By Tyler Charnik and Jared Nightingale
The Saratoga Blue Streaks defeated The Schenectady Patriots on Friday, October 12th Saratoga’s senior night, in this high scoring affair.
The Streaks took a commanding lead of 42-0 into halftime. According to Saratoga Head Coach Terry Jones, “When a score is lopsided early, we got everyone in the game.” The scoring began early in the first quarter, with senior Ashton Capone’s first of five touchdowns being followed by a Carter Steingraber interception, taking the ball away from the Patriots and leading to a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jake Williams to Christian Kondo, making the score 14-0. Williams and Kondo connected for their second touchdown of the night on the next drive to add to their lead, which now stood at 21 points.
Saratoga’s defense made many key stops, shutting out the Schenectady offense for the entire first half. Forced punts and turnovers on downs gave the Blue Streaks numerous scoring opportunities.
Saratoga continued to pile on in the second quarter with help from sophomore Adam Forester and a pair of touchdowns from Capone.
The Blue Streaks’ passing game was very efficient, especially for big gains. “When we threw the ball, we hit it for big plays. I don’t know if we threw the ball ten times in the first half,” Coach Jones said after his victory.
Schenectady’s offense came alive in the second half with a 40-yard touchdown run from Adrian Sanders to put the Patriots on the board. “We gotta play quality football, get the kids excited,” Schenectady Head Coach Carman DePaolo said to his team at halftime. Receiver Jerimiah Davis also said, “We have to get started in the first half. We can’t settle for just scoring in the second half.”
The Patriot offense did not slow down after they got started, scoring twenty-two straight points before the Blue Streaks responded with a deep pass from Williams to Kondo, the duo’s third touchdown of the night, making the fourth quarter score 49-22.
The Blue Streaks then lined up for the kickoff after their touchdown, which Jerimiah Davis then took to the house for another Schenectady touchdown. “My good athleticism and hard work helped me on that play for the touchdown,” Davis said postgame.
The kickoff returned for a touchdown, making the score 49-30 with Saratoga still possessing the lead. “We played well at times, running back the kickoff with Jerimiah was a huge play for us,” said Coach DePaolo. However, Coach Jones said, “We need to clean up on special teams, we gave up a touchdown again on the kickoff.”
Schenectady’s senior quarterback Kayshawn Cruz responded with a long, seventy-one-yard touchdown of his own to Jerimiah Davis, changing the score to 56-38. Ashton Capone then accounted for his fifth Blue Streak touchdown of the day, pulling them up by a comfortable twenty-five points.
Schenectady would score the last points of the game, with Jerimiah Davis’ third touchdown halting their second half comeback at a final score of 63-46.
The Saratoga Blue Streaks face off against the Shenendehowa Stallions next week to compete for home field advantage in the semifinals.