Saturday, October 25, 2014 by Aidan Joly
Sam Cherubin for The Lightning Rod
The Saratoga varsity football team lost to La Salle Friday night at Watervliet High School by a score of 41-13, putting an end to the Saratoga football season in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA Section 2 playoffs. The Blue Streaks had trouble getting past La Salle’s tough defense.
“Overall, we didn’t play well as a team. At all,” Saratoga head coach Terry Jones said after the game.
La Salle got on the board first when a seven yard run by Dikemm Edmunson made it 7-0 La Salle with 7:42 left in the first.
Saratoga followed up with Ryan Manlapaz’s 55-yard run for a touchdown to make it tied up at seven with nine and a half minutes remaining in the first half.
La Salle followed with a series of touchdowns, including a two-yard touchdown run from quarterback Joe Germinerio and a 15-yard run from Edmundson. At the half it was 21-7 La Salle.
“I just ran behind my linemen and they did really well,” said Edmundson.
La Salle head coach Al Rapp said of his team performance, “Our offensive line did a great job, and defensively I thought we did a fantastic job…we all came to play tonight, and a coach couldn’t ask for any more.”
La Salle’s streak continued about three minutes into the second half, when a 36 yard run from Germinerio put La Salle up 28-7.
Saratoga had a chance to make it a game again with five minutes left in the third, but quarterback Brian Williams threw a pass intercepted by Germenerio. La Salle made the most of this opportunity, scoring about four minutes later when a one-yard touchdown run from Bayley Haskin made it 35-7 La Salle.
La Salle scored for the last time with about six and a half minutes left in the game, with another run from Haskin into the end zone.
“Keep your head up, your shoulders down, and run hard; that’s it,” said Haskin.
The Blue Streaks got on the board for the final time with a little more than three minutes to play with a 10 yard pass touchdown from Williams to Ryan Manlapaz. That made the score 41-13, and was the final scoring of the game.
Saratoga’s season comes to an end with the loss, and La Salle will continue on to next Friday night taking on Shenendehowa in the Section AA semifinals.
Aidan Joly is a freshman covering sports for The Lightning Rod.
Sam Cherubin for The Lightning Rod
Eli Fisher / The Lightning Rod
Eli Fisher / The Lightning Rod
Eli Fisher / The Lightning Rod
Eli Fisher / The Lightning Rod
Sam Cherubin for The Lightning Rod
Sam Cherubin for The Lightning Rod