VOORHEESVILLE — It has been a long time since the Voorheesville football team beat Watervliet and it took a clutch performance by the offense to do it.

The Blackbirds hadn’t beat the Cannoneers on the gridiron since 1998. Saturday’s victory was sparked by a fourth quarter drive that resulted in a 17-13 come-from-behind win in front of a large homecoming crowd at Thomas Buckley Field.
"This game meant the most to us," said Voorheesville’s P.J. Hognestad. "We’ve been waiting for this game since last year’s. I didn’t play in that game, but I didn’t forget what happened."

Hognestad missed last year’s game at Watervliet because of an injury that sidelined him for the season; he watched as Watervliet scored on a late drive to win.
"This is a big win," said Voorheesville Coach Joe Sapienza Saturday. "I look at it this way. It’s a temporary monkey off our back. It’s an emotional thing, but there can’t be a letdown.
"It’s an emotional high," Sapienza added. "But we have to keep getting better. We made some mistakes the last couple of weeks."

Voorheesville still didn’t have a great offensive game, though it was the best of the season. It was the defense that gave the Blackbirds the edge.

Watervliet didn’t score until 7:25 remained in the third quarter. Voorheesville already had a 10-0 lead at that point.

The Blackbirds got a 32-yard field goal from Matt Miller, and a pass from Andy Catellier to Tim Robinson for a touchdown in the first half to build the early lead.

The touchdown capped an eight-play drive, which started at the Blackbirds’ own 40 after a Watervliet punt.

The Cannoneers scored their first points on a 12-yard touchdown run by Anthony Mann. The score came five plays after a blocked punt by Watervliet that went out of bounds at the Voorheesville 37-yard line.

The extra point was no good and the Blackbirds led, 10-6.

Nail-biter

Neither team would score until 6:18 was left in the fourth quarter.

Watervliet took the lead on a touchdown from Bryan Bruce from 17 yards out.

Watervliet got the ball at the 45-yard line after a Voorheesville fumble. The Cannoneers ran the ball down the field with Jahmel Tarver and Bruce.

The extra-point kick was good and Watervliet led 13-10.

But the Blackbirds came back with a big drive of their own.

The kick-off was downed at the Voorheesville 20-yard line and they had to go 80 yards for a touchdown.

Catellier found Robinson for a 14-yard pass completion to put the ball on the 34-yard line.

After a quarterback sack lost a yard, Hognestad made up for it and more. The linemen opened a huge hole on the left side and Hognestad did the rest as he ran 20 yards to the Watervliet 48-yard line.

Hognestad then had a seven-yard run followed by a three-yard run to put the ball on the Watervliet 38-yard line and give the Birds a first down to keep the drive alive.

Justin Lupien then got his turn, running the ball; the big fullback rumbled for 14 yards to put the ball on the 24-yard line.

Catellier threw an incomplete pass on the next play and was flagged for intentional grounding, which resulted in a five-yard loss.

Then Lupien picked up four yards on a run and, on third down, the Blackbirds got a huge break.

On an incomplete pass, Watervliet was penalized for pass interference and the ball was moved half the distance to the goal line, giving the Blackbirds an automatic first down.

The ball was placed on the 12-yard line and Hognestad picked up two more yards on a run.

The Birds then went to the air with the match-up they wanted. Catellier threw a perfectly-placed pass and Nick Duncan ran underneath the ball, making an over-the-shoulder catch for a touchdown.

Miller kicked the extra point and the Birds led 17-13 with 1:11 left in the contest.

"A total team win"
"When Andy came off the field," Sapienza said, "there were a full six minutes left. We have a kicker so we knew if we got down around the 20 we’d have a shot to win it."

Sapienza added that, when the Birds are inside the 20-yard line, it’s hard to stop Catellier and Duncan.
"It’s a mismatch inside the 20," the coach said. "We get the match-up on the outside."

Watervliet had a chance and looked to be in good position after Tarver returned the ball to the 49-yard line. But the Cannoneers were penalized for a block in the back and then Tarver was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and the ball was moved back to the 20-yard line.

Watervliet got the ball to the 35-yard line after a pass interference penalty but Voorheesville’s defense came up big on the next two plays.

Sam Pelham sacked the quarterback on the next play for an eight-yard loss and then Kurt Hoffart intercepted a pass at the 40-yard line to seal the win.

Hognestad finished the game with 124 yards on 20 carries but was quick to credit his offensive line.

Linemen Charles Lansburg, Charlie McGrail, Eric Dickson, George Ward, and Hognestad’s younger brother, Sean, opened holes for the running backs all game long and gave Catellier lots of protection.
"It was a total team win," Hognestad said. "Every single person on this team believed we could do this."

The Blackbirds play Greenwich at home on Saturday.