A year ago, a humiliating loss to Niskayuna proved to be a blessing in disguise for Averill Park, as they eventually won the Class A Capital Division title.
After losing to Bethlehem last week, Zach Gobel's club knew they needed a similar bounce-back to get back into the division title hunt.
Averill Park is still the Warriors until the end of the school year. Next season, they'll be known as the Golden Knights, and, so, tonight's game at Columbia would mark the end of an era, as the two way trophy, a devil's trident on one side, a spear on the other, would be on the line one final time, unless they want to keep the trophy intact.
Averill Park won the toss, and opted to defer to the second half. So the Blue Devils marched down the field, with Anthony Ficarra taking it in from 3 yards out to take the early lead. The extra point was no good, however.
Back came Averill Park. With the Columbia defense keying on senior Jacob Phelps, Drew Canaday ran it in from 3 yards out himself, but the 2 point conversion failed, leaving the score tied at 6 at the end of the 1st quarter, and through halftime.
Taking the 2nd half kickoff, Averill Park didn't waste much time reclaiming the lead, as Shawn Ratigan caught a 3 yard TD from Blake Kilgallon. However, the 2 point conversion failed again, leaving the score at 12-6, in favor of the Warriors, heading into the 4th quarter.
On the first play, Phelps galloped in from 18 yards, then added the 2 point conversion, stretching the lead to 20-6. Back came the Blue Devils, as Ficarra closed the scoring with his 2nd touchdown of the game, this time from 8 yards. This time, the PAT worked, and Columbia closed to 20-13. Unfortuntately for coach Jake Preston, that's where the game ended.
Columbia falls to 4-1 (2-1 Capital Division). Averill Park goes to 3-2 (2-1 Capital Division). Bethlehem (2-1 overall) could swoop in to take the division lead with a win over Amsterdam tomorrow. Averill Park takes on Shaker next week, then finishes with LaSalle and Troy.
Other scores:
Glens Falls 41, Gloversville 0.
Shaker 67, Albany 8.
Saratoga 42, Colonie 0.
CBA 54, Schenectady 0.
Granville-Whitehall 49, Corinth-Hadley-Luzerne 0.
Cobleskill-Richmondville 50, Scotia-Glenville 0.
Shenendehowa 28, Ballston Spa 6.
Niskayuna 21, Guilderland 7.
Lansingburgh 14, Cohoes 13.
Fonda-Fultonville 21, Ravena 7.
Burnt Hills 22, Queensbury 21.
Mohonasen 20, South Glens Falls 16.
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