The Daniel and Michelle Larkin Family - Shane's 2008 Football Season
 

Schuylerville defeats Cambridge 49-23
By BILL TOSCANO
Special to the Post-Star
Saturday, October 18, 2008 3:47 AM EDT
SCHUYLERVILLE - For the first 18 minutes of Friday night's showdown, Cambridge was doing to Schuylerville what the Black Horses had done to the rest of Class C North all season.

The Indians, the defending Section II Class C champions, held a 10-0 lead, had driven down the field three times and held Schuylerville to 11 yards on its first two possessions.

The Black Horses (6-0, 7-0) turned things around on their third possession, punishing the Cambridge with a running game that racked up five consecutive first downs, getting a touchdown, and then scoring the next six times they touched the ball.

Schuylerville finished its unbeaten regular season with a 49-23 thumping of the Indians (4-2, 4-3).

"We were a little stunned," junior running back Brad Lyon said of the early deficit. "I was asking myself, 'What are we doing?' Our intensity wasn't there. We were ghost white, and we were getting scared."

Schuylerville coach Greg O'Connor said all the excitement of homecoming and the big rally had caught up with his team.

"There was too much excitement leading up to the game" he said. "They stopped us on the first series, three-and-out, and the second was three-and-out, but we completed a nice pass. The kids got a little boost, things got rolling, and we got our momentum going."

After the two rocky possessions, Lyon and quarterback Austin Bateman took control. Lyon scored on runs of 18 and 22 yards and finished the game with 13 carries for 191 yards.

Bateman, a junior, scored on runs of one and six yards and ran the Horses' offense to near perfection. Shane Larkin, who finished with nine carries for 50 yards, and Zack Dames, like Larkin, a bruising senior fullback, scored on a 1-yard run. Senior Dan Ladd hit all seven extra points, including a booming kick that came after the Black Horses were hit with a penalty after a touchdown.

Senior Claeton Corsetti, a tough defensive player, came through in the cutch when he took a kickoff back 91 yards for a touchdown after the Indians had cut the lead to 28-17 in the third quarter. Bateman's one-yard run came after senior Greg Petersen blocked a punt and nearly scored himself.

"There has been no sweeter victory this year," said Corsetti about the victory, which was Schuylerville's first since 1984. The teams only play sporadically, and had met eight times in that span.

Next year, Cambridge will be in Class D, and the two teams will not play.

But, they could still meet this season, in two weeks. After the game ended, O'Connor told Cambridge's Doug Luke, "Hey, in two weeks let's do this together again."

For that to happen, Schuylerville will needed to win next week's home game against the loser of today's matchup of Tamarack vs. Watervliet, the fourth-place team in Class C South, and the Indians will have to beat second-seeded Fonda.

In the other two playoff games, Fonda, which went unbeaten in Class C South, hosts Corinth and Hoosick Falls, which finished second in Class C South, losing only to Schuylerville, hosts the Tamarack vs. Watervliet winner.

Schuylverville's comeback spoiled a terrific performance by Cambridge quarterback Kyle Parmenter, who was 18-for-27 for 189 yards, ran for one touchdown and connected on TD passes of 10 and 16 to Jesse Lybert. Freshman Will Bromirski hit two of his three extra points and connected on a 23-yard field goal after missing a 25-yarder. Lybert finished with eight catches for 105 yards.

Luke said he was happy with his team's start, but had expected a tough game from Schuylerville.

"We had to play the perfect game," Luke said. "We did get a couple past them right away. They made a few mistakes, but we couldn't maintain. There were good things we had to do, and we did them for a while. Then reality set in."

Cambridge 7 3 7 6 -- 23

Schuylerville 0 14 28 7 -- 49

First Quarter

C -- Lybert 10 pass from Parmenter, (Bromirski kick), 0:00.

Second Quarter

C -- Bromirski 23 FG.

Sch. -- Larkin 1 run (Ladd kick).

Sch. -- Lyon 18 run (Ladd kick).

Third Quarter

Sch. -- Lyon 22 run (Ladd kick).

Sch. -- Bateman 1 run (Ladd kick).

Cam -- Parmenter 1 run (Bromirski kick)

Sch. -- Corsetti 91 kickoff return (Ladd kick).

Sch. -- Bateman 6 run (Ladd kick).

Fourth Quarter

Sch. -- Dames 1 run (Ladd kick).

Cam. -- Lybert 16 pass from Parementer (kick failed).

Cam Sch

First downs 17 14

Rushing-yards 26-142 34-300

Passing yards 189 17

Comp-Att.-Int. 18-27-0 1-1-0

Punts-ave. 3-24 2-28

Fumbles-lost 1-1 31

Penalties-yards 4-26 4-41

RUSHING -- Cambridge: Butler 7-31, Bell 12-41, Parmenter, 7-68, 1TD. Schuylerville: Ladd 1-8, Larkin 9-50, 1 TD, Lyon 13-191, 2 TD, Bateman 8-31, 2 TD, Dames 3-20, 1 TD.

PASSING -- . Cambridge: Parmenter 18-27-0-189, 2 TDs. Schuylerville: Bateman 1-1-0-17.

RECEIVING -- Cambridge: Ferguson 1-12, Butler 4-44, Lybert 8-105, 2 TDs, Bell 1-12, Carle 4-42. Clark 1-3.

Missed FG - Ca., Bromirski 25.

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