Scotties get win after tough week
Ballston Spa advances to semifinal with an assistant coach at helm
A week unlike any other for the Ballston Spa football program culminated Friday night with its first Section II football home playoff game in a decade.
That’s not what made it a tumultuous seven days for the Scotties, who entered their Class A quarterfinal with an unanticipated distraction. Their head coach, Jason Ohnsman, was charged Oct. 19 with a DWI and placed on leave.
That left Greg O’connor, a former Schuyler ville head coach who has been on and off the Ballston Spa staff since 2013, in charge against Amsterdam.
“We were tired,” O’connor said. “It ’s been a tough week.”
Ballston Spa also is a tough football team. The Scotties got a second wind in the second half and eliminated the Rams, 35-12.
O’connor was a Ballston Spa assistant under Dave Murello from 2013 to 2015, took two years off, and was a volunteer assistant last season before rejoining the paid staff this year.
“It ’s about the kids,” he said. “It ’s not about any one coach. We told them that on Monday. ‘It ’s not about coach Ohnsman, it ’s not about me or any of these coaches, it ’s about you guys. You’re the ones that put the hard work in and do all that heav y lifting and sweating and grinding.”
There was no better example of that than senior running back James Prastio Jr., who had 193 of his 249 rushing yards and scored all four of his touchdowns after halftime.
“I was at the last home playoff game that we won (in 2009), back when John Bowen was coaching,” Prastio said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Man, I want to be just like those guys.’ We’ve wanted this since the beginning of the season. We’ve known our potential, we’ve known our ability.”
It was a 7-6 Ballston Spa lead after a first half filled with missed opportunities by both sides. Each team had two turnovers, and Ballston Spa (6-2) had an apparent touchdown pass at the end of the half nullified by a penalty, as quarterback Keegan Zoller went past the line of scrimmage to release the ball.
That was as close as the Scotties came to completing a pass all night. They made a commitment to the run in the second half, rushing for 409 yards total, 247 in the final two quarters.
“At halftime, we weren’t clicking,” O’connor said. “We had some positive plays running the ball. We said let ’s get back to running them and establish the ground game. We think we can wear on them a little bit.”
C.J. Guarino rushed for 69 yards, and David Rodak had 33 before getting injured.
“We just wanted to win the game,” said Prastio, effusive in his praise of the Scotties’ offensive line. “It just happened to be that I got most of the carries.”
The victory advanced Ballston Spa into a semifinal matchup Friday night at Capital Division champion Troy (7-1).
“Monday was very tough,” O’connor said, “and they bounced back well on Tuesday. They were tired. There was a lot of emotion. They came out and answered the bell.”