Ravena snaps Schalmont’s win streak

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Year after year, week after week, the Schalmont football team had found a way to keep its Class B division win streak going.

Forty-one games. Seven-plus seasons.

Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk found a way to end that deep streak Friday night: Go deep.

“Just a simple fade route,” offensive coordinator Bob Dorrance said after the Ind­ians beat the Sabres 33-28 in a make-or-break battle for the Reinfurt Division championship. “We liked the matchup we had, and Logan Frangella went up and made a fabulous catch.

“He’s not the fastest guy, but he has great hands and makes plays.”

Frangella caught two of his three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, his last coming on a juggling 30-yard effort after his sprint down the right sideline with 48.4 seconds left.

“The coaches called the play,” Frangela, a senior wide receiver, said. “They had faith in me, but the line and our quarterback, they did it, too.”

Schalmont (5-1, 6-1) had prevailed in 41 straight division games in a streak that began in 2008. The streak included a 59-0 victory over Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (6-0, 7-0) last year, and reached 41 with last week’s 40-15 besting of Lansingburgh.

“They’re big. They do things well and they’re physical,” Schalmont defensive coordinator Mike DiCocco said of the Indians. “They were gunning for us. They were not happy with the result last year.”

Schalmont’s saw its run of division titles halted at seven. Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk earned its last outright division title in 2010, when Schalmont was a member of the West, and shared the top spot Cohoes in 2013.

“That’s nice to hear,” said Indians two-way lineman Jeremy Wayand, whose second sack of the night helped curtail the Sabres’ final offensive bid. “It’s been too long.”

Schalmont quarterback Jake Defayette threw two touchdown passes to Zac O’Dell, ran for a touchdown and converted a two-pointer after Dan Clifford’s scoring jaunt to give the state’s No. 1-ranked team a 28-27 lead with 4:57 left.

“I went all out for that,” Defayette said. “I knew we had to have it.”

“I had confidence,” Schalmont coach Joe Whipple said of the two-point run by Defayette. “My thought was if we went for it and got it, it would give us momentum.”

It took Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk three plays to wrestle the momentum back, when Matt Ferriero broke off a 30-yard run to put the ball at the Sabres’ 32. Six plays later, including a sack by Schalmont’s Matt Bird, Indians’ quarterback Brady Hughes spotted Frangella racing down the right sideline.

His 30-yard reception came on a third-and-21 play.

“They scored on a couple of miscommunications. If those plays don’t happen, then we win,” Whipple said. “I told them I’m proud of them. They played hard for 48 minutes.”

Schalmont had won 26 consecutive games inside Section II since a 2012 Super Bowl loss to Glens Falls. Hoosick Falls opened its season with a 59-game area win streak and Queensbury started its campaign with a 20-game area win streak, and both lost in their debuts, to Hoosic Valley and Troy, respectively.

“It’s huge,” said Frangella. “We knew coming in Schalmont was the team to beat. We were ready to go.”

Frangella caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in a back and forth second quarter that saw the teams combine for four touchdowns. His second scoring grab covering 38 yards came on the first play of the fourth quarter, and his two-point catch after Ferriero’s 37-yard TD run gave the Indians a 27-20 advantage with 8:25 left.

“This group of kids has played together for a long time. They did believe,” Dorrance said. “Through the ebbs and flows of the game, they kept bouncing back.”

Frangella caught four passes for 143 yards, and Ferriero ran 26 times for 172 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Defayette ran 24 times for 137 yards, Schalmont’s Cameron Brooks ran 23 times for 120 yards, and O’Dell made eight catches for 130 yards in the back-and-forth affair.

“It was a little blip we had,” Defayette said. “We’ll bounce back and go 110 percent next week.”

Hudson Falls was the last team to beat Schalmont in division play back in 2007, when the Sabres went 0-5 in the Class B West.

“Another season starts next week,” Whipple said of the upcoming playoffs.

Schalmont 0 14 6  8 — 28

Ravena 0 13 0 20 — 33

R–Ferriero 4 run (Carter kick).

S–O’Dell 40 pass from Defayette (Defayette kick).

R–Frangella 13 pass from Hughes (kick blocked).

S–Defayette 5 run (Defayette kick).

S–O’Dell 21 pass from Defayette (kick failed).

R–Frangella 38 pass from Hughes (run failed).

R–Ferriero 37 run (Frangella pass from Hughes).

S–Clifford 13 run (Defayette run).

R–Frangella 30 pass from Hughes (run failed).

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Categories: High School Sports