SCHUYLERVILLE - As soon as his players wrapped up a methodical 44-6 Class C North victory over Mechanicville on Friday night,
Schuylerville football coach Greg O'Connor adjusted his team's goals for the sixth time this season.
"Now our goal is to be 6-0," O'Connor said after the Black Horses improved to 5-0 overall behind two touchdowns each from Brad Lyon,
Shane Larkin and Austin Bateman.
"During the preseason, our goal was to be 1-0. Last week, our goal was to be 5-0. Now it's 6-0. That's all we care about. Now it's up to how
hard we work in practice this week."
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| Schuylerville's
Shane Larkin runs into the end zone
for a touchdown against
Mechanicville on Friday, Oct. 3, in
Schuylerville. (Times Union) |
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O'Connor's players had to work hard this past week after a 22-21 victory at Class B Broadalbin-Perth last week, and it showed.
"We came out hard in practice. We had a lot of work to get done," said Larkin, a big, tough fullback who scored on an 11-yard run and a 1-yard dive. "The offensive linemen did the most work. They had to fix a few problems. Tonight, they opened holes. The inside run was
working."
Larkin is also the nose guard on a defense that held Mechanicville (2-3) to 51 yards. The only time the Red Raiders scored was against the
Black Horses' junior varsity defense with 35 seconds remaining. Sam Connors scored on fourth-and-one after Mechanicville had recovered a
fumble on the Schuylerville 17.
"They are a fantastic football team," said Red Raiders coach Kevin Collins, whose team has been depleted by injuries. "It was nice for the
young guys to score. They drove down and put one in the end zone. Our kids didn't quit, and I am proud of that."
Bateman completed only two passes on seven attempts, but both passes went for touchdowns to Lyon. The first was a crisp 31-yarder in the
end zone that gave the Black Horses a 7-0 lead with 5:29 left in the first quarter.
Larkin followed that with his two second-quarter touchdown runs, and Bateman connected with Lyons again, this time on a 54-yarder to make
it 27-0 with 3:15 remaining in the half.
At that point Mechanicville switched quarterbacks, but Schuylerville continued its defensive pressure and forced Keenen Che to hurry a pass.
Bateman stepped in front of it and went 27 yards for the touchdown. Dan Ladd kicked a 35-yard field goal with 13 seconds left, and the Black
Horses held a 37-0 halftime lead.
Bateman added a 24-yard run with 8:14 left in the third quarter to make it 44-0. Schuylerville likely could have run the score up much higher,
but O'Connor started clearing the bench on the next series, putting Mike Vargues at quarterback and getting his second string a lot of time.
While Bateman is putting up some loud offensive numbers, he and the rest of the Black Horses' defense have been at the top of their game.
"We're bringing the noise every week," he said. "When we came out tonight, we knew we needed to go from the first whistle to the last
whistle.
"I'm happy for myself, and I'm happy for the team," Bateman added. "It's fun, but we know tomorrow we have to go to work again."
Schuylerville 44, Mechanicville 6
Mech. (2-3) 0 0 0 6 - 6
Schuy. (5-0) 13 24 7 0 - 44
First Quarter
Sch — Lyon 31 pass from Bateman (Black kick), 5:29.
Sch — Larkin 11 run (kick failed), 3:32.
Second Quarter
Sch — Larkin 1 run (pass failed), 5:22.
Sch — Lyon 54 pass from Bateman (Lyon run), 3:15.
Sch — Bateman 27 interception return (Ladd kick), 2:57.
Sch — Ladd 35 field goal, 0:13.
Third Quarter
Sch — Bateman 24 run (Black kick), 8:14.
Fourth Quarter
Mec — Connors 1 run (kick failed), 0:35.
TEAM STATISTICS
Mec Sch
First downs 4 12
Rushing-yards 31-53 33-200
Passing yards 8 85
Comp-Att.-Int. 1-6-1 2-7-0
Punts-ave. 9-29.7 2-34.5
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-21
Penalties-yards 8-50 3-15
RUSHING — Mechanicville: Guynup 10-24, Gaetano 10-32, Che 2-(minus) 11, Harrison 1-(-3), Funaro 6-(-1), Hatalsky 1-1, Connors 1-1.
Schuylerville: Bateman 7-84 Lyon 6-70; Larkin 11-49, 2TD; Ladd 5-31; Vargues 4-(-34).
PASSING — Mechanicville: Gaetano 0-3-1, 0 yards; Che 1-3-0, 8 yards. Schuylerville: Bateman 2-7-0, 85 yards, 2 TD.
RECEIVING — Mechanicville: Branam 1-8. Schuylerville: Lyon 2-85.
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