GUILDERLAND — The final score might not have been an indication, but the Guilderland football team took some small steps in Friday’s game against Troy.

The Dutchmen lost their home-opener to the Flying Horses, 25-7, but showed more flashes of great play than the previous week — a 22-6 loss to Shenendehowa.
"We’re keeping on building," said Guilderland Coach Dan Penna. "Our goal is to get better each week. We made some mistakes...We had some turnovers and penalties, but, on offense, we moved the ball well."

After struggling on offense against Shen, the Guilderland offense moved the ball well against Troy, but mistakes put an end to those drives.

The most costly error came in the second quarter with Troy up just 6-0.

Guilderland got the ball at the 46-yard line after a punt by Troy. The Dutch marched down the field, getting big runs from Kevin Doherty, Tim Montgomery, and Austin Elliot.

The Dutch had a first down on the Troy 18-yard line when the exchange on a handoff between quarterback Greg Buck and Doherty was fumbled and recovered by Troy.

It took the Flying Horses five plays to score on a 58-yard touchdown run by tailback Jahod Crumble. It was Crumble’s second touchdown in the half.
"That turnover hurt," Penna said. "It was a critical part. It was a 12-point swing. We were about to get up 7-6."

The first half ended with Troy up 12-0.

"Troy is explosive"

Then it didn’t take long for the Flying Horses to score in the second half.

Guilderland punted on the opening possession of the third quarter, but the kick was really short and downed at the Dutchmen’s 35-yard line.

Two big defensive plays by Guilderland — including a sack of the quarterback by Pete Stanish that lost 12 yards — looked to get the team out of trouble.

But Crumble scored on the next play on a 47-yard run with 8:17 left in the quarter. The extra-point kick was good and Troy led, 19-0.
"Troy is explosive," Penna said. "We took a couple of plays off and you can’t do that. Their running back was quick and the offensive line is powerful."

The Dutch had more problems with the kicking game, as a snap was fumbled and as Nick Zanotta tried to punt the ball but it was blocked and recovered at the Guilderland five-yard line.

But the Dutchmen defense held on four plays, stopping two runs — recovered by Crumble and Mike Krough. Krough fumbled the ball and it was recoved in the end zone by Guilderland’s Kevin Forbes.
"We showed a tremendous amount of heart," Penna said. "What I’m most proud of is that the kids didn’t quit."

The ball was placed on the 20-yard line and Guilderland went on a long drive down the field for a touchdown.

A pass-interference penalty by Troy moved the ball to the 35-yard line. After a five-yard penalty by Troy, Guilderland’s James Ramson picked up eight yards on a running play to put the ball on the 48-yard line.

Montgomery ran for nine yards on the next play.

A Guilderland penalty negated a first-down run by Doherty and a loss of a yard on the next play set up a third down and 12 yards to go.

Doherty took the handoff from Buck and started running in one direction and then handed the ball to Montgomery, who was running in the other direction. Montgomery picked up the 12 yards to get the first down and the ball was on the Troy 40-yard line.

Touchdown at last

Guilderland continued to move the ball as Buck completed a pass to John Raffensperger for nine yards. Two plays later, on fourth down, an offsides penalty by Troy gave Guilderland a first down at the 26-yard line.

Montgomery picked up 14 yards on the next play and was hit late out of bounds by a Troy player.

The penalty moved the ball to the seven-yard line and Guilderland took advantage as Ramson capped the drive with a touchdown run.

Zanotta kicked the extra point and Guilderland trailed 19-7 with 11:46 left in the fourth and final stanza.

Guilderland then tried an on-side kick to recover and the ball back. Zanotta kicked the ball at a Troy player; it bounced off the player and was knocked around before Troy recovered it at its own 45-yard line.

Troy scored again with 6:42 left in the game.

After an interception of a Guilderland pass, Crumble scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 19-yard run.

Guilderland had one more chance to cut into the lead, but a fumble on the Troy nine-yard line ended a scoring opportunity.

Looking ahead

Despite the turnovers, Penna was pleased with some of the things he saw on Friday.
"I’m proud of this team," the coach said. "We were down 19-0 and we didn’t quit. We showed a lot of heart."

The Dutchmen will travel to Colonie on Friday to take on Christian Brothers Academy. The Brothers are 2-0 overall and 1-0 in Division I of Class AA.
"It should be a great game," Penna said. "Our goal is to get better as a football team. The great thing is that, though I’m proud of their effort, no one is satisfied. The goal is to win and we’ll win some games that people think we can’t."