GUILDERLAND — The bad news for the Guilderland football team is that it played poorly for most of its game on Friday night.

The good news for the Dutchmen is that they made enough plays to beat a scrappy Bethlehem team, 10-7, in front of a large crowd on Pop Warner Night in Guilderland.

The win keeps the Dutchmen’s record unblemished at 3-0 and keeps them at the top of the Class AA Empire Division standings.
"We knew coming in that Bethlehem would give us a good game," Guilderland Coach Dan Penna said. "They are always a gritty team. We did not execute properly and we had an average week of practice."
"Their defense played great," said Dutchmen senior Paul Malamood. "They stepped up big time. We both are a couple of good teams. Hopefully, we’ll see them in the playoffs."

The Dutchmen were fired up to start the game and got on the board quickly.

After forcing the Eagles to punt on their first possession of the contest, the Dutch got the ball on their own 42-yard line. And, after a 21-yard run by Paul Booker moved the ball to the Bethlehem 39-yard line, the Dutchmen had another big play to get on the scoreboard.

Nick Ranalli took a hand-off from quarterback Drew Smith and ran right. He cut down the visitor sideline and used his speed to out-race the Bethlehem defense, running into the end zone for a touchdown.

E.J. Genzano kicked the extra point and the Dutchmen led, 7-0, with 9:53 left in the opening stanza.

No wind in Dutchmen sails

Then the Dutchmen went flat and Bethlehem stepped up its game.

The Guilderland defense was strong in the first half but the offense could not break any more big plays.

The Dutchmen did move the ball early in the second quarter and put together a nice drive. The 13-play drive featured mostly running plays by Booker, Ranalli, and Smith and was capped by a 28-yard field goal by Genzano.

It was the last time the Dutchmen would put points on the board.

The Dutch could not take advantage of a leaping interception by Smith late in the second quarter. On the next play, Smith attempted a deep pass to Ranalli, but the ball was intercepted by a Bethlehem player.

The teams traded punts, but, when Bethlehem got the ball back, the Eagles moved the ball quickly down the field as they took to using the arm of quarterback Randy Bowers.

Bowers completed three straight passes of 12, 20, and 25 yards to put the ball on the Dutchmen 17-yard line.

A six-yard scramble by Bowers put the ball on the 11-yard line. But two plays later, Bowers threw a pass that was picked off by Malamood at the one-yard line to prevent a potential score by the Eagles.

The half ended with the Dutchmen up, 10-0.

The second half was not any better for the Dutchmen.

For the third week in a row, the Guilderland players came out flat for the third quarter and, except for a couple of big plays, it almost cost them.

Guilderland punted on its first possession and then Bethlehem moved the ball down the field.

They got to the 14-yard line when Bowers threw a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Booker.

The Dutchmen moved the ball down the field after the turnover, and got the ball all the way to the Bethlehem 23-yard line after a 16-yard run by Tony Denn.

Smith then ran an option play but lost control of the football. It was recovered by Bethlehem on their own 27-yard line to thwart a Guilderland scoring chance.

The Eagles took advantage of the turnover, moving the ball down the field and getting a one-yard plunge into the end zone by Sean Murphy for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was good, and the Eagles trailed by just three points with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter.

Guilderland moved the ball down the field into Bethlehem territory, taking a lot of time off the clock. But the drive stalled at the Bethlehem 32-yard line and Smith punted the ball on fourth down.

The punt was perfectly placed and Malamood covered the ball at the one-yard line, pinning Bethlehem deep in its own territory.

Bowers completed a pass to the 22-yard line. On the next play, Bowers threw again but his low throw was intercepted by a diving Booker.

Guilderland then ran out the clock and breathed a sigh of relief as they escaped with the win.
"An eye-opener"
"Bethlehem exploited our lack of discipline," Penna said. "As a coach, it’s my responsibility to put kids in the right spots. We made plays when we needed."
"This is a bad game for us," Malamood said. "We didn’t play well. It’s an eye-opener. We can’t take any team lightly."
"Ron Smith is a heck of a football coach," Penna said of his counterpart at Bethlehem. "Their kids were well prepared with their schemes. We practice together at camps and, at times, I felt they were able to sniff out our big plays.
"Their game plan was to defend our big backs — Smith, Booker, and Ranalli," Penna added. "But we had some younger kids that stepped up. Jason Lawrence and Tony Denn ran inside well."

The Dutchmen will play at Christian Brothers Academy on Thursday night. The game was moved because of Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday.

Kick-off will be a 7 p.m. at the private school in Colonie.
"We’ve been looking forward to this game since they knocked us out of the playoffs last year," Malamood said. "We circled the calendar for awhile. We have to stay focused"Every game is the biggest game of the year."