Queensbury shocks AP in Class A semifinal
Spartans put up 35 points before Warriors answer
The game had just ended and Averill Park head coach Zach Gobel took senior Jerry Marsceill in his arms for an elongated hug as Queensbury celebrated loudly on the Warriors’ home field.
Averill Park had beaten Queensbury this year. They were the clear top challenger to Burnt Hills in the Class A playoffs. Winning this Friday could have been mistaken for a formality. But a 42-20 blowout win by Queensbury turned Class A on its head.
The hug from Gobel came as the Warriors season came to an unexpected and abrupt end. With a score so lopsided, it would have been hard to mistake the Warriors as the favorites.
“The good times probably aren’t as good as you think they are,” Gobel said. “The bad times aren’t as bad as you think they are. We played hard tonight. We didn’t give up tonight.”
A ridiculous fourth quarter by Joe Milanese wasn’t enough to mount an Averill Park comeback. He had three touchdowns — the three plays combining for 122 yards. The first three quarters, though, the of-
fense was non-existent. Gobel spoke on Thursday of how it would be tough to beat a good team twice, and it seemed like Queensbury had the Averill Park playbook in hand.
Now Queensbury will play top-seeded Burnt Hills in the finals, and Averill Park will have to settle for a successful season that ended a little prematurely.
“Well they got huge guys up front,” Queensbury DB Micahel Guido said of Averill Park. “And they’re really able to move. We had to really focus on being in the right spot and controlling what we could control.”
And control they did. Nathan Angell was strong behind center, connecting on a 32-yard touchdown pass to Liam O’Mara and running for a score in the fourth quarter make it 35-0. On the latter touchdown, he managed to barrel his way in end-zone.
Averill Park remained competitive in the fourth, scoring two touchdowns in the span of a minute, thanks to an onside kick recovery. But after trying to recover again with the score 35-14, Queensbury took possession and was able to run a significant chunk off the clock.
“I think our focus all week was just so much better,” Queensbury head coach Matt Crossman said. “Every snap, we were where we were supposed to be, and the focus was exactly where it needed to be.”
Averill Park is a runheavy offense that had to use its passing game on Friday. And Nick Ferlito struggled. Some of his passes stayed up in the air too long, which made it tough for the Warriors to make a play on.
They had won the last two games by the combined score of 82-0, but the competition got a lot tougher on Friday night. And in the blink of an eye, a tremendously successful Averill Park run was halted by a team that was better on this given night.
“We were just on our heels early,” Gobel said. “They had a good game plan, they played well...Our seniors this year picked up from the ones last year. It’s on our underclassmen to keep going and to keep building.”