Scotties grateful to begin 2021 football season on their home field
BALLSTON SPA, NY » It was the first “Lollipop Thursday” of the fall for Ballston Spa’s football team and that only means one thing — that their season opener is the next day.
“It’s something that Coach O’Connor does every year. It’s ‘Lollipop Thursday’ we call it. You get a lollipop and he reads a quote from his book and it’s just a tradition that we’ve had here the day before every game,” said senior quarterback Andrew Kramer.
That book is Howard E Ferguson’s The Edge. Ferguson, a wrestling coach from Ohio, collected inspirational and motivational messages over the span of his career and eventually turned it into a book in 1983.
“It’s a really cool tradition to come into,” John Sierzenga added, who is also a senior. “When I was on JV, I didn’t know that they did this for varsity. I think the cool part about it is the lessons
that apply to all of life, to help us past football. The coaches understand that this experience goes by really quickly and those lessons they teach us about life are going to make us better people.”
The season opener for the Scotties is set for 7 p.m. on Friday September 3 against Bethlehem.
Unlike the season last spring, Ballston Spa has gotten to practice on their own home field and will get the opportunity to begin their 2021 fall season on their home field.
“It was very strange,” Kramer said of the 20202021 season. “Everyone was online from the school aspect and then when we came out for football we didn’t even play on our own field, we played at Burnt Hills for practice and games. To be able to actually play on our home field, it’s awesome to get back here.”
Sierzenga, whose first season on varsity was last spring, has not yet had the full experience of what it’s like to play on varsity, in front of a full crowd and student section.
“It’s going to be super-exciting, especially with being able to have fans back this year. I’ve never had the experience of playing a varsity game on this field with all the fans in the stands. That should be really cool, especially since a lot of kids from school usually come out,” Sierzenga said.
The Scotties have a full schedule this fall, complete with nine regular season games beginning with Bethlehem on Friday. They’ll play every Friday night under the lights except for their final scheduled game of the season.
After Bethlehem, they’ll face Colonie, La Salle, Niskayuna, South Glens Falls, Amsterdam, Burnt Hills and Queensbury. On October 30, the Scotties only Saturday game of the season, they’ll travel to the Binghamton area to face off against Vestal.
As a Class A school, their contests against Burnt Hills, Niskayuna, Queensbury and South Glens Falls are division games and La Salle and Amsterdam are crossovers. Bethlehem and Colonie are non-league games, as they are Class AA schools, in addition to Vestal being their only nonSection 2 opponent.
“It’s definitely exciting coming off the season that we had last year. We have a lot of new kids and we’re a really young team. Everybody’s excited to be able to get back out on the field and able to compete,” Kramer said on having two full week of practice ahead of their first game. “I’m very confident in our group this year. A lot of the younger guys have a ton of potential and the returners have all seen it before, so I think we’re going to have a lot more leadership than last year and I think everybody’s just a lot more prepared.”
Sierzenga, a offensive and defense linemen, is looking forward to the opportunity to protect Kramer once against, as his quarterback.
“AK’s a very good leader and a hard worker. Last offseason we trained together when we weren’t able to be in the school and I just saw how hard he worked, every single day,” Sierzenga said. “He’s willing to put his body on the line, where some other quarterbacks might not. He’ll run downhill, he’ll take hits. He’ll do whatever he has to do to help the team win.”
During the shortened Fall 2 season, Ballston Spa went 2-4, winning games against Mohonasen and Amsterdam.
“We had a lot of seniors last year and to see how they reacted with the shortened season, they still enjoyed it, but they didn’t get the full effect of their senior year,” Kramer added. “To be able to come out her and have a full season, regular homecoming and no masks anymore — knock on wood — it’s awesome.”
With a younger team, learning the playbook and becoming a cohesive unit are going to be some of the main focuses for this team early in the season, as they try to improve on last season’s record.
“I think that from watching game film from last year, film from practice, when you see it done the right way, how plays are supposed to look, it goes a long way in being able to improve, seeing plays consistently done the right way,” Kramer said.
“When I was a sophomore, to see the impact that the seniors had on the program, that’s what I’m hoping for our group of seniors, that we don’t just get better every week this season, but we help the younger guys for next year and the year after that. This is a very young team and I think we can do a lot this season to improve the program itself.”