GUILDERLAND — The team wrapped up its season with an impressive win.

The Dutchmen improved their record to 3-6 with a 47-20 win over Queensbury on Oct. 29. Queensbury had just come off a loss in the Class A playoffs, but will move up to join Guilderland and other large schools in Class AA next fall.
"It was a terrific end-of-season win," said Guilderland Coach Dan Penna. "We won our final two games of the season and three out of our last five. The guys got better as the season went along. The kids really began adapting to the systems. We were strong at the end of the season."

Senior running back Kevin Doherty rushed for 123 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Dutchmen against Queensbury.

The game was tied after the first quarter. Queensbury scored first on a pass play, but Guilderland responded with a touchdown pass of its own.

Junior quarterback Greg Barcomb completed a pass to Judd Robinson on a big third down and eight and a couple of plays later, the combination hooked up again for the Dutch’s first touchdown. Barcomb finished the game with six completions in seven attempts for 106 yards.

Queensbury scored in the second quarter to take a 13-7 lead after a Guilderland fumble. The Spartans used a 14-play drive that covered about 60 yards to score the touchdown.

Turning point

The turning point of the game came late in the second quarter. The Dutchmen tied the game with a three-yard run.
"There is no quit with this team," Penna said. "We drove down the field in the last two minutes right before halftime."

The Dutchmen took over in the second half.

They took the second-half kick-off and moved the ball down the field for another touchdown to take the lead.

Doherty scored his second touchdown and Nick Zanotta kicked the extra point to make the score 20-13.

The Guilderland kick-off was short and it was fumbled and recovered by Austin Elliot.

Doherty capped the short drive with a touchdown run. He added a two-point conversion run to give the Dutchmen a 28-13 lead.

Queensbury scored to cut the lead to one touchdown but Guilderland scored three more times and shut out the Spartans in the fourth quarter.

Doherty scored his fourth touchdown of the game in the third quarter and Elliot and Parker Wolfe scored on touchdown runs.

A fumble caused by senior Stas Petkevichus and recovered by teammate Tim Montgomery led to one of the scores.

"Off balance"

Penna was happy with the outcome despite some adversity before the contest.
"We had never played a Saturday game before," Penna said. "We had to change our practice schedule. Then, on Saturday, we had some different preparation."

But the preparation was thrown out of wack on the way to the game.
"We take two buses and one of them broke down about half-way up the Northway," Penna said. "It was a huge distraction. But the kids were great. We were able to fit everyone on one bus and had other modes of transportation for our equipment. We were a little late and the game didn’t start until 2 p.m. instead of 1:30."

The Dutch looked slow when they got to the game.
"In pre-game, the kids looked a little bit sluggish," Penna said. "They were focused, they were very focused. But they weren’t as energized as they have been."

The Dutch also had to adjust to playing Queensbury’s unique double-wing offense.
"That was a unique challenge," Penna said. "We practiced hard for it over the week. Then they picked up yardage throwing the ball and scored on their first possession. They had several pass plays and they kept us off balance."

"Great football"

Penna said he doesn’t know the last time the Dutch won both cross-over games to end the season, but he was proud his team did it.
"We were playing great football at the end of the season," Penna said. "They didn’t want the season to end at the end of the game. They wanted to play another game.
"We had a great week of practice," Penna added. "Our white team, the second stringers, helped the defense prepare for Queensbury’s offense. Everyone, sophomores to seniors, contributed."

The Dutch graduate 15 seniors who battled all season. Some of the upperclassmen, like Doherty, Montgomery, Elliot, and Bill Rafferty, took time off from playing football before suiting up for one final season. Others such as John D’Ambrosio, Robinson, Greg Buck, James Ramson, and Chris Wolfe grew up through the program.
"They have been great leaders for the underclassmen," Penna said. "They sacrificed a lot during the season, individually, to help the team and the program. They were just great, and showed really good leadership."

With a large number of players returning and a big group coming up from the junior varsity, there will be battles at each position.
"The future definitely looks bright," Penna said. "We get a lot of athletic players back. The players learned how to be competitive and how to work hard...We have 40 players coming up from the junior varsity and 33 returning. We can’t have 70 kids, so they are going to have an opportunity to really work in the weight room and go to camps and clinics. We want to go a long way in 2006."