GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland football players walked off the field with their heads hung low. But they quickly picked them up when they heard the claps and cheers of the home crowd.

The Dutchmen had just lost to Christian Brothers Academy, 13-8, in a Class AA quarterfinal playoff game on a cold, windy Friday night. But the crowd warmed it up a bit as they applauded their warriors after their first playoff game since 1999.
"In retrospect, they’ll be very proud," said Guilderland Coach Dan Penna. "I’m proud of the kids at the moment. We made mistakes that we can’t make in the playoffs. But I knew that we would play hard until the last whistle.
"We went into the playoffs, treating it as a new season," Penna said. "We wanted to go 3-0 and not think about what we accomplished. We have pride in what we did, but we did not want to settle for anything less than the best."

Guilderland struggled to get any offense going in the contest, but, as has been the case all season, its defense kept the team in the game.

The first quarter ended in a 0-0 tie, but CBA got on the board quickly in the second quarter.

Michael Chaires, who is a state champion wrestler and will wrestle at the University of Virginia next year, took a hand-off on a reverse and blew by the Guilderland defense for a 50-yard touchdown run. The extra-point kick was good, and the Brothers led, 7-0.

Guilderland punted on its next possession but got a break when CBA gave the ball back.

CBA quarterback Jim O’Brien went back to throw but Dutchmen Jarrell Gatterson knocked the ball from the quarterback. Drew Zanotta recovered the ball for the Dutchmen at the 24-yard line of CBA.

Four plays later, Guilderland scored on a pass from Greg Barcomb to Drew Smith. Barcomb placed a perfect pass over a CBA defender, right to Smith who eluded some defenders and dove into the end zone for the six points.

Kevin Forbes ran for the two-point conversion to give the Dutch a 8-7 lead with 8:09 left in the first half.

The score remained that way for the rest of the half. Forbes intercepted a pass late in the half to end a CBA drive.

Passing game

But Guilderland made a mistake in the beginning of the third quarter.

The Dutch fumbled the opening kick-off and it was recovered by CBA at the Guilderland 22-yard line.

CBA got a touchdown on a halfback option pass from Chaires to Luke Weaver, but a illegal block penalty nullified the score and CBA did not take advantage of the turnover.

Both teams traded punts, and the Dutch got the ball back late in the third quarter. But, on the first play from scrimmage, Weaver intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Dutchmen’s 24-yard line.

It took the Brothers six plays to score and take the lead. O’Brien found Weaver in the end zone to complete a 14-yard touchdown pass.

The two-point conversion try failed and the score was 13-8 with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

Guilderland turned the ball over on downs on its next possession but got a big play from Parker Wolf when he intercepted a pass at his own 25-yard line.

But the game pretty much ended for the Dutch when Chaires picked off a pass and returned it to the 47-yard line.

Guilderland had one more chance but a pass for no gain and a sack by Joe Vellano, who will be on the football team at the University of Maryland next fall, ended any chance for the Dutchmen.
"Tonight we didn’t take care of the football," Penna said. "It was a hell of a defensive battle. I think our offense was on the field for all of three plays in the third quarter. I felt like we were able to hold down CBA for most of the game."

But Guilderland had trouble when CBA went to the air.
"We had a tough time containing their passing game," Penna said. "We held them for first down and second down; we just couldn’t adjust to what they were doing."

Penna said that the weather and the field conditions did not bother his team.
"They were able to execute and we misfired on too many plays," Penna said. "We had two or three turnovers and in the second half we didn’t play good offensive football."

"Hungrier than ever"

The Dutch will have one more game to wrap up the season. They will play a crossover game this Friday night at Shenendehowa High School.

The coaches and players at Guilderland were disappointed in Friday’s loss, but they are ready to finish up a great season and continue to build for the future.
"The theme of the kids in the program is that we are just getting started," Penna said. "We’ve relied on the leadership of several seniors this season. They led us down a path we’ve not gone down before. The juniors will be hungrier than ever to keep pushing forward"
"We are proud of the first seven games of the season," Penna added. "Our goal was to go 3-0 in the postseason. We didn’t care about what we accomplished. And we’ll take that same attitude into the last game."

Penna is proud of the way the Dutch played their first playoff game.
"I’m extremely proud of the kids," the coach said. "We played tough, physical football. We shut down CBA’s run game and at times shut down their passing game. We made costly mistakes and had a few turnovers.
"We have one game left," Penna added. "I expect to practice and play as hard as if it was a playoff game."