In a game of equally talented offenses, Ballston Spa took advantage of a late injury to Schenectady’s top running back and pulled out a 41-34 overtime victory in a Class AA thriller Friday night at Larry Mulvaney Field.
Senior running back Jordan Davis scored his third touchdown of the game, a 25-yard run to the far sidelines after receiving a pitch from quarterback John DeGuardi, for what turned out to be the game-winning play. It was just the second play from scrimmage in overtime.
When Schenectady got its chance in the extra session, the Patriots were playing short-handed. Their top runner, sophomore Felix Rodriquez, left the game with a leg injury with 2:46 left in regulation after rushing for 320 yards on 28 carries. That meant the Patriots had to mix things up with backup running back Rondu Martin and some passes from quarterback Kwame Jarvis.
Schenectady did get a first down on a run by Javar Tillman, but two incomplete passes by Jarvis and an eight-yard sack by Ballston Spa sophomore Will Oates clinched the win for the 2-0 Scotties and left the Patriots 1-1.
“We overcame some turnovers and some key penalties to win that game,” said Ballston Spa coach John Bowen. “That Schenectady team is a very dangerous offensive team, and they are going to score a lot of points this season. They hurt us with a lot of counter plays tonight.
“I thought they had an advantage in several individual matchups tonight, and we knew we had to be as clever as we could be to offset that. We tried to take what they gave us.”
Ballston Spa running back R.J. Borgolini caught a pair of TD passes from DeGuardi and also scored on a 19-yard run for the Scotties.
For Schenectady, the speedy Rodriquez scored on two explosive touchdowns of 68 and 71 yards. Jarvis also threw two scoring strikes and ran for another touchdown to lead Schenectady, which wasted several scoring opportunities deep in Ballston Spa territory.
“We tried to change things up in overtime after Felix went down with the leg injury,” ‘said Schenectady coach Jim Kramer. “I thought it was a case of two good teams battling it out.
“We’re inexperienced and young on offense, but each week we keep on getting better and better. We need to work on our consistency. What you saw was glimpses of great play, but we came up empty on several possessions.
“We’re disappointed, but we’re proud of our effort,” Kramer said.
Except for forcing turnovers, the defenses on both teams took a back seat to their respective offenses.
Schenectady took an early lead after Tyler Depasquale recovered a Ballston Spa fumble. Jarvis capped a six-play, 45-yard drive with a
27-yard slant pass to Jallah Tarver, who finished with nine catches for 129 yards, and Halim Aldhala tacked on the PAT for a 7-0 Schenectady advantage.
But the Scotties came right back and scored on a 40-yard TD pass from DeGuardi to Borgolini. DeGuardi scrambled away from a possible sack, and the ball was deflected before Borgolini picked it out of the air and rambled for the score. There was a bad snap on the PAT, and the Scotties still trailed, 7-6.
Schenectady marched all the way to the Scotties’ 15-yard line on the next possession, but Davis tipped a pass away at the goal line on a fourth-and-11 to keep the Patriots off the board.
Ballston Spa took a 13-7 lead on its next series, DeGuardi hooking up with Borgolini on a two-yard pass.
But Schenectady evened the score at 13-13 on a 22-yard scoring pass from Jarvis to Alex Phann. The PAT was blocked.
Andrew Stawnczy’s interception of Jarvis set up Ballston Spa’s next score, a 15-yard run by Davis.
Schenectady wasted another chance to score just before halftime when Jarvis threw four incomplete passes from the Scotties’ 16-yard line. Jarvis completed 14 of 28 passes for 236 yards
Schenectady had the lone touchdown in the third quarter, tying the game at 20 on a one-yard keeper by Jarvis.
Rodriquez’s 68-yard TD run put Schenectady on top, 27-20, early in the fourth quarter, but a 24-yard run by Borgolini knotted the score once again at 27-27.
Schenectady had to punt the ball away on its next possession, and the Scotties went 54 yards in six plays. Borgolini scored from the 19-yard line for a 34-27 Scotties’ lead.
Schenectady then evened the score once again on a 71-yard TD run by Rodriquez.
Derek Kolberg, who ran for 113 yards on 19 carries, fumbled on the first play of Ballston Spa’s next
series, but Rodriquez was injured on the first play from scrimmage for the Patriots, who ended up punting the ball away from their own 80-yard line.
Ballston Spa ran out the clock to set up the overtime period.
Ballston Spa 6 14 0 14 7 — 41
Schenectady 7 6 7 14 0 — 34
S — Tarver 27 pass from Jarvis (Aldhala kick).
BS — Borgolini 60 pass from DeGuardi (kick failed).
BS — Borgolini 27 pass from DeGuardi (Borgolini kick).
S — Phann 22 pass from Jarvis (kick blocked).
BS — Davis 15 run (Borgolini kick).
S — Jarvis 1 run (Aldhala kick).
S — Rodriquez 68 run (Adhala kick).
BS — Davis 24 run (Borgolini kick).
BS — Borgolini 19 run (Borgolini kick).
S — Rodriquez 71 run (Adhala kick).
BS — Davis 25 run (Borgolini kick).
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports
