Marinopoulos Picks Apart Albany Defense in Win

Guilderland High School Quarterback George Marinopoulos threw for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns Saturday afternoon, leading the Dutchmen to the 47-24 road win over Albany High.

The Dutchmen would gain possession to begin the game, and the senior promptly led his team down the field on a 16 play, 64 yard drive that took 7:17 off the clock, a patient, paced drive in front of a packed crowd at the new turf field at Albany High, that concluded in a two-yard touchdown run by Jared Schwartz.

Ky’ere Tillery would immediately respond however, as the big back broke out of the backfield for a 64 yard run down the left side, and a two-point conversion would give the Falcons their first lead of the afternoon, 8-7.

After Guilderland punted after their first possession, Tillery took a eight yard toss to the house to extend the lead to 16-7, following the two point conversion, in the final seconds of the first quarter.

After that it was all Dutchmen.

Tillery, who rushed for 108 yards and the pair of touchdowns in the first quarter who struggle for yards the rest of the way, carrying the ball only 12 times for 29 yards and another touchdown. Lamar Grady, another back for the Falcons, wouldn’t have much success either, as he ran for only 40 yards on eight carries.

And while the defense did their job, the offense did theirs.

Marinopoulos would lead his offense on another extended drive to begin the second quarter, this time going 60 yards on ten plays in 3:20, as this time Joe Park capped off the drive with a 16 yard scurry.

Following the drive that cut the lead to two, both teams traded small possessions which ultimately gave Guilderland the ball back on their own 49 and with 1:15 left in the half.

And Marinopoulos went to work.

After back-to-back throws to Schwartz and Evan Gallup of 15 and seven yards, Marinopoulos ran for nine yards to get the ball inside the red zone with 48 seconds left. On third and five, Park would take a eight yard toss for the first down and on third and goal Marinopoulos found Steven Fedorchak in the left side of the end zone to give the Dutchmen the lead 21-16 heading into the half.

To begin the second half, Albany would go three and out and Guilderland would need only two plays to respond, as Schwartz ran 32 yards for the touchdown, making it 28-16, after Marinopoulos and Fedorchak connected on a 41 yard throw.

On the ensuing Albany possession, Tillery would fumble the handoff on the first play of the drive, and after a Albany offensive lineman tried to pick it up and run without tucking it away, Schwartz knowingly ripped the ball straight out of his possession. A run based, seven play, 33 yard drive would extend the Dutchmen lead to 35-16.

And the ball would keep bouncing the Dutchmen’s way.

A squib kick would go weary, not allowing any Falcons to get a hand on it, and the Dutchmen special teams got down the field and recovered what ended up being a incidental onside kick. The Dutchmen would go 37 yards on nine plays, and all of a sudden it looked like a blowout with the visitors up 25.

Albany would quickly respond, as Tillery ran it in from three yards out after Noah John and Jahi Goodbee connected on a 43 yard gain.

Marinopoulos and co. would not take their foot off the pedal even up 17 with under a minute in the third quarter. The Dutchmen would make quick work of a four play, 62 yard drive that Marinopoulos and Fedorchak wrapped up with back-to-back connections of 40 and six, to provide the final score of 47-24.

Fedorchak would finish the afternoon with eight catches for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Schwartz would gain 162 yards on 16 touches and a touchdown, while Park would gain 62 yards total on 14 touches and two TDs. Cody Custard, a new addition to the Dutchmen offense after playing just defense last year, caught four passes for 37 yards.

Albany (1-2) will visit 1-2 Schenectady next Saturday at 1:30, while Guilderland (3-0) hosts 0-3 Ballston Spa next Friday at 7.