The Daniel and Michelle Larkin Family - Shane's 2008 Football Season
 
10/18/2008
Schuylerville hammers Cambridge 49-23
By: JEFF SCOTT , The Saratogian
SCHUYLERVILLE -  207 yards and a pairWhile outscoring its Class C North opponents, 218-22, over the first five games, the Schuylerville High School football team had little opportunity to see how it would respond to adversity. On Friday, the Black Horses finally got that chance - and passed with flying colors.

Trailing Cambridge by 10 points midway through the second quarter, Schuylerville proceeded to score seven touchdowns in 20 minutes of play, coming back to overwhelm the Indians, 49-23, and complete an undefeated regular season (6-0 league, 7-0 overall) and earn the top seed in sectionals. Cambridge finishes the regular season at 4-2, 4-3.

"Our intensity just wasn't there," running back Brad Lyon said of the Horses' slow start. "We saw the films, and we knew Cambridge was good. But I think we came out with the mentality that we were going to run all over them. But once we put together that first drive, we were able to turn it around."

Lyon led all rushers with 191 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries. The standout junior benefited from the usual outstanding blocking up front. But once in the secondary he proved tough to bring down, making defenders miss and breaking tackles.

"He's a tough runner," Schuylerville coach Greg O'Connor said of Lyon. "He's thin but he's strong. And he's a great competitor. The line makes the backs look good, and the backs make the line look good. They're fun to watch.

"I think it was a case of a little too much homecoming," O'Connor said of his team's slow start. "The kids were all wound up, and it took us a while to get going. And Cambridge was making some plays."

The Indians out-gained the Horses for the game, 341-307. Quarterback Kyle Parmenter completed 18 of 28 passes for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jesse Lybert caught nine of those balls for 127 yards and both scores.

Cambridge scored first on a 10-yard pass from Parmenter to Lybert as time ran out in the opening quarter. A second Indian drive stalled on the Schuylerville 5, with Will Bromirski's 22-yard field goal giving the visitors a 10-0 advantage with 6:28 remaining in the half.

"It was big when we kept them out of the end zone, and they had to settle for a field goal," O'Connor said. "After that, things started rolling and we got some momentum going."

Schuylerville started the next drive from its own 23. Five consecutive running plays produced five straight first downs and a first-and-goal at the Cambridge 8. Shane Larkin (9 carriers for 47 yards) took it in two plays later from the 1.

On the ensuing possession, on fourth-and-1 from its own 30 and less than two minutes in the half, the Indians elected to go for the first down, but Parmenter threw incomplete. Lyon took it from there, first running 12 yards to the 18 and then breaking several tackles in a grinding run up the middle that put the Horses ahead for good at 14-10.

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