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COLONIE - For Schuylerville, the
dream died just before 9 p.m. Friday night, 15 yards
shy of the end zone, the football in the wrong
team's hands.
Tom Ebenhoch's interception with
24 seconds remaining sealed Watervliet's 10-6 Class
C championship victory over the Black Horses at
Christian Brothers Academy, and gave the Cannoneers
their first Section II title since 1997.
It was a stunning upset against a
Schuylerville team that had averaged 45 points and
nearly 300 yards rushing per game. Bigger, quicker
Watervliet (8-2) held the Horses to 107 yards on the
ground and nine first downs -- and off the
scoreboard until the fourth quarter.
"We just got outplayed,
out-hustled, out-hit -- they were the hungrier team
tonight," said Schuylerville head coach Greg
O'Connor, whose team ended its season at 9-1.
"And we weren't very good. We didn't tackle
well. They wanted it more."
"We definitely didn't expect
to hold them to six points," said Watervliet
linebacker Caleb Gleason, who was all over the field
for the Cannoneers. "We came in with a chip on
our shoulder. Nobody picked us to win this at
all."
Thanks to the inspired play of
Gleason and company, nothing the Black Horses tried
on offense seemed to work. In the first half,
Schuylerville managed just 11 yards on offense and
one first down in 12 plays from scrimmage.
The Cannoneers' defensive front of
Justin Oravsky, Justin Chludzinski, Jeremy Lamarche
and Joe Hughes were virtually run-proof, stuffing
the Horses' inside-outside runs that had been wide
open the week before against Fonda.
"They were quicker off the
ball and they were beating us up front,"
O'Connor said. "They were right in our faces,
controlling the line of scrimmage. There were things
open, but we weren't getting the job done up front.
We weren't winning the one-on-ones."
"Just to stop them, the
leading rushing team in Section II, and keep the
ball out of their hands, that was huge,"
Watervliet head coach Erick Bernard said. "Our
kids played tremendous."
Junior quarterback Austin Bateman
led the Horses with 70 yards on 15 carries, and went
5-for-12 passing for 54 yards, mostly in the second
half.
Schuylerville pulled within
striking distance with 8:10 left in the game, as
Bateman cut through on a counter play for a 3-yard
touchdown run, capping a nine-play, 62-yard drive.
However, picking up a low snap on the extra-point
attempt, Bateman overthrew the end zone, leaving
them down 10-6.
The Horses got the ball back with
3:51 remaining at their own 18. Twice, they
converted fourth-down situations, on runs by Bateman
and Brad Lyon, the latter getting across midfield.
With less than a minute to play,
Bateman took a couple of shots at the end zone.
After an incompletion and a holding penalty,
Bateman's final pass was picked off by Ebenhoch at
the Cannoneers' 15, touching off a Watervliet
celebration.
"I'm supposed to drop back
and cover the deep half," Ebenhoch said.
"I knew they had to go deep, and I just broke
on the ball right."
Watervliet had taken advantage of
a short field for a 10-0 halftime lead. After
stuffing Schuylerville deep in its own end, Ian
Kelly returned a punt to the Horses' 19. Six plays
later, Dom Diaz scored from 1 yard out for a 7-0
lead late in the first quarter.
On their next possession, the
Cannoneers tacked on a 25-yard field goal by Gleason
with 5:50 left in the half.
However, Watervliet fared little
better on offense, gaining 198 total yards to
Schuylerville's 161.
"These guys will hurt for a
while, but that's the way it goes," said
O'Connor, whose team lost to Cambridge 21-20 in last
year's Class C sectional final.
Watervliet advances to regional
play next week against Saranac Lake, a 34-21 winner
over Ogdensburg Free Academy on Friday night.
Watervliet (8-2) 7 3 0 0 -- 10
Schuylerville (9-1) 0 0 0 6 -- 6
First quarter
W - Diaz 1 run (Gleason kick),
2:03
Second quarter
W - FG Gleason 25, 5:50
Fourth quarter
S - Bateman 3 run (pass failed),
8:10
TEAM STATISTICS
Wat Sch
First downs 11 9
Rushes-yards 26-91 31-107
Passing yards 107 54
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-19-0 5-12-1
Punts-avg. 4-36.3 5-33.0
Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0
Penalties-yds. 5-35 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Watervliet: C.Hughes
6-50, Gleason 7-19; Diaz 6-4, 1TD; Rice 2-0,
Ahk.Thompson 5-(-2). Schuylerville: Bateman 15-70,
1TD; Larkin 8-23, Lyon 8-14.
PASSING - Watervliet: C.Hughes
12-19-0, 107 yards. Schuylerville: Bateman 5-12-1,
54 yards.
RECEIVING - Watervliet: Ebenhoch
4-21, Rice 4-28, Siler 2-14, Gleason 1-26, Diaz
1-18. Schuylerville: Lyon 3-17, Dames 1-23,
McLenithan 1-14.
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