Saturday, November 7, 2015 by Aidan Joly
With a section championship on the line, Saratoga picked up their biggest win of the season so far.
Saratoga defeated Shaker in the Section 2 Championship game on Friday night at Shenendehowa High School by a score of 19-14 to capture their first sectional title since 2009.
Saratoga let up the first score of the game, as Shaker’s Ronel Forde registered a 27 yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 for the Blue Bison nine minutes into the game. Just a minute later, Dakota Harvey ran it to the end zone for 75 yards to tie the game at 7-7.
“The line gets a great push up front, and I can’t say anything else about them,” said Harvey.
On the first play of the second quarter, Harvey rushed it for another 15 yard touchdown run, but the extra point was no good, so it was 13-7 Streaks.
The Blue Bison would strike back just two minutes later, ending a quick drive with a one-yard touchdown from quarterback Wahid Nabi to make it 14-13.
“Our defense has been a little bit overlooked because of the offense, but the funny thing is, it’s the same kids,” Saratoga head coach Terry Jones said.
Saratoga quarterback Brian Williams got into the action himself, with an eight-yard touchdown in the final seventy seconds of the first half, but the two-point conversion was no good, making it was 19-14 at the half. The second half saw no scoring.
Williams said, “Going into this game, we knew that we were never going to give up. We were going to get up, and roll with the punches they give us.”
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Shaker had a chance to reclaim the lead, but Nabi threw an interception to linebacker Eric Stone as he was getting hit by a Blue Streak defender with ten and a half minutes left in the game.
With just over a minute remaining in the game and a Saratoga fourth down, Jones decided to run the ball with Harvey, which worked, sealing the game for Saratoga. A large momentum shifter was a penalty call on Saratoga after a 30-yard gain on a pass to Robert Haughton, with the penalty overturned after a lengthy review by the officials.
“We had some kids worn down tonight, but that’s what the Shaker team is going to do to you,” Jones said.
With the win, Saratoga is 10-0 this season and will be playing in the state semifinal in Kingston, New York on Saturday, November 21 at Dietz Stadium. That game is at 7 p.m., and it is not yet known who Saratoga’s opponent will be. That game will be a ticket to play at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse in the state final on Thanksgiving weekend.