Scotia-Glenville 34, Schuylerville 6
I love Section II. The atmosphere, the sense of community, the marching bands. Every time I'm out here, it's just a good time. Don't get that everywhere in Section III. Good thing I might be moving out to Section II land next year...
Showed up right after Scotia got on the board - Marty McCollum made the first of numerous big plays on his end, a 70 yard punt return to the house, putting Scotia up 7-0 midway through the 1st quarter. This game was a contrast of styles - the 2-2 Scotia had its power side, but liked to get RB McCollum & QB Dan Zeglen to the perimeter, move the ball in the air sometimes, and even their bigger RB Ramir Brown was more of an off-tackle, cutback guy. Schuylerville was ground & pound, ground & pound, ground & pound. The teams traded long drives that didn't end up with anything - a 13 play, 56 yard Schuylerville drive that lasted 5 & a half minutes and was halted after an 11 yard loss in the red zone on 4th and goal, followed by a 19 play, 54 yard drive from Scotia that took 7:11 off the clock. Would have taken much longer, but both teams were particularly quick in between plays. Scotia converted its first three 3rd downs, and when they didn't go 4 for 4, they converted on a 4th down. However, a 1 yard loss on 4th & 13 nullified the work leading up to it. They needed a big play to get momentum going - and Dan Zeglen provided it, intercepting his opposing QB William Griffen and giving Scotia great field position, starting their drive at the Schuylerville 31. After a pair of Zeglen runs brought them to the 6, Ramir Brown finished it off with a 6 yard TD run, making the score 14-0 in favor of S-G with 3 to go in the half. After a 3 & out, McCollum hit em with another big play, giving the Tartans some real breathing room. On the 1st play of the drive, he broke one 73 yards to the house, giving Scotia a 21-0 lead. As a matter of fact, it was nearly more, thanks to McCollum again - the Black Horses made the mistake of punting to him in the last 30 seconds. He fielded it at his own 36, cut to the right while evading a pair of tackles, but looked like he was going to be corralled for no real return. However, he stopped quickly, so quickly that he almost slipped with the sloppy field conditions, cut back hard left, zig-zagged his way through 3 more tacklers, and broke diagonally to the left, beating everyone on a 64 yard punt return to the house... ohhh, but it was called back. A stupid block in the back penalty, which was committed at the 3 yard line, negated the score and brought it back to the Schuylerville 13. An illegal substitution penalty brought it back 5 more yards, and Zeglen's completion to Ire Pinney on the last play of the half fell 3 yards short of adding to the scoreboard.
The score remained the same through the 3rd quarter, as the field was getting a bit more sloppy due to the rain falling. I ended up putting the camera away and not really getting any 2nd half shots. Scotia had a shot in the middle of the 3rd, having the ball as deep as the Schuylerville 14 after a punt return was fumbled, but Griffen returned the favor from the 1st half, picking off a Zeglen pass and returning it to his own 43. By the end of the 3rd, Scotia-Glenville had the ball back deep in Black Horse territory, at the 3 to be exact. On 3rd & goal, McCollum punched it in from 1 yard out to make the score 27-0, and I was out to catch Cobleskill-Richmondville/Schalmont. After I left, Griffen put Schuylerville on the scoreboard with a 65 yard TD pass, and Zeglen ran one in from 40 yards out for Scotia. With the win, Scotia is now 3-2 after starting the season losing 2 straight. Schuylerville drops to 1-4.
#ByTheNumbers - It was a run-first game, decided by big plays. Scotia looks a bit more apt to throw the football, but with the weather conditions the way they were, the ground game is naturally going to be more potent. That being said, they were able to beat a ground & pound team soundly with their running game. While I was there (from mid Q1 to early Q4), Marty McCollum racked up 77 rushing yards on 7 carries with 2 TDs; he added 11 yards on 2 receptions, though losing a fumble. He also picked up a boatload of return yards, and would've had a TD if not for the penalty. QB Dan Zeglen went 5/11 in the air for 36 yards and an INT. He has a nice spiral on the ball, and it looks like the passing game would be more potent when it was dry. He ran for 51 yards on 14 carries while I was there - however, I was gone by the time he ran one in from 40 yards out. Ramir Brown had 34 yards on 7 carries through those middle quarters, and I was surprised he didn't get the ball more. He looked like their toughest runner. He also had a TD in the 1st half. On Schuylerville's end, QB William Griffen was held to 3/10 in the air over that time, throwing for 47 yards and a pick. He also was held to 11 yards on 6 carries while losing a fumble. Looks like a playmaker, but the Tartan defense did a good job keeping him in check. Fullback Joshua Thomas, who's their 2nd leading rusher behind Griffen, was held to just 9 yards on 4 carries. He also caught 1 pass for 6 yards. Over the time I was there, Scotia-Glenville outgained Schuylerville 220-46 (neglecting all the return & penalty yards).
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