The Guilderland-Bethlehem matchup on Friday night wasn’t necessarily the most intriguing one going into Week Eight of the High School Football schedule, but a defensive battle between the two squads would provide more than enough excitement for anyone interested in the postseason action around the 518.
The two sides would each struggle to get their offenses going throughout the evening from the beginning, as Guilderland senior quarterback George Marinopoulos would throw an interception on only the fifth play of the game, and the ensuing Bethlehem possession would result in a turnover on downs.
The home team would be provided the first scoring option on the next drive however, as a strong 13-play 65-yard drive would get them to the Eagles seven yard line, but senior kicker Matt Clark would slip while trying to plant his left foot on the attempted 25-yard field goal that went straight into the line.
Bethlehem would go three-and-out on their next drive and Guilderland would get another chance following that, as Marinopoulos and company marched to the Bethlehem 15 yard line. Head Coach Dan Penna elected to go for it on fourth-and-13, going against Clark to get another chance on the slick field after rain earlier in the day made the playing surface fairly slippery on the chilly evening, but Marinopoulos would try to force a ball into triple coverage to Joe Park in the middle of the field that senior linebacker Ben Wander picked off.
Once again the Eagles would go three-and-out and the Dutchmen offense would finally break the ice with 58.4 seconds in the first half, as Park ran the ball in from two yards out to give the home team the 6-0 lead after after Marinopoulos and senior wideout Steven Fedorchak connected on a 48 yard pass to get the offense to the two.
After Bethlehem would receive the kickoff to open the second half, their offense would breakout and end up taking the lead. Reilly Pelow would run into the endzone untouched from 11 yards out, and the Cameron Scoons point after touchdown would give the visitors the 7-6 lead. The Eagles also used the big play to get into their prime scoring position, as on the previous play quarterback David Montalvo and Dylan Rodriguez would connect on a 46-yard gain the the 11 yard line.
After both teams traded possessions following the touchdown, the Dutchmen would come back with another scoring drive of their own to provide the final score. Park again would finish off the drive, this time a scamper from three yards out, and after the failed two-point conversion it would be 12-7 and the 13-play, 63-yard drive that took 6:25 to produce would be capped off. Marinopoulos and senior tight end Cody Custard would connect twice on the drive for big plays of 30- and 15-yards to power the drive.
Punts would then be traded, and Bethlehem’s last chance would come with 8:06 left to go. After a third-and-nine conversion that came on a 10-yard Dutchmen penalty and a close fourth-and-one conversion on a Steve Mendelson run, the Dutchmen defense would stand tall against the Eagles passing offense, as the Head Coach Rick Leach decided to turn to his passing game on the next four plays. After Guilderland retook possession and got a pair of first downs, Marinopoulos could kneel the remainder of the game away and the #1 seed in the Empire Division would escape the scare provided by the #4 Liberty Division seed and previously undefeated road team.
Marinopoulos would finish his evening 16-of-31 for 248 and two interceptions. It would be the first game this season that Marinopoulos would not throw a touchdown pass and the first game of the year that he would throw multiple interceptions.
Custard would have his best offensive game of the year in what the team hopes will be a breakout game for their hopeful Class AA Championship run, catches five passes for 101 yards. The 101 yards and 56 last week at Shenendehowa is more than Custard has had in all other six Dutchmen games combined. He would continue his defensive dominance, registering three tackles, two of those sacks, and a strip sack.
The best defensive player would be linebacker Tyler Hess, as arguably the most important defensive player for the Dutchmen squad had six tackles, including one for loss. Hess was unavailable for the majority of last weeks victory at Shen as he has battled an ankle injury all season, and the defensive performance was obviously improved with his presence on the field Friday evening. Patrick Winslow, starting for the injured Mason Leto, also had his name called plenty of times on the evening, totaling four tackles, including a half a tackle for a loss. Winslow was a presence around the line of scrimmage with Bethlehem’s run offense all night long. Evan Gallup also had three tackles of his own.
With the win, the Dutchmen match the most wins in a season in program history, equaling the eight wins the 2007 team, led by Guilderland High School legends and former UAlbany standouts Drew Smith and Paul Booker, had. The win also puts the Dutchmen into the Class AA semifinals next Friday night, when they will host #2 Liberty seed Shaker, in a rematch of last years semifinal that Shaker won on their turf last season.
Well written Jason! Nice job.