The Record Blogs: Off the Record: Road Warriors: Shen shocks Shaker, 48-6

Shenendehowa senior tight end David Boyle catches a touchdown pass as Shaker's Chris Landers, who in fact tipped the ball right into Boyle's hands, during Friday's Section II Class AA quarterfinal game at Shaker. (Photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

LATHAM — After losing its final two regular season games at home, the Shenendehowa High School football team, which at one point looked like a lock as the Empire Division’s No. 1 seed, lost out on hosting a Section II Class AA quarterfinal round playoff game.

That wound up being no problem at all for the road warriors.

Undefeated away from home this season, the Plainsmen played at Liberty Division No. 2 seed Shaker High Friday night. Shenendehowa used 197 all-purpose offensive yards and five total touchdowns from senior running back Bronson Greene to post a 48-6 victory on Arthur E. Walker Field at Shaker High School.

Shenendehowa senior running back and defensive back Bronson Greene runs with the football during Friday's game at Shaker. He scored five touchdowns in the 48-6 victory.

Shenendehowa (6-2), the Empire Division’s No. 3 seed, is now 5-0 on the road and just 1-2 at Steuerwald Stadium.

“I think we looked at it as two different seasons,” said Shenendehowa head coach Brent Steuerwald. “That season was over and now it’s a new season. We’re into the playoffs. It’s a brand-new season, a brand-new start.”

For video highlights from Friday's game, visit www.troyrecord.com/video/sports

The Plainsmen will hit the road again Friday night to take on Empire Division No. 1 seed Ballston Spa (6-2) in a Class AA semifinal. Shen defeated the Scotties 7-0 at home in Week Three of the regular season.

“We’re road warriors. That puts us in a position where it’s not a novelty or a concern anymore,” said Steuerwald. “It’s a good attitude to have. It’s fun to play at home, but it’s really fun to win on the road.”

Greene put Shen on the board with a 40-yard touchdown run on the Plainsmen’s first drive of the game, but Shaker responded with an 11-play scoring drive.

Ted Van Galen connected with David Boyle on a 25-yard touchdown strike with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter and Greene scored three times in the final 3:57 of the second as the Plainsmen pulled away for good.

“We had been saying if we lose this game, it was going to knock us out of the playoffs and we were going to end up like we had the last two years and no one wants to end up like that,” Greene, pictured at right, said. “What we’ve really been doing is picking ourselves up in practice. We had a great week of practice and we’ve just been going and using all the momentum we had.”

Following Shen’s 14-play scoring drive, which featured an 11-yard run by Greene on a fake punt attempt and ate up six and one half minutes of game clock, Tyler Rajeski sacked Shaker quarterback Ben Capeless for an eight-yard loss that led to a Blue Bison punt. Chris Walrath broke off a 78-yard run on the first play of Shen’s ensuing drive and Greene scored from five yards out on the very next play.

Shaker senior running back Conor Alund looks to make a move on Shenendehowa defensive back Kevin Hulbert during Friday's Class AA quarterfinal game at Shaker.

Shaker (6-2) threw three straight incomplete passes on its subsequent drive and Greene returned a punt 38 yards to the Shaker 14-yard line with 12 seconds remaining before halftime. Van Galen connected with Greene on a 14-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

Greene carried the ball 22 times for 171 yards and caught a pair of passes for 26 yards. Shen gained 342 rushing yards on 47 attempts.

“Bronson has been very consistent all year,” Steuerwald, pictured at left, said. “He’s a young man that gives us a top effort. We’re asking him to do everything but drive the bus home. He’s on offense, he’s on defense and he’s been a very good leader by his example as much as anything else.”

“In practice, we’ve been talking about the Super Bowl all week,” said Greene. “The seniors are really hyped up and we all want to go out there and be able to have a great senior year.”

Shaker's Kyle Bernard (30) runs with the ball as Shenendehowa's Jake Kelley (46) attempts to make a tackle during Friday's game.

