VOORHEESVILLE — It was a Friday the 13th trip to Canajoharie for the Voorheesville Blackbirds. And it turned into a house of horrors.

The Voorheesville football team was doomed by a lack of offensive productivity and a couple of questionable calls that led to a 12-7 defeat, giving the Class C Southern Division title to the Cougars.

The Blackbirds finished the regular season with a 5-2 record and sneaked into a playoff spot. Voorheesville is the eighth — and last seed — and will travel to Stillwater on Saturday.
"We never got into a consistent offensive game," said Voorheesville Coach Joe Sapienza after Friday’s contest. "I think in the long run, the defense had to do too much. They are a very good team, and you can’t leave your defense on the field that long without them popping it."

The Blackbirds committed three turnovers — two fumbles and one interception — in the contest. They also recovered their own fumbles a couple of times but they were forced to punt.

The Blackbirds took a one-point lead, 7-6, late in the first quarter and held that lead until the fourth quarter.

The Blackbirds punted late in the third quarter — one down was wasted on a fumbled snap — and Canajoharie got the ball at the 40-yard line.

The Cougars marched down the field behind the arm of quarterback Clinton Billtucci and the running of Chris Shineman.

Canajoharie also got a lucky break. A pass from Billtucci thrown to Dan Amato looked to bounce as Amato dived to make the catch. The play was called by the officials as a good catch and the Cougars got a key first down on the Voorheesville 15-yard line. The play picked up 17 yards.

Two plays later, Shineman ran the ball in for a touchdown. The two-point conversion pass was broken up by Voorheesville’s Jordan Murphy and Canajoharie led by five points, 12-7.

But Voorheesville had to punt on its next possession and couldn’t get back into the contest as Canajoharie ran out the clock.
"We had to roll the dice a little more," said Sapienza of his defense. "And they were able to get that tight end pop pass. We were stunting our linebacker because we were desperate for time. They made good plays. They called them and executed them."

Physical game

The Blackbirds got on the scoreboard late in the first quarter. They were trailing, 6-0, but responded on the their next possession.

Pat Jones returned the kick-off to the 33-yard line and benefited from a personal foul penalty by Canajoharie as he was hit late, out of bounds.

The ball was moved to the 49-yard line and the quarterback completed a pass to Tim Robinson for a 16-yard gain.

Jones picked up seven yards and one yard on back-to-back runs. Duncan picked up three yards for a first down and the Blackbirds had the ball on the Canajoharie 24-yard line.

A five-yard penalty put the ball on the 19-yard line. After two incomplete passes, Conde connected with Robinson for a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Robinson caught a short pass and eluded defenders, finally diving for the end zone to finish off a strong effort to get six points for the Birds.

Cameron Taylor kicked the extra point to give the Blackbirds a lead they would hold for two quarters.

Billtucci hit Keith Shults for a 13-yard touchdown pass to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

There was a controversial play in the second quarter that might have cost the Blackbirds some points.

The Birds just got the ball back after stopping Canajoharie with their backs to the goal line. Sam Pelham and Charlie McGrail had back-to-back sacks that ended a Canajoharie drive.

Voorheesville got the ball on its own 32-yard line and was moving the ball. Jones ran with the ball and picked up nine yards and was tackled. The ball came loose and it was ruled a fumble even though Jones had been on the ground and also out of bounds — which would have ended the play — before the ball was fumbled.

Canajoharie recovered the ball and ended the Blackbirds’ momentum.

After that, the Blackbirds struggled to move the ball and Jones, who came into the game as the second-leading rusher in Section II, was held to 45 yards on Friday. Adam Duncan did rush for 85 yards on 12 carries, but fumbled on one play.

Conde passed for 77 yards on six completions and threw a touchdown pass. He also threw an interception. Robinson was his leading receiver with four catches for 57 yards.

Pelham had a big day on defense with three sacks.
"They were using three different defensive fronts," Sapienza said. "And that threw us off, I believe, a little bit. They rolled the dice on defense. They couldn’t stop our offense unless they had five or six men up. Toe-to-toe, they couldn’t stop us. They were physical and we were physical."

The loss was the second for the Blackbirds this season. The Birds also lost to Chatham in September. Both games were close contests.
"We’ve had two losses that could have gone either way," Sapienza said. "We have two losses against two teams in the top four. I still feel we’re an upper-echelon team."

Before Sapienza found out whether his team would be playing in the playoffs this weekend, he was confident his team earned a spot there.
"I’m pretty sure we’ll be there," Sapienza said. "We beat Schuylerville and they are the third place team in the North [Division]. We’ll be seven or eight. We’ll have a game on the road, but it’s been like that all year."

The Blackbirds are the eighth seed and will travel to Saratoga County for a 2 p.m. kick-off with Stillwater, the Central Division champions. The Warriors finished the season, 5-1, and their only loss was to rival Mechanicville. Every other team besides Voorheesville and Schuylerville in the Class C playoffs has just one loss.
"We’re prepared to put forth our best effort," Sapienza said. "The kids are not ready for the season to be over."