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

Horses steamroll Tamarac
By BILL TOSCANO
Special to The Post-Star
Saturday, October 25, 2008 1:31 AM EDT
SCHUYLERVILLE - Austin Bateman was all smiles during and after Schuylerville's 60-20 victory over Tamarac in the Section II Football Tournament on Friday night.

Bateman, a junior quarterback, rushed for four touchdowns and threw for three as the 8-0 Black Horses moved into the Class C semifinals.

"I am always smiling when I come through the hole and see that our guys are just knocking those other kids all over the place," said a grinning Bateman, who scored on runs of 73, 37, 21 and 25 yards, all on basically the same play.

Each time, Bateman would fake to his running back, the Bengals' defense would bite on the fake and he would go up the middle behind brutally effective blocking.

"Our line was knocking those kids' socks off. They were blowing people off the field," Bateman said.

Brad Lyon had a pair of touchdowns, a 35-yard run and a 17-yard touchdown return, for the Black Horses, who host the winner of today's Cambridge at Fonda game next Friday. The other Class C semifinal will match Chatham and Watervliet. Chatham was a 70-20 winner over Corinth and Watervliet edged Hoosick Falls, 22-19.

Bateman, who gained 235 yards on 11 carries, was 8-for-17 for 178 yards passing. He hit Zack Dames on touchdown passes of 18 and 43 yards and connected with Claeton Corsetti on a 13-yarder.

"We were just saying that we can score every time he touches the ball," said Schuylerville coach Greg O'Connor. "We had good line play and good blocking. But we've got to get better on pass defense.

Bateman scored on a 73-yard run on the third play of the game, but Tamarac (4-4) scored the first time it touched the ball, on a double-reverse flee-flicker.

Freshman Tyler Larive was alone at midfield when he caught the pass from Nick Knauer. Larive also caught a 26-yarder from David Fox for the game's last touchdown. Fox also connected with Brent Matazinsky on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Fox was 19-for-28 for 216 yards and has 1,152 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season.

Other than those three scores, the Black Horses were dominant, never punting and failing to score on only two of nine possessions -- one at the end of the first half and the other when the junior varsity call-ups lost a fumble. Corsetti had an interception for Schuylerville and Colton Barber recovered a fumble.

The Black Horses, who have scored 217 points in their last four games, finished with 369 yards on the ground and 547 total.

"They are a great team, and they showed a lot of class," said Tamarac coach Erick Roadcap, whose team was playing its first playoff game in 25 years. "We've got a lot of respect for them. Those guys are a great team."

If Cambridge wins today, that would set up a rematch of last week's 49-23 Schuylerville victory. Last season, the Indians beat the Black Horses twice on the way to winning the Section II Super Bowl.

 

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