Yamin rallied La Salle
QB’S 3 TDS brought Cadets back from brink of defeat
The La Salle football team suffered a stinging overtime loss against Averill Park in Week 6 and was staring at another potential loss in the waning stages of last week’s Class A Capital Division contest vs. Amsterdam.
Just before the Cadets got the ball trailing by 14 points, senior quarterback Eddie Yamin spoke with quarterback coach Kyle Borey.
“He talked about his senior year at La Salle went and how he would do anything to have it back,” Yamin said. “He says to me with two minutes left before we got the ball back, ‘Hey man, there is still time on the clock. You can get this done. Go put a score on the board.’ I thought he was right. Let’s go out with a bang.”
Yamin scored two rushing touchdowns over the final 1:08 of regulation play and JJ Thompson added a critical two-point conversion to force overtime. Yamin added a third rushing touchdown with a 20-yard run in overtime and Matt Carberg added the extra-point kick as La Salle prevailed 27-26 over the Rugged Rams to keep its playoff hopes alive.
“That was probably one of my craziest moments in my sports career to be able to come back,” Yamin said. “To get the ball back with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter and score three times, it was absolutely a surreal experience. To be able to do that was insane.”
“It was like a switch went off. He really did a great job of leading the team,” La Salle coach John Audino said of Yamin.
For his efforts, Yamin has been selected as the Times Union’s Boys’ Athlete of the Week for the period of Oct. 18-24.
“To be able to win that game and keep our playoff hopes alive is so cool,” Yamin said. “I wanted to make that impact. As an athlete, all you want to do is make an impact for your team.”
Yamin’s first rushing touchdown shaved the deficit to 20-12. Nick Tobin recovered the ensuing onside kick and Yamin scored again.
In overtime, Amsterdam scored first but missed on a two-point conversion. After missing on a first-down pass, Yamin ran for the tying score following a block from running back Matt Bott.
“All that hard work over four years with coach Audino, I didn’t want it to end like that,” Yamin said. “It wasn’t just me; it was everyone on the field doing everything they could.”