Perhaps it seems appropriate that a rematch of last year's sectional semi-final between Columbia and Burnt Hills would be played on Friday the 13th. 10 months ago, Burnt Hills defeated Columbia, 41-7, and was coming off a loss to Cornwall in their home opener.
Columbia, meanwhile, upset Class B champ Ravena to open the season, and the Blue Devils had payback on their minds as they welcomed the Spartans to East Greenbush tonight.
Burnt Hills won the coin toss, and deferred to the 2nd half. To say Columbia marched down the field would actually be an understatement. They virtually sprinted down the field, with a series of long runs and pass plays, ending with Anthony Ficarra taking it in from 14 yards out, less than three minutes into the game. However, the extra point clanked off the goalpost, and Columbia led, 7-0, after the first quarter.
The second quarter began with the Blue Devils driving, and quarterback Dylan Maychack found Gavin Belawa in the end zone for a 6 yard touchdown. The 2 point conversion failed, and Columbia went into halftime with a 12-0 lead. It would've been more, but Chris Carter was stripped of the ball as he headed for the end zone by Logan Tomlinson. John Gload recovered to prevent the touchdown.
In the 3rd, Maychack, on a designed run, outran the defense for a 38 yard touchdown. They finally converted a point after, and it was Columbia up, 19-0, heading to the final frame.
Gload put Burnt Hills on the board with a 39 yard run, and added a 2 point conversion. Suddenly, it was a game again at 19-8. Not for long, though. Ficarra closed the scoring with his second touchdown, an 11 yard run, almost halfway through the fourth quarter. However, the extra point failed. A final Burnt Hills drive stalled, and Maychack took a knee twice to seal the 25-8 win.
Burnt Hills hasn't started 0-2 in years, not since the early days of the Matt Shell era. Columbia is now 2-0, and very much a threat in the Capital Division. Averill Park also won tonight, so, before divisional play starts next week, at least for some, there's at least a tie for first.
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