Shenendehowa drops Colonie, 31-12
Plainsmen advance in penalty-marred quarterfinal
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » It isn’t officially cold and flu season, but it certainly appeared that way Friday night as there were plenty of (yellow) handkerchiefs thrown onto the turf at Brent T. Steuerwald Stadium in the latter half of the Class AA quarterfinal between Shenendehowa and visiting Colonie.
When two teams combine for more than 225 yards in penalties as 20 flags were thrown and included one ejection, it wasn’t playoff football at its best Friday as Shenendehowa dropped South Colonie 31-12.
The unranked Plainsmen have learned that there are no style points when it comes to the New York State Sportswriters Association weekly rankings and a 7-1 record may still not propel them onto the big board, but the win, as imperfect as it was, still counts.
“When you’re in the playoffs it might not look pretty, but the bottom line is you’re here to survive and advance and that’s what we did tonight,” Shenendehowa Coach Brian Clawson said. “There are a lot of things you can’t control on the field.
“What we can control is watching the film with the players and evaluating what was called and was not called, what was correct and what was incorrect. Take it for what it’s worth and move forward.”
After a penalty-free first quarter things turned an ugly shade of yellow when, leading the Plainsmen, 6-3, midway through the second quarter Colonie handed its opponent four 15-yard penalty flags, including two flags on the same play, one during live ball play and the other a dead ball foul, equat-
ing to 60-yards of advancement. Shenendehowa then handed the ball to running back Nick Krause from one yard out who moved the pile and broke through to retake the lead, 10-6 with less than four minutes left.
Friday’s highlight reel must include senior wide receiver Joe Novenche’s play in the final minute of the half.
After a Griffin Wallner 23-yard run from near midfield, Novenche threw an option pass directly into the arms of wide receiver Devin Disonell for a surprising 34-yard catch and run to bring the ball in the end zone. The senior wasn’t done as he then was on the receiving end of a Brendan Belott line drive in the back of the end zone that was misdirected by two different Garnet Raider defenders before ending up in his arms in the back of the scoring surface.
“We needed a spark, it was going towards the end of the first half and we just needed a spark and needed something to drive us down the field and we’ve been practicing it throughout the week and it’s been working, so why not give it a try and it worked out,” Joe Novenche said. “I had goose bumps all throughout that play. Anything for my team, they told me to go out there and throw a pass down the field, I’m not a quarterback, but I’ll do it for my team. I’ve got an arm; I’ll throw it down there.”
He had little time to regroup, just two more passing plays from Belott before the juggled ball scoring pass. Shenendehowa senior wide receiver Devin Disonell came up with this catch from wide receiving partner Joe Novenche during an option play pass with Colonie defenders Anthony Libertucci (6) and Dylan Williams (2) also going up for the ball.
“The ball is coming and it looks like going through the window, it looks like perfect pass, a great spiral and he just gets one finger on it, one finger and it completely messes up the whole pass, the whole route,” Novenche said. “It got tipped up; it got tipped again, landed right in my hands. I just had to focus, make sure my feet were in bounds and make sure I brought the ball in.”
The catch gave Shenendehowa a 17-6 halftime lead and more before the penalty marred second half got underway.
“That throw down to Devin (Disonell) and that catch he made on the second or third bobble, great concentration, which was easily the turning point of the football game,” Clawson said. “He comes off the field and he’s like ‘Coach, I got you coach.’
“Joe is a gamer, you know Joe is going to come to work every single practice and give it his all, but when it’s in the game he raises his play to a new level. We have a lot of guys like that on our football team, it’s not just Joe, but Joe is the one who really stepped up tonight and made some huge plays when we needed him to.”
A second half opening onside kick failed for Colonie and the Plainsmen, with a short field, needed just seven plays, keyed by Krause’s 27-yard jaunt over the right side followed by another punishing four years to set up Wallner’s one-yard run for the 24-6 lead.
More flags continued to take flight in the second half, five for the Garnet Raiders with two more in the fourth that also included a player ejection leading to the eye-popping 130-plus yard total.
Wallner would score his second touchdown of the game, unofficially his third as the first 23-yard was called back due to a holding penalty by a teammate, but his one-yard run during an untimed down to close out the third quarter counted.
Colonie quarterback Shai Young found Josiah Kemp for the second time Friday night for an 18-yard score late in the fourth.
While the Plainsmen offense didn’t look as sharp as it has during the sixgame winning streak, the defense again deserved praise from its head coach.
“The defense for the last two weeks are really stepping up their game,” Clawson said. “They played their best game of the year tonight by far, their run defense was phenomenal, they were getting great pressure on the quarterback which we had to work on early in the year, but the defense is getting better at the right time. You need that in the playoffs.”
Early on the Plainsmen continued to have a slow first quarter and first half start again Friday night needing a 30-yard field goal by Mitchel Carley to put them on the board after getting the ball for its first possession at midfield.
Shenendehowa found itself in a precarious position when Colonie took advantage of an interception deep in its own territory and marched 65 yards for a score when Young hit Kemp for a five-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter.
The Plainsmen will now travel to face the No. 1 team in New York State and defending New York State Public High School Athletic Association state champion, Troy High, next week. The Flying Horses defeated Christian Brothers Academy, 25-7.