High School Fridays: Puppy chow (Shaker @ Ballston Spa, 10/13)

 Friday Night Matchup was in Ballston Spa this week for a Class AA match between Shaker and Ballston Spa. It was a tale of two games, really. Literally.

Ballston Spa took the opening kickoff, but was forced to punt. After a Shaker punt, the Scotties went down the field, leading to QB Nico Savini scoring a touchdown. With no kicking game due to injuries, Savini ran it in himself for a 2 point conversion. The Scotties led, 8-0, after the 1st quarter.

Shaker finished the frame with a drive of their own. Rhys Lewis got them to the Ballston Spa 1 yard line to end the quarter, and on the 1st play of the 2nd quarter, Marcus Snipes, Jr. ran it in. However, the extra point was no good, and the Bison trailed by 2 at 8-6.

Four minutes later, Savini scored his 2nd touchdown, but the 2 point conversion failed this time, and Ballston Spa had boosted the lead to 14-6. However, with under 2 minute to go in the half, Asion Cancer got the Bison back within 2 with a 15 yard touchdown. Unfortunately, a 2 point conversion failed here, too, and we went to the break with the Scotties up, 14-12.

The second half was all Shaker. With the 3rd quarter almost halfway gone, Shaker's Parrish Tune ran it in from 15 yards out. Dallas Mutziker ran it in for the 2 point conversion, and Shaker took the lead for good at 20-14 with just one quarter to go.

In the 4th quarter, Mutziker struck again, this time breaking off a 40 yard run to paydirt. With the extra point, Shaker now led, 27-14.

With their starters playing both offense & defense, Ballston Spa ran out of energy, and it showed. After a Savini fumble, Snipes punched it in from the 1 again. Four minutes later, Dylan DeBiccary closed the scoring with a 15 yard run.

What did in Savini and the Scotties, besides the loss of energy, was turnovers. Savini threw three interceptions in addition to losing the fumble, and Shaker converted it into 20 points. Shaker moves into 3rd place in Class AA with a 41-14 win. Ballston Spa, presently, is the #4 seed. The Scotties will play Schenectady next week before closing the regular season with CBA. Shaker, meanwhile, will return home for the final two weeks, starting with Guilderland, then Schenectady.

Other action:

Averill Park 27, LaSalle 17.

Raven 45, Lansingburgh 7.

South Glens Falls 38, Mohonasen 26.

Glens Falls 47, Scotia-Glenville 13.
Hoosick Falls-Tamarac 19, Schuylerville 7.

Amsterdam 41, Troy 18. At least Troy (0-6) scored.

Broadalbin-Perth 25, Gloversville 23.