Behind a strong offensive effort and an injury-plagued Saratoga team, Guilderland was able to cruise to a victory.
The Guilderland Dutchmen defeated the Saratoga Blue Streaks on Friday evening at Saratoga Springs High School by a score of 27-6.
The Dutchmen got the early jump on the Blue Streaks, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter, with the first one coming just 94 seconds in on a 38-yard pass from quarterback George Marinopoulos to Steven Fedorchak, which would be one of his three 35+ yard receptions in the first quarter alone. Guilderland would again pick up a touchdown at the seven-minute mark of the first on a one-yard rush from Jared Schwartz, and the final one would come just 2:07 later on a 13-yard pass to Joe Park after Saratoga had fumbled a punt and turned it over at their own seven-yard line. This would give Guilderland a 20-0 advantage after just 12 minutes had been played in the contest.
“Having that lead, in some ways, I think it actually let us play down. It was a good experience for us to see that nobody rolls over in the Class AA’s,” Guilderland head coach Dan Penna said.
Injuries would play a huge roll in the game for Saratoga, as third-string quarterback Darius Wicks was set to get the start, but he would go down with an ankle injury early in the second quarter, and did not return. Saratoga had to call in emergency quarterback Jack Cairns to play the remainder of the game. He would lead them on an eight and a half minute, 17 play drive at the end of the first half, and Saratoga could not score in this drive. At the beginning of the second half, he led them on a 10 play drive that lasted five and a half minutes. The Blue Streaks would have 27 straight plays on offense spanning 14 minutes but didn’t get any points out of it while Wes Englintine, who is battling a knee injury, backup QB Lewi Clarke, who didn’t play under center due to concussion-like symptoms and Wicks all watched from the sidelines. However, Clarke did play wide receiver. Nick Desessa, who suffered a knee injury last week, and Nick Ingles, who has a separated shoulder also did not play Friday.
“No one’s going to feel sorry for us because it’s part of the game. Unfortunately, right now, we’re having a bad slew of injuries, and it’s next man up. We have to step up and keep going,” Saratoga head coach Terry Jones said regarding injuries. He also added that he did not have an update on the condition of Darius Wicks.
Saratoga and Guilderland go scoreless until the fourth quarter until Marinopoulos would throw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Evan Gallup to give the Dutchmen a 27-0 advantage with 10 minutes to play, all but wrapping it up. Marinopoulos would finish the night with three passing touchdowns.
The Blue Streaks would eventually get on the board courtesy of Lewi Clarke, who ran for a 35-yard touchdown with 59 seconds remaining. He was not the top runner of the game for Saratoga, as junior Cam Adams rushed for 121 yards Friday, showing flashes of Dakota Harvey in the 2015 season.
For the 2015 state finalists Saratoga, they fall to 0-2 on the season after their loss to Albany last week. They will try to get their first win of the year next Friday, taking on CBA at home. That game will begin at 7 PM. Guilderland improves to 2-0 on the year, having outscored their opponents 84-13 so far this year. They will hit the road again next Friday, facing Albany on the road. That game will also begin at 7 PM.
