williams 4-96, Tutunjian 1-22, Burns 1-28. Mechanicville (2-7): Funaro 1-7, Grayson 1-0.

--
In Lansingburgh, Brien Bouyea covered the Watervliet/Catholic Central game for us. Here is an excerpt from his story.

TROY -- Ryan Manning says the Watervliet High School foot¬ball team has a simple approach on the gridiron.

"We bleed garnet and we sweat gray," Manning, a senior captain, said in reference to his team’s colors. "When you play for Watervliet you are expected to leave everything you have on the field. That’s what we are all about. We don’t want to leave the field with the feeling that we didn’t play to our potential."

Watervliet senior running back Ryan Manning (32) looks for running room against the Catholic Central defense Friday night. (McMahon photo - The Record).

It took the Cannoneers some time to rise to their talent level on Friday night, but once they did Catholic Central had no answers. Manning scored three touchdowns, junior quarterback Brandon Legault passed for a pair of TDs and Watervliet’s defense registered four interceptions en route to a 40-7 Class C South Division drubbing of the Crusaders at Carley Field.

Watervliet's Eric Clemons gets his hands on Catholic Central quarterback Mike Sunkes during Friday's game. (McMahon photo - The Record).

Manning scored on a 19-yard pass from Legault in the first quarter and then found the end zone on runs of 6 yards and 1 yard in the second quarter to stake the Cannoneers (2-0, 2-0) to a 21-7 lead at the half.

Watervliet's Pat Ebenhoch (7) makes a tackle on CCHS quarterback Mike Sunkes during Friday's game. (McMahon photo - The Record).

"It took us some time to get rolling, but we made some big plays and did what we needed to do," said Manning, who rushed for 68 yards on 11 carries and hauled in four passes for 82 yards. "It all started up front with our line. Those guys really wore them down and did all the dirty work for us. They deserve a lot of credit."

Watervliet players (left) and Catholic Central players (right) meet in a scrum on the field Friday night. (McMahon photo - The Record).

WATERVLIET 40, CATHOLIC CENTRAL 7
Watervliet (2-0, 2-0)......................................7 14 7 13 - 40
Catholic Central (0-2, 0-2)............................7 0 0 0 - 7
First Quarter
W - Ryan Manning 19 pass from Brandon Legault (Shevon Sneith kick), 7:08.
C - Tyler McLeod 33 pass from Mike Sunkes (Sunkes kick), 0:16.
Second Quarter
W - Manning 6 run (Sneith kick), 6:46.
W - Manning 1 run (Sneith kick), 1:01.
Third Quarter
W - Andre Williams 7 run (Sneith kick), 3:54.
Fourth Quarter
W - Pat Ebenhoch 3 pass from Legault (kick failed), 9:47.
W - Sean Daley 48 interception return (run failed), 2:25.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: W - Ryan Manning 11-68, Andre Williams 11-55, Brandon Legault 1-(-11), Nick Brown 5-51; C - Ryan Gratton 4-(-13), Anthony Marchese 2-7, Tyler Gaston 6-30, Mike Sunkes 7-(-5), Tyler Gagnon 1-0, Tyler McLeod 1-(-4).
PASSING: W - Brandon Legault 12-20-0-199; C - Mike Sunkes 6-15-3-85, Tyler Gaston 2-5-1-14.
RECEIVING: W - Antonio Lind 2-39, Ryan Manning 4-82, Pat Ebenhoch 3-17, Tom Sczepanski 2-33, Andre Williams 1-28; C - Ryan Gratton 4-46, Tyler McLeod 4-53.

Saratoga Springs' Landon Moore attempts to tackle a Ballston Spa ballcarrier, but the Scotties won the game, 21-20. (Photo courtesy The Saratogian).

Section II scoreboard
WEEK TWO
TONIGHT
Class AA
Liberty Division
Niskayuna 34, Columbia 28 (OT)
Empire Division
Ballston Spa 21, Saratoga Springs 20
Shaker 28, Schenectady 21
Non-division
Guilderland 28, La Salle 13
Class A
Non-division
Glens Falls 46, Bishop Maginn 31
Amsterdam 48, Broadalbin-Perth 0
S.Glens Falls 27, Scotia-Glenville 0
Burnt Hills 42, Averill Park 0
Lansingburgh 35, Gloversville 28
Class B
Non-division
Cobleskill 40, Cairo-Durham 0
Schuylerville 41, Cohoes 7
Stillwater 27, Ichabod Crane 18
Ravena 44, Johnstown 12
Schalmont 34, Hudson 7

Cohoes's Eric Maxwell attempts to bring down a Schuylerville ballcarrier during Friday's game. Schuylerville won, 41-7. (Photo courtesy The Saratogian).

Class C
North Division
Hoos. Falls 42, Mechanicville 0
South Division
Watervliet 40, CCHS 7
Coxsackie at Taconic Hills 7 p.m.
Chatham 28, Canajoharie 0
Class D
Rensselaer 34, Fort Edward 22

TOMORROW
Sat., Sept. 11
Class AA
Empire Division
CBA at Bethlehem 1:30 p.m.
Liberty Division
Shen at Albany 1:30 p.m.
Colonie at Troy 1:30 p.m.
Class A
Non-division
Mohon at Queensbury 1:30 p.m.
Class B
Non-division
Hudson Falls at 1:30 p.m.
Class C
South Division
Voorheesville at Fonda 1 p.m.
North Division
Greenwich at Granville 1 p.m.
Tamarac at Hoosic Valley 1 p.m.
Class D
Cambridge at Whitehall 1 p.m.
Warrensburg at Salem 1 p.m.

Check back Saturday for more updates, pictures and videos. Also be sure to check out our next live chat Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

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