SHENENDEHOWA 48, SHAKER 6

Shenendehowa (6-2) 12 22 7 7 — 48
Shaker (6-2) 6 0 0 0 — 6
First Quarter
Shen — Bronson Greene 40 run (Jared Rivet kick failed) 7:03
Shaker — Conor Alund 2 run (Matt Whalen kick failed) 1:41
Shen — David Boyle 25 pass from Ted Van Galen (Brandon Miller kick failed) 0:13
Second Quarter
Shen — Greene 1 run (Miller pass from Van Galen) 3:57
Shen — Greene 5 run (Rivet kick) 0:54
Shen — Greene 14 pass from Van Galen (Rivet kick) 0:04
Third Quarter
Shen — Greene 13 run (Rivet kick) 1:10
Fourth Quarter
Shen — Chris Walrath 1 run (Rivet kick) 7:50
Individual Stats:
Rushing: Shen (47-342): Greene 22-171, Walrath 11-118, Fusco 3-20, Gailor 2-11, Schilling 3-10, Sutton 2-6, Van Galen 1-2, Neumann 1-2, Buchanan 1-1, McCart 1-1. Shaker (34-130): Alund 18-101, Bernard 10-22, Maxwell 1-9, Souza 1-1, Capeless 4-(-3).
Passing: Shen: Van Galen 3-6-51-2-0. Shaker: Capeless 5-15-39-0-2.
Receiving: Shen (3-51): Greene 2-26, Boyle 1-25. Shaker (5-39): Sherwin 2-22, Kisselback 1-7, Hyatt 1-6, Alund 1-4.

Brien Bouyea covered the Queensbury at Averill Park game for us. Here is an excerpt from his story, but for the full scoop, check out Saturday's edition of The Record.

AVERILL PARK -- The recipe for disaster read like this for the Averill Park football team on Friday night: lost fumble, punt, interception, interception and interception. Those were the results of the Warriors’ five offensive possessions in the second half of their Class A quarterfinal against Queensbury.

The outcome was predictable.

The Spartans scored a pair of second-half touchdowns and took advantage of numerous Averill Park turnovers and other assorted gaffes en route to a 22-7 victory in the Section II playoffs, ending the Warriors hopes of a deep postseason run.

"It’s disappointing because we did some things well out there, but the turnovers were too much to overcome," Averill Park head coach Zach Gobel said. "We set up both of their touchdowns in the second half with our mistakes. This really could have been a different game."

The Ballston Spa High School football team runs onto the field Friday night prior to its game against Schenectady. (Photos courtsey The Saratogian).

Friday's roundup:

TROY -- No. 1-seeded Lansingburgh High (7-1) won its Section II Class A quarterfinal game against No. 4 Gloversville, 24-15 Friday night at Lansingburgh High School.
Marcus Little got the Knights offense going with an 80-yard touchdown run. Anthony Fogarty added a 90 yard kick return to put the Knights ahead for good.
Bishop Maginn 35, Amsterdam 21: The Griffins (5-3) shocked the Rugged Rams (6-2) in a Section II Class A quarterfinal game in Amsterdam.
Bishop Maginn will play at Lansingburgh in a Class A semifinal next week.
Burnt Hills 49, Glens Falls 6: Evan Nusbaum put the Spartans (8-0) on the board with first quarter touchdown runs of 58 and two yards during a Section II Class A quarterfinal contest.
Keaton Flint added a 60 yard touchdown run in the second quar¬ter. Brandon Beatty rushed for back to back scores from six and 14 yard out. Nusbaum finished with 146 yards on eight carries while Flint ran for 125 yards on four carries.
Glens Falls dropped to 3-5.

Class AA
Ballston Spa 27, Schenectady 21: The Empire Division’s No. 1 seed Ballston Spa survived with a victory over visiting Schenectady. Scotties quarterback Troy Gargiulo threw a 30 yard touchdown toss to Kyle Warmt in the first and ran for a 29 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Patriots (3-5) tied the game at 14 in the third quarter after back to back touchdown runs.
Warmt rushed for 73 yards on 13 carries for two touchdowns. Gargiulo ran for 190 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown.
Ballston Spa (6-2) will host Shenendehowa (6-2) in a semifinal next week.
Niskayuna 34, Saratoga Springs 27: The Silver Warriors (5-3) continued their torrid pace, topping Empire Division No. 2 seed Saratoga Springs (4-4) in a Class AA quarterfinal.
Niskayuna will play the winner of today’s Troy High vs. Christian Brothers Academy game in a Class AA semifinal.

