Glens Falls shuts out Hudson Falls to advance to the Class B final

Glens Falls—After a successful first round of the 2018 playoffs, the Glens Falls Indians were set to play the Hudson Falls Tigers. The incoming Nor’easter gave the Indians some trouble but they pulled through, winning 34-0

Earlier this season these two rivals played each other in their annual trophy game, the Jug Game. In week three, Glens Falls out classed the Tiger early in the competition, taking their fourth consecutive Jug Game.

Glens Falls once again came out as the aggressors in the first quarter. The Indians’ two featured backs, the sophomore Aalijah Sampson and the freshman Griffin Woodell carried Glens Falls to the goal line. Then Woodell punched the ball in on third down, taking the first points of the game.

The rain quickly became a factor in the first half. After Caleb Condon executed a flawless drive down to the thirty yard line for Hudson Falls, then the ball slipped from his hands just before being hit and was recovered by Glens Falls’ Terelle Bonner-Welch. The Tigers defense sloppily gave up twenty yards on penalties which allowed Glens Falls to reach the goal line once again. This time they made up for it by poking the ball away from Joe Girard III so Andre Prichett could fall on the ball at the Hudson Falls five.

The poor field position that Hudson Falls received from the fumble recovery forced them to punt to only the Glens Falls forty yard line. After a couple of first downs were gained, Griffin Woodell came around the line and found his way to the end zone for a touchdown of forty-eight yards.

Glens Falls knew that they needed to come out aggressive from halftime. They drove down the field in two minutes with the help of a long run by Aalijah Sampson for forty yards and change. After that, Joe Girard used his elusiveness to score from ten yards out on a designed quarterback run.

“With the weather conditions we didn’t want them to get any momentum at the beginning of the second half. We were worried about onside kicks and that type of thing, so by getting the ball and scoring at the beginning of the second half we kept them at bay and kept the momentum on our side,” said Glens Falls’ coach Pat Lilac.

The Indians defense shut down Caleb Condon and the Hudson Falls Tigers in the second half. They smothered the Tigers at the line and forced one pick, a turn the ball over on downs, and punts on the rest of their drives.

Coach Lilac said, “They got a couple of deep passes but we were able to regroup and keep them out of the end zone. Anytime you can shut someone out in a sectional semi final it’s a good thing.”

Glens Falls’ junior back Cooper Montgomery found the end zone once late and then the game is over. Glens Falls will advance to the Section II final for Class B next Saturday at Shenendehowa. They will play Cobleskill who they beat in week two of this season 36-28.

Coach Lilac said, “With the experienced players that we have, we knew that this was our goal to make it back to the final. And a lot of time it’s the game before that game that is the most stressful one, and then you add a rivalry into the mix. It was a tough week and they were focused, so we’re glad to be going back.”