Saturday, November 22, 2015 by Aidan Joly
Trailing late, Saratoga knew they had to pull off something substantial, and they did just that.
The Blue Streaks defeated the New Rochelle Huguenots at Kingston’s Dietz Stadium on Saturday night by a score of 32-29.
The two teams traded scores back and forth for the first three quarters of the game, but when the fourth quarter came along things got interesting. With eight and a half minutes remaining, Saratoga quarterback Brian Williams went down with a calf injury, which he later said was a cramp.
He said, “I knew I was going to be okay. It was just a cramp, but you can’t really run when your leg is cramping up.”
On the next play after Williams left, new quarterback Wes Eglintine fumbled the ball, and it was picked up by a New Rochelle defender, and then Huguenots running back Jared Baron punched it in from one yard away with just over seven and a half minutes still left to be played in the game.
“Our backs were just so pinned up against the wall there, you know, and we weren’t handling the snaps.” Saratoga head coach Terry Jones said after the game.
After the touchdown, New Rochelle led by a score of 29-25.
The Blue Streaks were not to be outdone. On the second play on their drive after the touchdown, Williams, now back in the game, made a 55-yard pass to Ryan Manlapaz.
He said, “I’m really glad that Brian saw me; as soon as the corner bit on the eight, I started waving my hand.”
That would set up a six yard touchdown pass to Robert Haughton with five and a half minutes left, and make the game 32-29.
In the ensuing drive for the Huguenots, they carried on 10 play drive, which put them at the 11 yard line in the final seconds of the game. On fourth down, they were set to kick the potential game-tying field goal, but at the last second, Jones used his final timeout to “ice” New Rochelle kicker Myles Taylor.
“If he makes it, we’re going to overtime, and if he doesn’t, you know,” Jones said.
Taylor would end up missing the three point kick wide right, sealing the deal for the Blue Streaks with 37 seconds left.
Dakota Harvey, who had a touchdown in the early stages in the game and was a major weapon on defense, said, “It feels awesome. It’s totally surreal, and it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
Saratoga advances to the class AA state final for the first time in school history, and they will be taking on Aquinas, ranked number two in the state. Saratoga stands at number three in the state. That game will be played at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome on Sunday, November 29th. The game will begin at 3 p.m. Saratoga neighbors Schuylerville and Greenwich will also be going to the state championships for their respective classes.
Kicker is Omar Pulido