Class B
Ravena 13, Cobleskill 7: Cameron Greco scored the game-winning touchdown from four yards out as Ravena posted a Class B quarterfinal victory over Cobleskill.
The Bulldogs (4-4) took an early second quarter lead on a one yard touchdown run by Nate Prezorski.
The Indians (7-1) answered in the third quarter with a nine yard touchdown toss from Tyler Swart to Aaron Stewart.
Schalmont 59, Cairo-Durham 6: The Sabres (8-0) remained undefeated with a Class B quarterfinal victory over the Mustangs (1-7).

Class C
Hoosick Falls 42, Watervliet 0: The Panthers won a Class C quarterfinal game to improve to 8-0.
Tanner Williams returned an 85 yard interception for a touch¬down and Brad Burns scored on a 25 yard run to stake the Panthers to a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Burns caught a 65 yard touchdown pass from Mike Brewster in the second quarter and ran for a 64 yard score to start the third quarter.
Brewster completed seven of 12 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Watervliet (4-4) was held to 126 yards of total offense.
Chatham 48, Tamarac 20: Tanner Niles threw four touch¬down passes to Ian McGrath totaling 132 yards and Josh Keyes ran for two first quarter touchdowns in a quarterfinals triumph for Chatham (8-0).
Tamarac (5-3) quarterback Nick Casale completed 11 of 26 passes for 161 and two touchdowns. Tyler Larvie caught one of Casale’s touchdown tosses.
Greenwich 14, Voorheesville 8: The Witches (6-2) held off the Blackbirds (5-3) in a Class C quarterfinal contest.
Greenwich, the North Division’s No. 2 seed, plays at South Division No. 1 Chatham next week in a semifinal.

Class D
Whitehall 40, Warrensburg 20: The Railroaders (5-2), the No. 3 seed in Class C, moved on to a semifinal game against No. 2 Rensselaer with a victory over No. 6 Warrensburg (1-6).

A Ballston Spa ballcarrier looks for running room against Schenectady Friday night in a Section II Class AA quarterfinal game.

Crossover games
Bethlehem 24, Columbia 14: Mike Strohecker rushed for 122 yards on 25 attempts as the Eagles won a crossover game against the Blue Devils.
Jon Martin booted a school-record 49-yard field goal for Bethlehem.

Mohonasen 54, South Glens Falls 34: The Mighty Warriors notched their first win of the season in a crossover game over the Bulldogs.
Guilderland 25, Colonie 7: The Dutchmen raced out to a 12-0 first quarter lead and held on for a crossover victory.

Tim O’Connor rushed for 66 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Dylan August caught a Ryan Smith pass for a touchdown. Smith completed ten of 20 passes for 145 yards.
Davion Brink ran for 60 yards on 14 carries for Colonie.
La Salle 33, Albany 13: Iquan Ward ran for three touchdowns to lead the Cadets in a crossover game.
The Falcons took an early lead on a 30 yard touchdown run by Devan McCray.
Kevin Koberger scored on a 68 yard run in the third quarter and Josh Landy sealed it for LaSalle with a six yard touchdown run.
Stillwater 40, Salem 13: Nick Dunn threw for three touchdown passes to lead Stillwater (4-4) to victory in a crossover contest.
Rick McBride caught two of Dunn’s touchdown tosses and Brett Smith hauled in the other. Aaron Tanner added a two yard touchdown run for the Indians.
Corinth 34, CCHS 28: Catholic Central’s Tyler Gaston completed 19 of 28 passes for 293 yards, throwing for three touchdowns and running for one in the losing effort.
CCHS’ Brett Fenton caught five passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns while Ryan Gratton caught six passes for 79 yards and one touchdown.

Canajoharie 16, Rensselaer 0: The Rams dropped a crossover game to the Cougars, but Rensselaer will face Whitehall in the Section II Class D semifinals next weekend.
Coxsackie-Athens 46, Johnstown 8: The Indians (3-5) posted a big crossover victory over the Sir Bills (0-8).
Taconic Hills 26, Hoosic Valley 0: The Titans (2-6) topped the Indians (0-8) in crossover action.