Englintine leads Saratoga past Bethlehem in quarterfinals

SARATOGA SPRINGS N.Y. » Saratoga Springs beat Bethlehem 34-13 in the quarterfinal round of the Section II Class AA playoffs Friday night to continue an undefeated season.

Saratoga moves on to the semifinals round and will take on Shaker, who beat Guilderland 2716.

Blue Streaks head coach Terry Jones saw his team face about as big a challenge as it has all season.

“It is the playoffs,” Jones said. “Every game is a big win in the playoffs. We talked all week, we knew this was going to be a tough, physical, game and it was. They have got a great defense, I thought their quarterback today played absolutely outstanding, he made some great throws. We couldn’t get to him, we tried putting pressure on him and he was able to roll out, scramble out, get away and keep his eyes down field and made some great throws. We

came up big when we had to, certainly there at the end and holding them to a couple field goals.”

The Blue Streaks managed to score on the opening drive after starting on the 31 yard line. Avery Mickle ran it for two yards, Wes Englintine ran it for one yard, then Englintine connected with Lewi Clarke on a 42 yard pass, Englintine ran for another 12 yards and then finished the drive with a nine yard touchdown run to get the early 7-0 lead.

Englintine said getting the first touchdown early was a big advantage for his team.

“Momentum is huge in this game, so to be able to get the first score on the board is big for us to get the victory,” Englintine said.

Saratoga managed to get Bethlehem to go four and out on the next two drives to keep the score at 7-0 after one.

Starting the second at Bethlehem’s 27 yard line, Nick Frank managed to run for one yard, Englintine managed another two yards and Frank finished the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-0 lead.

The Eagles responded, however.

Chris Harvey ran a kickoff return to the Blue Streaks 18-yard line to set the visitors up. Alex Shudt pushed it forward to the 17 yard line and then quarterback David Montavlo connected with Leo Siy to get Bethlehem’s first score of the game, making it 14-7.

After fighting back and forth to gain ground, Bethlehem managed to get it down field to the 19 yard line and set up Cameron Scoons for a field goal to make it 14-10 heading into halftime.

Jones said that second half was big for his team.

“We talk about winning each half,” Jones said. “We were able to win the first half and coming out into the second half, you know you win each half, you win the game. I think they were able to use their aggressiveness against them a bit and we pulled off some great runs. Nick Frank had a big night; unfortunately he got whacked at the goal line. Wes ran the ball real hard and we have to give credit to the guys up front for what they did.”

Saratoga scored on their first drive of the second half, working the ball down to the 2-yard line for Frank to run in for his second touchdown of the game and a 20-10 lead.

Scoons hit his second field goal of the game on the next drive, a 19 yarder that made it 20-13 after three periods.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Saratoga worked it into the one yard line, but Frank got twisted around and fumbled the ball and was taken out of the game.

Bethlehem took over, but Saratoga managed a fourth down stop to get the ball back starting at Bethlehem’s 36 yard line. A 13 yard run from Ashtone Capone, a nine yard run from Englintine, a five yard penalty on Saratoga for a false start, a three yard run from Capone, a five yard penalty on Bethlehem and a 10 yard run from Englintine led to another Blue Streaks touchdown and the 27-13 advantage.

Bethlehem pushed the ball on the next play, getting it down to the 11 yard line after a 32 yard pass from Montavlo to Siy. Saratoga forced four incomplete passes and Bethlehem turned it over on downs in one of their biggest missed opportunities of the game.

The Blue Streaks took advantage.

On the next drive Saratoga worked it down to the Bethlehem 44 yard line and Carter Steingraber ran it 44 yards for another touchdown to close out the 3413 win.

Englintine, who hasn’t been used much in the run in recent weeks, ran for 151 yards, getting two rushing touchdowns and went 6-9 for 76 yards.

“I haven’t been running in a couple weeks due to some head injuries and it felt great to be back there running,” Englintine said. I am a running quarterback, I can run and I knew they couldn’t stop me. It felt good to get some yardage tonight.” While the team fought hard to take the victory, Jones said they still have a lot to work on if they want to keep winning.

“Our Special teams tonight did not play well,” Jones said. “There first touchdown was set up by a kickoff return all the way to the 20. You can’t put your defense it that position. We have things to work at, but I am proud of these guys. It was a tough game, which is good. You want that, you want these kids to be tested to see how they respond and I think they responded outstanding, especially (Wes Englintine). Nick Frank ran the ball hard; I thought the line on offense did well against some adversity. They are a team that is going to slant and blitz and twist and is constantly putting you under pressure. They are a well coached team, but we are moving on and that’s what we tell them, you survive and advance.”