GUILDERLAND — Friday night’s rain dampened the offense for both Guilderland and Bethlehem.

Guilderland’s offense seemed to be stuck in the mud pit that was the Bethlehem High School field in a 10-0 loss.

The offensive woes shouldn’t drown out the effort of the Dutchmen defense as they held a good Bethlehem offense.
"The effort was there," said Guiderland Coach Dan Penna. "We came out knowing Bethlehem can play good football."

Guilderland gave up the 10 points in the first half and was in the game up to the end but couldn’t crack Bethlehem’s defense in the slick conditions.

After Guilderland punted on its first possession, Bethlehem moved the ball down the field, starting at its own 36-yard line.

The Eagles got the ball to the 10-yard line but stalled as Guilderland’s defense made some key plays.

Bethlehem settled for a 27-yard field goal by Steve Seymor to take a 3-0 lead with 3:19 left in the first quarter.

Bethlehem made the score 10-0 in the second quarter.

After a great punt by Dutchman Nick Zanotta, the Eagles got the ball on the 20-yard line.

Bethlehem got a big run to move the ball to the Dutchmen’s 28-yard line and Brian Nicholson finished off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run.

Those would be the only mistakes the Dutch would make on defense as they held Nicholson, one of the best running backs in Section II, to under 100 yards and shut out Bethlehem in the second half.
"In the first half, they made plays," Penna said of Bethlehem. "They broke some tackles and got big plays. But I’m proud of the way we played defense...At times, we held them down. But their touchdown came off big plays."

Guilderland caused a couple of fumbles — one in the first half after a big hit by James Ransom. The second came late in the fourth quarter.

"No quit"

Chris Wolfe recovered the ball on the 24-yard line to put an end to a good Bethlehem drive.
"We came out and battled," Penna said. "We’ve been doing that all season long. There is no quit with this team."

Guilderland’s linebackers — Wolfe, Ransom, Pete Stanish, and Kevin Doherty, — made big hits all game. Safety Kevin Forbes played a big game as well as the Dutchmen defensive linemen John D’Ambrosio, Judd Robinson, Kyle Hussey, Kevin Germain, Curtis Lloyd, and Zannotta.

The Guilderland offense turned the ball over three times. They fumbled early in the second quarter and quarterbacks Bill Rafferty and Greg Barcomb each threw an interception.

The first interception occurred late in the second half and would have been a touchdown if not for an illegal-blocking penalty on the interception return.
"We have to fix the turnovers," Penna said. "We have to do a better job at times of holding onto the ball. It was partly due to the weather. But that’s not an excuse; they’re our miscues."

The Dutchmen finished the regular season with a 1-6 overall record and 0-6 in Division I of the Class AA. Guilderland’s lone win came against Ballston Spa of Division II.

The Dutch will play two cross-over games to wrap up the season. They will play Schenectady on Friday.

Penna said that he won’t need to motivate his team to play out the season.
"They have fun playing the game," the coach said. "And if you’re not enjoying it, what’s the point in doing it at all" We have fun in practice and, with games, they approach it the same way. We’re just going to go out and prepare for whoever we have to play."