Fonda-Fultonville football rolls past Broadalbin-Perth in regular-season finale

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Fonda-Fultonville's Owen Hicks picks up a first down while being tackled by Broadalbin-Perth's Sam Hotaling on Friday.

BROADALBIN — In a matchup of the top two teams in the Class C South Division, Friday’s game between Fonda-Fultonville and Broadalbin-Perth was no contest.

The Braves scored 21 points in each of the first three quarters on their way to a dominant 63-13 victory over the Patriots at Patriot Field.

“I thought we played well in all three phases of the game, and I thought we played physical football tonight,” Fonda-Fultonville coach Mike Mancini said.

The Braves scored touchdowns on nine of their 10 possessions on the night, and the only one that didn’t find the end zone was the final one when they kneeled twice inside the B-P 5-yard line in the final minute to bring the game to an end.

As he has been all season long for FFCS, quarterback Jackson Cusack was a key contributor in the win. Cusack rushed for two touchdowns and threw for three more for the Braves. Cusack completed 9 of 11 passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 101 yards on nine carries, scoring on runs of 23 and 5 yards.

“Jackson is a special kid,” Mancini said. “He does so much for us and he played great tonight. He’s such an important piece of what we do.”

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Jackson Croucher had two touchdown catches for FFCS, finishing with four catches for 70 yards. Brady Whipple also had a touchdown catch for the Braves, while Peyton Webber, Owen Hicks and Karsen Bulan all added rushing touchdowns. Bulan also had an 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for FFCS.

Sam Hotaling scored both touchdowns for Broadalbin-Perth, scoring on runs of 60 and 49 yards in the second half.

“Obviously, this isn’t the outcome we wanted,” Broadalbin-Perth coach Rick Wallace said. “Fonda-Fultonville is a great team and we knew it would be a tough test for us.

The only victory for the Patriots on the night came on the coin flip. They elected to defer and kick off to the Braves to open the game.

From there, Fonda-Fultonville was dominant, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter while forcing two punts and a B-P fumble that Hicks recovered for the Braves.

Webber opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run, while Cusack added a 23-yard TD run. A 20-yard touchdown pass from Cusack to Croucher capped the first-quarter scoring at 21-0.

In the second quarter, Cusack found Croucher and Whipple with 25- and 17-yard touchdown passes, while running for a 5-yard score to make it 42-0 at the half.

As impressive as the offense was the Braves’ defense also played well in the first half, allowing just 12 rushing yards on 15 carries and just 11 passing yards on three completions.

The only blemish on an otherwise flawless first half for the Braves were seven first-half penalties for 50 yards.

“Games like this you take the good with the bad,” Mancini said. “We had a lot of penalties tonight and that’s something we need to work on and clean up. In all of the other phases of the game, we played well tonight.”

After the break, it was more of the same as FFCS forced a three-and-out on B-P’s first possession.

Four plays later, Hicks scored on a 30-yard touchdown run to push the Braves’ lead to 49-0 with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Nate Mycek intercepted a B-P pass to end the Patriots’ next possession and Bulan scored on a 21-yard touchdown run to make it 56-0 with 1:26 left in the third quarter.

The Patriots finally got on the board on their next possession when Hotaling raced 60 yards for a score to make it 56-6.

Bulan quickly answered for Fonda-Fultonville taking the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown to make it 63-6 on the final play of the third quarter.

Hotaling scored the game’s final touchdown six plays into the fourth quarter, scoring on a 49-yard touchdown run to make the final score 63-13. Hotaling finished with nine carries for 113 yards and two scores. He also completed 5 of 10 passes for 17 yards and an interception.

“We showed a little heart at the end. We challenged the team to keep playing for all four quarters at halftime, and I thought we did that,” Wallace said. “We can’t dwell on this game. We’ve got to regroup and refocus because we’ve got a big playoff game next week.”

Fonda-Fultonville (8-0 overall, 7-0 Class C South) clinched the No. 1 seed from the Class C South Division with the win. The Braves’ first round opponent will be decided by the quarter-point tiebreaker after Schuylerville, Hoosick Falls/Tamarac and Stillwater all finished in a three-way tie for second in the North Division.

“Hopefully, we still have a lot of football to play,” Mancini said. “We’ve worked hard all season to get the top seed in the South Division and earn home field through the semifinals if we keep winning. We’re hoping to take advantage of that.”

Broadalbin-Perth (6-3 overall, 5-2 Class C South) finished in a three-way tie for second in the South Division with Cobleskill-Richmondville and Ichabod Crane. The second through fourth seeds will be decided by quarter points.

“Our goal all season has been to earn a fourth home game,” Wallace said. “Hopefully, that will become a reality this weekend when the bracket is announced.”

Both teams now await the final pairings for the Section II Class C Tournament, which will be announced Sunday.

Fonda-Fultonville 21 21 21 0 — 63

Broadalbin-Perth 0 0 6 7 — 13

FF — Webber 1 run (Hicks kick)

FF — Cusack 23 run (Hicks kick)

FF — Croucher 20 pass from Cusack (Hicks kick)

FF — Croucher 25 pass from Cusack (Hicks kick)

FF — Cusack 5 run (Hicks kick)

FF — Whipple 17 pass from Cusack (Hicks kick)

FF — Hicks 30 run (Hicks kick)

FF — Bulan 21 run (Hicks kick)

B-P — Hotaling 60 run (kick failed)