Guilderland goes for two, wins AA Super Bowl over Shaker 21-20
LATHAM, NY » It was the classic football scenario late in the fourth quarter. A good kick ties the game and the two-point conversion wins it. After a Shaker offsides penalty brought Guilderland a yard and a half closer to the title, it was a no-brainer for Dutchman coach Dan Penna.
“We were close to going for two and when we initially lined up for the kick, then they went offsides. It made it easy,” Penna said. “We wanted to go for two and avoid overtime. You’ve got to make those calls in a game like this. All year, our tight formation when we run the ball, those kids take a lot of pride when we run it in practice. They were confident and we were confident in them.”
After Shaker made a comeback to take the lead in the Section 2, Class AA Super Bowl on Friday night, Guilderland scored a late touchdown, went for two, and held on to defeat Shaker 21-20 Guilderland’s first football championship in school history.
Guilderland got on the board first, in the first quarter when Logan Broomhall finished of a drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak. Shaker would tie the
score in the second, as Connor Strand ran in a fouryard touchdown.
The Dutchman went ahead in the third quarter, in typical Guilderland fashion, with Broomhall going for one-yard on another quarterback sneak. A missed PAT after this touchdown would set up the events in the final two minutes of the game. Guilderland took a 13-7 lead on the play.
After Guilderland took the lead, the Blue Bison turned to Dean Hartl and he didn’t let them down. On fourth down and two, Hartl went for all five yards, to the end zone. A good PAT from Malcolm Robinson gave Shaker a 14-13 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Guilderland fumbled and Malachi Moore recovered for Shaker. Hartl did it again, picking up a few first downs along the way. Hartl ran in a two-yard touchdown, giving Shaker a 20-13 lead.
The Blue Bison would then go for two, in hopes of making it a two-score game. The two-point attempt, which was played as a fake PAT, was not successful.
With about 1:30 remaining in the game and the Dutchmen on Shaker’s 14yard line, Broomhall threw to Marcus McClaine in the middle of the field, he worked his way through the Shaker defense and into the end zone, making the score 20-19 Shaker.
After initially lining up for a PAT, Shaker got called for an offsides penalty. Penna then sent his offense back out and everyone knew what play they were going to run - Broomhall was taking it in himself.
“I was going to just keep moving my legs until someone killed me, I was not going to stop,” Broomhall said. “It feels amazing because we just wrote history in the Guilderland record books. We knew they were going to be a hard team to defeat. We gained their respect because they’d been dominating us. To win it with this group of guys, it feels unbelievable.”
Broomhall got through the pile, giving Guilderland the 21-20 lead.
Shaker attempted to work their way down the field in the 1:29 they had remaining. reaching the Dutch 40. As they looked to get into field goal range, Shaker quarterback Joey Mirabile was intercepted on a long heave, marking the end of their dominance this season and Guilderland’s first championship.