Sunday, October 19, 2014 by Aidan Joly Photos by Eli Fisher
An improved defense and a very strong running game was more than enough for the Saratoga junior varsity football team to get past Ballston Spa.
The Saratoga Blue Streaks defeated the Ballston Spa Scotties Saturday morning at Saratoga Springs High School by a score of 32-0, the Saratoga team’s first shutout victory of the season. The game followed a 42-35 loss by the varsity Blue Streaks, also against Ballston Spa.
It was a 30 yard run from Blue Streak runner Darius Wicks into the end zone that put the first points on the board, making it 6-0 Saratoga only a few short minutes in. That would be the only scoring in the first quarter.
“The running backs ran hard…and we broke some tackles and made some big plays,” Head Coach Anthony Spackmann said after the win.
It would be the second quarter where the Blue Streaks put up most of their points. First, a run from Nick Ingles made it 12-0 Streaks, then a 10 yard run by Quarterback Wes Eglintine put six more points on top of that. A rare safety after a fumble by the Streaks later made it 20-0.
A few minutes later, Noah McFarland took his turn scoring as he put the ball into the end zone on a run to make it 26-0 Streaks. This was the last scoring in the first half.
The third quarter saw many punts and turnover on downs, but no scoring to keep the score at 26-0.
A few minutes into the fourth quarter, Saratoga runner Mike Kolakovic recovered a Ballston Spa fumble and returned it about 80 yards to make it 32-0 Saratoga, the score that would end the game.
Off-and-on rain throughout the game made it tough for players and the game product on the field.
“When it rains like that, we had a couple bad snaps and lost a few fumbles because of it,” said Spackmann.
The Streaks will be back at home on Thursday night at 6 p.m. taking on tough opponent Bethlehem, and will conclude the 2014 Saratoga football regular season for the JV and varsity levels.
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Aidan Joly is a freshman covering sports for The Lightning Rod.
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