Patriots stymie Raiders, 33-21

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bill Buell

With his team holding a 14-point lead and only 5:23 left in the game, all Schenectady coach Jim Kramer wanted to do was run out the clock.

Junior tailback Hassan Rainey, however, and a Patriots’ offensive line led by juniors Dan Williams and Justin Richards, had other ideas.

On first-and-10 at his own 20 following an interception by Trent Wheeler, Rainey took a handoff from quarterback Kwame Jarvis and ran through a gaping hole and kept on going for an 80-yard touchdown, cementing the Patriots’ 33-21 victory at Colonie Friday night.

Rainey’s long run gave Schenectady a 33-13 advantage with 5:12 left in the game, before Colonie pushed in a touchdown late in the game against the Patriot reserves. The victory evened Schenectady’s Liberty Division record at 1-1 and improved their overall mark to 2-1.

Colonie 1-2 in the Liberty Division and 1-2 overall, ran the ball well in the first half behind Devon Edwards and Wayne Burt, and was up, 13-7, with under four minutes left in the second quarter. That was when Jarvis got hot, however, completing four straight passes to spark a five-play, 55-yard drive.

After a 19-yard reception by Alex Phann moved the ball deep into Colonie territory, Jarvis hit Felix Rodriguez for an eight-yard pickup and then a 16-yard touchdown, Nakia Boozer’s point after giving the visitors a 14-13 lead with 2:12 left in the half.

Behind two long runs by Edwards, Colonie moved deep into Schenectady territory, but Eugene Kupiec’s fourth-down pass attempt to Jayson Campbell was well defended by Phann, helping the Patriots hang on to their one-point lead at intermission.

On Schenectady’s first play of the third period, Jarvis hit Rodriguez again for a eight-yard pickup, and on the next play, with the Colonie secondary concentrating on Rodriguez, Jarvis fired a perfect strike to Phann for a 45-yard touchdown and a 20-13 lead less than four minutes into the second half.

“Coach called the play, and we knew they were coming up close because they were thinking about Felix,” said Jarvis, who had six straight completions during the middle two quarters. “The line protected me, I had all the time in the world, and I just put it out there to Alex.”

Schenectady built a 14-point lead early in the fourth period by taking the ball 71 yards in eight plays, Rodriguez getting the touchdown on a 28-yard run with 11:13 left to play. The two teams traded punts on their next two possessions, and then Wheeler’s interception of

Kupiec’s long pass set the stage for Rainey’s 80-yard touchdown.

“We challenged the kids at halftime, and they came out and showed some character and put forth a great team effort,” said Kramer. “We made a few minor changes at the half, and defensively, we just did a better job of being aggressive. They have some very talented runners, but we did a better job of coming up and tackling in the second half.”

Jarvis finished with 10 completions in 16 attempts for 136 yards.

In the first half, Edwards’ 114 yards on 11 carries helped Colonie out to an early lead, but with 9:27 left in the second quarter Rodriguez intercepted a Raider pass and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie.

Colonie put together a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive in the second period to take a 13-7 lead behind the running of Edwards and Burt before Jarvis started catching fire.

Schenectady 0 14 6 13 — 33

Colonie 7 6 0 8 — 21

C — Burt 4 run (Mullaly kick).

S — Rodriguez 14 interception return (Boozer kick).

C — Edwards 3 run (kick blocked).

S — Rodriguez 16 pass from Jarvis (Boozer kick).

S — Phann 45 pass from Jarvis (kick blocked).

S — Rodriguez 28 run (Boozer kick).

S — Rainey 80 run (kick blocked).

C — Burt 9 run (Johnson pass).