VOORHEESVILLE — With a depleted roster, the Voorheesville football team put forth one of its toughest performances of the year.

But it wasn’t quite enough as the Blackbirds lost to a good Coxsackie-Athens team, 20-14, on Saturday night in the Greene County village.

Voorheesville was without Adam Duncan, who has been out since week four with a broken foot, and without starting running back Pat Jones, who injured his shoulder last Saturday.

Both play on offense and defense and they formed one of the best backfields among small schools in Section II. Also lost against Coxsackie were receiver and defender Chris Massaroni and offensive lineman Chad Hoffart.
"I think everybody understood that a share of first place was at stake," said Voorheesville Coach Joseph Sapienza, "and we had to do it without key people. But the thing that was upsetting was that we took control of the game."

The Blackbirds did take control of the game after forcing the Indians to turn the ball over on downs.

Voorheesville got the ball and moved it down the field. Starting on their own 46-yard line, the Blackbirds needed eight plays to get the first points of the game.

The Blackbirds got big runs to move the ball from fullback Dan Whiteley — replacing Duncan — and Jimmy Carroll — who replaced Jones.

Senior quarterback Jay Conde hit classmates Evan Christner and Massaroni — before he went out — with passes. Conde, then, ended the drive with an 11-yard run into the end zone.

Lee Fenner kicked the extra point and the Blackbirds led, 7-0, with 6:44 left in the first quarter.

Voorheesville forced Coxsackie to punt on its next possession and the Birds flew down the field again.

The Blackbirds started at their own 40-yard line and used an efficient offense to move the ball.

Whiteley capped the 12-play drive early in the second quarter with a three-yard run into the end zone. Fenner kicked the extra-point and the Blackbirds led 14-0 with 11:09 left in the second stanza.

Tide turns

The Birds looked to be so in control of the game, it’s hard to imagine that they would not score again for the rest of the game.

Coxsackie did score on its ensuing possession after Voorheesville got its 14-0 lead.

Indians’ senior quarterback Ryan Kane scored on a seven-yard run to cap an eight-play drive. The extra point failed and the Indians trailed, 14-6, with 7:24 left until halftime.

Voorheesville was forced to punt on its next possession, and Coxsackie took advantage of getting the ball back.

Kane received the punt at his own 35-yard line. He avoided some tacklers and used his quickness to return the punt to the Voorheesville 25-yard line.

A couple of runs by Matt Carlson moved the ball to the Blackbirds’ 13-yard line.

Then Kane capped the drive with a pass to Dave Dingman for a 13-yard score. Kane and Dingman connected on the two-point conversion attempt and the Indians tied the game, 14-14, with 4:07 left in the second frame.

The score would remain the same until the intermission.

The Blackbirds took the second half kick-off and got the ball on their own 18-yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Conde went back to pass and had the ball knocked out of his hand. Coxsackie recovered the ball on the seven-yard line.

Two plays later, Kane ran in from two yards out to give the Indians the lead. The extra-point kick was blocked by Christner and the score was 20-14 just 45 seconds into the 12-minute third quarter.

The score stayed that way for the rest of the game.

The Voorheesville defense did a good job of containing Coxsackie and Kane for the rest of the game to keep the Birds within striking distance.

However, without its key players, it was tough for Voorheesville to get on the scoreboard again.

The Blackbirds had two more decent shots at getting the winning score.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Voorheesville moved the ball down the field and got to the Coxsackie 33-yard line but turned the ball over on downs

Later in the quarter, Voorheesville moved the ball down as far as the Coxsackie 37 but did not gain any more yards. Conde threw a pass to Christner on fourth down, but the ball fell incomplete and Coxsackie took a knee for two plays to end the contest.

"Playing hard"
"We moved the ball well and played great defense," Sapienza said. "We gave up one kick-off return and one play changed the game. But we kept playing hard. We were limited in what we could do."

Conde did a good job of trying to pick up for the missing players. He ran the ball 20 times for 120 yards. He also completed seven passes for 86 yards.

Whiteley had a good game, rushing for 47 yards on 13 carries.
"The kids in the backfield did well," Sapienza said. "Jimmy has never played tailback before. We had a tryout at the beginning of the week and he won. He’s a good athlete and a tough kid."

Sapienza was also proud of Conde and the way he played.
"I told Jay before the game that this game was his to do things to generate the offense," the coach said. "He competed and played hard."

The loss drops Voorheesville to fourth in the Class C South Division. The Blackbirds will now get ready for the first round of the playoffs. They will have to travel to take on the number-one team from the North Division — undefeated Cambridge.
"We will prepare," Sapienza said. "It’s one more opportunity to do something.
"It’s not impossible," Sapienza added about winning the game. "Cambridge is the only undefeated team, but I believe they gave up 19 points last [Friday] night. All the playoff teams are good. There is no one dominating team. All the teams could do something."

Sapienza does not have to go far for an inspiring story. Last year, his Blackbirds were seeded eighth in the Class C Section II tournament and beat top-seeded Stillwater.

Plus Sapienza might have all his weapons back for Saturday’s 1:30 game, which will be held in the Washington County town.
"It’s a possibility we’ll have both of them back," Sapienza said of Duncan and Jones. "If both of those guys show up next week and are cleared to go, it will be an emotional boost. They’ll make something significant happen. If not, we’ll prepare for the number-one seed like last year."