By: Aidan Joly
In a game where they turned it around in the second half en route to a division-clinching win, the Blue Streaks beat the Scotties on Thursday night in Ballston Spa by a final score of 39-0 for Saratoga’s second straight shutout.
Saratoga went into the second half up only 12-0 and wanted to pick up their play for the final 24 minutes of the evening. They scored less than five minutes into the half thanks to a drive led by running plays capped off by Jake Williams’ three-yard run. The sophomore quarterback was making his first career varsity start, the brother of former Saratoga signal caller Brian Williams. The younger Williams also had a passing and a running touchdown earlier in the game. In total, he completed four passes for 59 yards and ran for another 31 yards.
“My goal was to start a game this year, and that happened. I had fun. I was told to have fun, have confidence. I came into this game and led the team. We had a great game,” Williams said.
After Williams scored, Ashton Capone, filling in for an injured Cam Adams, scored to make It 26-0, putting the game completely in the hands of the Blue Streaks. He rushed for 88 yards on the night.
“I want to thank all of my linemen because they are some big people to run behind. It’s great. I’m thankful for them,” Capone said.
Saratoga was up 26-0 by the end of the third quarter and tacked on two more scores in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard running touchdown by Nick Frank and Khaleel Muldrow bringing it seven yards to the house to put the Streaks up 39-0. After Frank’s touchdown, female kicker Sequoia Cumming made her first career extra point, making a little bit of history in the game.
The win also came as Saratoga’s second shutout win in a row, as they beat CBA 14-0 last week.
“The guys up front are playing great, which allows our linebackers some freedom, and our secondary has been great all year which allows us to bring more pressure up front because we’ve been able to man people up,” Saratoga head coach Terry Jones said.
Saratoga improves to 5-0 on the season, clinching the Empire Division and home-field advantage in the playoffs up until the sectional final, which is played at a neutral location. They will be back in action on Friday, October 6 at home against Albany in their homecoming game. That one will begin at 7 p.m.
Ballston Spa falls to 1-4 on the season with the loss as a big blow to their playoff hopes. They will play again on the same day on the road against Shenendehowa before closing out the regular season on October 13 at home against Niskayuna. Both of those games will start at 7 p.m.