Kramer’s last-minute heroics save Scotties
Touchdown pass to Walsh with seconds left counters late Rams score
After Amsterdam took a 31-28 lead with less than a minute to play in the fourth quarter, Ballston Spa needed to go 57 yards with just 38 seconds to respond. Luckily for the hosts, Scotties junior quarterback Andrew Kramer had all the answers.
A 21-yard run by Kramer on the second play of the drive put Ballston Spa in position to score. Then, with a sea of Amsterdam defenders after him, Kramer calmly stepped up in the pocket and found Owen Walsh in the middle of the end zone for the winning touchdown with just three seconds left in the game.
It was the final twist of Ballston Spa’s thrilling win 34-31 win over Amsterdam Friday night in a Class A football matchup.
“We’ve come prepared,” Kramer said. “We practiced that in practice. Our offensive line did a great job of blocking. We have each other’s backs. We’ve been in this situation before. We stayed calm, cool and collected. I was able to get away and found Owen in the end zone wide open.”
Walsh ran a post pattern on the play, and when he found an open
spot, he made eye contact with Kramer just before the pass was delivered.
“I was going to run a post, it was a long slant,” Walsh said. “I was open and I locked eye contact with him. I saw I was open so I just stayed there.”
Kramer’s maturity in handling the pressure was evident throughout the final drive, including having the instinct to get out of bounds to stop the clock on his 21-yard scamper.
“It would have been really easy to pack it in and just say its not our night,” Ballston Spa coach Greg O’connor said. “He (Kramer) gets better every day. He works every day and he is tough on himself, and when things don’t go right at practice, he gets upset. He’s a competitor. He wants to get better, and you can see it. The last couple of plays, he gets out of bounds to keep it alive, and then make that throw. There’s no pressure there, only three seconds left, last play of the game on senior night.”
The game-winning drive for Ballston Spa (2-2) offset a furious comeback by Amsterdam (0-4) after the hosts took a 28-16 lead into the fourth quarter.
Seeking to spark to his offense, Amsterdam coach John Homich replaced starting quarterback Tommy Ziskin following three first-half interceptions. Sophomore Jhai Vellon responded well despite it being his first action at quarterback this season.
Vellon rushed for 102 yards on 16 carries and gave Amsterdam the lead with 44 seconds left in the fourth. He found Ziskin in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown pass as the Rugged Rams stared at a fourth down.
“It worked out, we wish it was a better outcome but we had some turnovers in the first half and it swung the other way,” Homich said. “We wanted a spark and we made the switch. He is a sophomore, and for him to come out after halftime and for him to come out and do the job he did, the kids fed off him. That last drive said it, we went right down the field and a lot of it was on his shoulders.”
Senior running back Jovie Acacio led Ballston Spa with 17 carries for 167 yards and a pair of first half touchdown runs.