BLACK HORSES OFFENSE JUMPS OUT TO 3-0 START
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y » Schuylerville football has started strong this season going 3-0 after beating Hudson Falls 426. The offense has been one of the big keys to them winning; scoring 137 points throughout their first three contests, putting up 47 points against Schalmont, 44 points against Hudson and 42 against Hudson Falls.
Schuylerville starting quarterback Stratton Sherman said experience is helping his team succeed.
“Offense is just like second nature to these guys,” Sherman said. “We can make it more advanced and we just run with it. We put in a lot of hard work in our preseason on our offense, getting cute with our schemes, so that helps too and makes it harder for other defense to figure out our offense.”
Schuylerville coach John Bowen said it all started with a big win over Schalmont in Week 1.
“Our Schalmont game was one of the more effective offensive games that I have coached in as a head coach in a Week 1 game,” Bowen said. “Usually Week 1 is a defensive dominated kind of thing and offensives are usually a little rusty. I think a big part of that, our ability to sustain over 42 minutes, is our conditioning during the offseason.”
In Friday’s matchup against the Tigers, the Black Horses started strong, getting the Tigers to punt the ball after four plays on the first drive and then driving the ball back after a poor punt by the Tigers kicker that ended up at their own nine yard line.
Hudson Falls also lost its quarterback on the opening drive when Caleb Condon was taken out of the game because of an ankle injury and replaced by Riley Maddison.
The Black Horses scored quickly from a two yard run
from Carson Dunkel, a three yard run and a one yard run from Sherman for a touchdown for a 7-0 lead.
Schuylerville scored their second touchdown of the first quarter when Hudson Falls turned it over on downs at its own 45 yard line. Sherman took the ball himself for 45 yards to get the touchdown, making it 14-0.
The Tigers started the second with the ball and fumbled it on the punt after they went forth and out. The Black Horses got the ball at the 13 yard line and a five yard run from Paul Harshbarger got the team their third touchdown of the game making it 21-0.
Hudson Falls then threw an interception on the next set of downs to Dunkel, then went 43 yards for a pick six and the 28-0 lead.
Sherman got the team’s fifth touchdown of the first half by throwing the ball to Justin Carte for a 31 yard touchdown pass and Schuylerville went into halftime ahead 35-0.
Schuylerville managed to do something in the first half that not many teams do, they scored five touchdowns without getting a first down.
Bowen said the first half was an anomaly.
“When you see a stat like that you immediately think that you must have had a potent first half with big plays for that to happen,” Bowen said. “There were certainly big plays sprinkled in there, but I think this was a three phase game for us. We played extremely well in all three phases.
“Special teams and defense caused the first score; we were inside the 10 near their goal as soon as we picked up possession. Then with a big play in the pick six, so when you get those type of scoring opportunities created by the other facets of your game, your offense is a little more effective than it might have otherwise been.”
On the first drive on the third quarter, Sherman moved the ball down the field and got the team’s first down of the game with a 32 yard pass to Harshbarger and then a 23 yarder to Harshbarger again to make it 42-0.
Sherman was taken out of the game after scoring his six touchdown and was replaced by Jacob Vanderhoof.
Hudson Falls got their first and only touchdown of the game with a 21 yard pass from Maddison to Brennan Prevost. The extra point was no go making the score 42-6.
Sherman had 65 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and went 4-8 for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Bowen said Sherman has been strong for his team this season, but it is hard to single just him out on the team.
“He has done a phenomenal job,” Bowen said. “We brought him up last year as a sophomore, so he really got to cut his teeth last year. He started all ten games for us as a sophomore. This year coming in, even though he is a junior, he really has a veteran presence about him.
“We have tremendous leadership whether it comes from our junior classmen or our senior classmen this year. We don’t have a lot of numbers, but to point to one guy on this team is probably not fair to anyone in the group. We have a few guys as figureheads, who are captains for us, but our leadership comes from the whole club itself and it is a pretty special dynamic.”
Sherman said Schuylerville needs to keep on working.
“We have to stay focused in practice because starting out 3-0, guys start losing interest and they get a little lazy,” Sherman said. “We just have to stay focused and keep doing what we are doing.”