VOORHEESVILLE — The players of the Voorheesville football team were coming off an emotional high after last Saturday’s win over Watervliet. This Saturday, they reached an emotional low.

The Blackbirds struggled with a big, tough Greenwich team in a 19-12 loss at Thomas Buckley Field in Voorheesville on Saturday.
"I’m very disappointed in the level of intensity today," Voorheesville Coach Joe Sapienza said after the game. "I just told them that we prepared through the week. We worked harder. Coming off a big win you can have an emotional letdown. We played very hard, but, when push came to shove, the game meant more to Greenwich than Voorheesville."

The Blackbirds are 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the Southern Division of Class C and hold the top spot in the division.

Saturday looked to be another big day for the Voorheesville defense as they made a big stop on Greenwich’s first possession of the game.

The Witches returned the ball to their own 28-yard line and moved the ball down the field, combining running and passing.

Greenwich got inside the 20-yard line but could not score.

Voorheesville stopped a running play on first down and a pass play on second down. Then Blackbird Charlie McGrail made a big play, sacking Greenwich quarterback, Mike Schreiner, for a nine-yard loss that set up fourth-down and 17 yards to go. The fourth down pass fell incomplete and the Birds avoided falling behind early.

The Blackbirds then put on an impressive drive of their own, starting at their own 22-yard line and finishing with a touchdown.

Voorheesville was led by strong running from Paul Hognestad and Justin Lupien on the drive.

Lupien capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run.

The extra-point kick was blocked but the Birds led 6-0 with 3:17 left in the first quarter.

Fast and furious

But then Voorheesville gave up a big play.

Greenwich’s Dylan Stout returned the ensuing kickoff from his own 14-yard line to the Voorheesville seven to put his team in position to score.

And score is what they did on the next play on a run by Adam Beck.

The Witches missed the extra-point kick and the score was tied with 2:56 left in the opening quarter.

But the Blackbirds came right back to score on their next possession.

Voorheesville got the ball back on the kick-off and it was returned by Anthony Donato to the 31-yard line.

The Birds then proceeded to go on a 12-play drive that went into the second quarter and was capped by a touchdown pass from quarterback Andy Catellier to receiver Tim Robinson.

Voorheesville mixed the run and pass, and the big play on the drive was a 25-yard completion from Catellier to Nick Duncan that put the ball on the Greenwich 30-yard line.

The Birds faced fourth-down and one from the 10-yard line when Catellier found Robinson in the end zone for the score.

Voorheesville went for two points. The pass attempt was incomplete, but the Birds led, 12-6, with 9:04 left in the second quarter.

Voorheesville’s defense, held including making a big stop on a fourth down and five from the 30-yard line.

A run by Derek Slipperly moved the ball to the 30-yard line. But Slipperly was stopped for no gain on second down by Voorheesville’s Adam Duncan.

The third-down pass fell incomplete and Lupien made a big tackle on Schreiner on fourth down to end the drive. Linebacker Eric Dickson slowed down Schreiner on the play and Lupien finished him off with the tackle for a five-yard loss.

Lost chances

Greenwich took the lead with 2:14 left in the the third quarter as the Witches capped a long drive of their own. It took the Witches 11 plays to score when Schreiner hit Slipperly with a pass to tie the game.

The extra-point kick was good and gave the Witches a 13-12 lead.

Voorheesville was forced to punt on its next possession and Greenwich had the ball on its own 47-yard line.

It didn’t take as long for Greenwich to score on this possession as Slipperly finished off the three-play drive with a 35-yard touchdown run.

The extra-point kick was short and the Birds trailed by a score of 19-12 with 10:49 left to go in the contest.

Voorheesville had two chances to score but couldn’t convert. The Birds’ second opportunity was a great drive that started at their own 22-yard line after a punt.

Catellier, taking the snap from a shotgun formation, completed a pair of passes to Kurt Hoffart. The first moved the ball to the Greenwich 41-yard line; the second was good for nine yards.

Voorheesville continued to move the ball down field, getting as close as the seven-yard line but couldn’t finish the drive.

A fumble that went out bounds on third down lost about five yards and then a fourth down pass fell incomplete, and Greenwich was able to run out the clock on its next possession.
"When you rely on a spread offense, the field shortens when the ball is inside the 20," Sapienza said. "When it’s close, it’s hard. You need a running game. We were on a beautiful drive and in position to put it in."

The Blackbirds lost a big part of their running game when Hognestad left the game with an injury.
"P.J. is the type of back that moves the chains against a team like this," Sapienza said.

Hognestad hurt his knee but was moving around on the sideline. Sapienza thought that he suffered a slight sprain.

Sapienza also said that Greenwich is one of the toughest teams Voorheesville has played this season.
"They are the biggest and strongest team we faced all year," the coach said. "We knew we could out finesse them and we did that."

Catellier finished the game with 248 yards passing on 19 completions. Duncan made seven catches for 92 yards. Hoffart made four catches for 76 yards.

The Blackbirds return to divisional play and travel to the western fringe of Section II to play against a much improved team from Canajoharie. The Cougars have two divisional losses in close contests.
"The thing about Class C is it’s balanced," Sapinenza said. "Nobody is head and shoulders above the others. This was a good team and the game was pretty even. It gives people an incentive to keep working. We plan to be in the championship game. We should be there."