SPARTAN’S ATTACK IS BACK
Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa rolls past Mohonasen 48-6 for homecoming win
BURNT HILLS, N.Y. >> Saturday afternoon’s homecoming game for Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake could have also been called a coming out party for its newly inserted quarterback or a reunion of the former Spartan offense that shredded other Section 2 programs throughout the years.
On Saturday, Burnt HillsBallston Lake, still smarting from a 9-7 road loss to upstart Ballston Spa last week took out its frustrations and its refocused attention out on Mohonasen in a 48-6 rout.
“Last week was tough, losing Ryan (Salisbury) after the first couple plays was tough,” senior running back Caeden LaPietro said. “Michael (Manning) did a great job, he stepped up this week and performed well.”
LaPietro ran for 143 yards on 16 carries and two scores against Mohonasen.
“This week there were more open holes, Ballston Spa was very good defensively,” LaPietro said. “We got around the bend on sweeps and stuff like that; we just executed much better today.”
LaPietro was just one of
the weapons in the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake arsenal as former first-team selection lineman Matt Seidel ran for a touchdown on one of his three carries when he wasn’t blocking for the other Spartan backs as the offense racked up more than 400 yards on the day.
“The week before practice was a little weak against BSpa,” Matt Seidel said. “This week we wanted to make sure practice was up-tempo, we were flying around, making plays.
“With the new quarterback too we needed to get down cadences, we needed to get communication down, which this game we definitely executed.”
After Seidel’s initial score, a 9-yard inside run, senior running back Sam Gardy charged through for a 32-yard score in the first quarter. LaPietro ran for 80 yards in the Spartan’s 97yard drive early in the second quarter, including his first score of the game and followed that up with an interception on the next Mohonasen possession.
Rocco Mareno gave him a breather, ripping off a 76yard touchdown run on the next Spartan’s play from the line of scrimmage. Siedel came up on the defensive side, with his own interception and 23-yard return, that set up three runs by LaPietro, including his second score, a five-yard trip in for the 35-0 halftime lead.
Manning got the accolades from the home crowd in the third quarter, hitting Logan Stubblebine for a 44-yard catch and run for a score and the Spartan bench got in on the action when Robert Suski took it to the house with a minute left on a 32-yard scamper for the 48-0 lead.
Mohonasen junior running back Jacob Dequire helped avoid the shutout returning the ensuing kickoff 65-yards for a score on a kickoff return as time ran out in the contest.
For many of the teenage gridiron stars Saturday was a return to normal and starting a new winning streak, for veteran coach Matt Shell, it was another week of working on skills and drills.
“We played well last week, 9-7 ball game and we had guys put in a tough spot and that’s what happens when it’s not your starting quarterback,” Matt Shell said. “You don’t have enough time to make sure that you do all of it and it put us in a tough spot.
“I was unhappy that we lost, but I wasn’t unhappy with how they played, I wasn’t unhappy with the effort. It was great football, effort was there to win and we had the lead in the fourth quarter.”
This week his squad had time to adjust.
“Once everyone was on the same page, you are lot better,” Seidel said. “Losing your starting quarterback threw us off, (Michael) Manning stepped in today, was able to communicate with us better. He had all the plays down, a few mishaps, but overall he did a lot better.”
The Spartans will step up in class next week and travel to face Class AA opponent Bethlehem before returning to take on Queensbury to close out the regular season and set up its post-season spot.
“I know it’s late in the regular season, but you have to play good football late in the year, that’s why next week is so important,” Shell said. “We have to play good football; we can’t take a step back. Today after last week, I think we took a huge step forward today.”
His squad is ready to send a message across the section looking to make waves up in class Friday night.
“If we show that we can hang with AA teams, it shows guys we’re not a team to mess around with,” Seidel said. “Just because Queensbury beat BSpa doesn’t mean they can beat us.
“We lost a few guys against BSpa, hard time communicating, but this week we pulled it together. If we can do that against Bethlehem it will definitely make a statement, show teams that we’re still legit.”