VOORHEESVILLE — The Voorheesville football team lost a heartbreaker in Troy on Friday night.

The Blackbirds jumped out to a two-touchdown lead but couldn’t stop Catholic Central High School in the fourth quarter; the Birds lost, 21-20.
"It is very, very disappointing," said Voorheesville Coach Joe Sapienza. "Because in the first half we controlled the game. We just got complacent and we weren’t consistent in the second half. We came out and thought the job was done."

Voorheesville led, 14-0, through three quarters. P.J. Hognestad ran for both touchdowns in the first half.

But Catholic Central came back with two touchdowns to tie the game in the fourth and final stanza.

Then, Voorheesville scored a touchdown with just 37 seconds left to break the tie.

Nick Duncan caught a pass from Andy Catellier for the score. The extra-point-attempt failed but Voorheesville led, 20-14.

Catholic Central came right back in the final seconds.
"They drove 65 yards in 37 seconds," Sapienza said. "They did it on three plays."

The final play of the game resulted in a touchdown pass for the Crusaders. The extra-point kick was good and gave Catholic Central the win.

The loss was disappointing to Sapienza because his team played well for three quarters but could not wrap up the win.
"We were not consistent," the coach reiterated. "We got hurt very much with penalties on offense. We were able to move the ball."

Catellier threw for 138 yards on 11 completions. Hognestad rushed for 70 yards and Duncan had 97 yards receiving.

Tim Robinson had three catches for the Blackbirds and Stephen Cardinal had three sacks on defense for Voorheesville.

But Voorheesville was hurt by its own mistakes.
"We had close to 100 yards in penalties," Sapienza said. "We had some miscues. The defense played very solid. We just gave up big plays when it mattered the most. It was two different halves. It was very up and down. The first half we came out and played well. We did not finish the job and just got comfortable."

After playing their first two games on the road, the Blackbirds will return to their home nest on Saturday.

Voorheesville will host Chatham at 1 p.m. at Thomas Buckley Field at the high school.
"After losing this game," Sapienza said of Catholic Central, "now this game is pivotal. There is no dwelling on the last one. We have to take care of business this week."