VOORHEESVILLE — “One game at a time” may be a cliché in football, but sometimes that motto really does work. Voorheesville has made sure to stay focused on each upcoming game, and that’s an important reason why the team is still undefeated.

To say that Voorheesville was focused on beating Mechanicville last Saturday would be mild. The Blackbirds rolled right over the Red Raiders, and then threw the truck into reverse to make sure the opponent was dead.

Now at 8-0 after the 42-to-16 drubbing of Mechanicville in the Class C quarterfinals, the Blackbirds are headed towards its best season in history. Voorheesville faces Fonda (7-1) in the semifinals this Saturday.

“We just stay focused, one game at a time,” said senior Shane Parry, who caught five touchdown passes for the Birds against the Raiders on 193 receiving yards. He also had a 21-yard run on a reverse for his sixth touchdown.

“Week to week, we stay focused,” said senior quarterback Robert Denman, who threw all five of his touchdown passes to Parry last Saturday. “We’re ready to go 9-0.”

“We want a state championship,” Head Coach Joe Sapienza said. “We have to go one step at a time.”

The Voorheesville players and their coach may sound like a broken record, but, clearly, they’re singing the same song. The Blackbirds keep its winning ways by never looking too far ahead.

Voorheesville was one of two — Hoosick Falls is the other — Class C teams to have an undefeated regular season, but the Birds ended up with the third seed behind Fonda. Denman said that Voorheesville is getting better with each game while other teams may be wearing down.

“It’s an aggressive field, so we need to be the most aggressive to come out on top,” Denman added.

Sapienza said that his assertive play-calling against Mechanicville was the difference. The Blackbirds had been going heavy with the run of late, but Sapienza wanted to generate more passing plays. Offensively, the team targeted every receiver, but it just so happened that every target to Parry ended up as a score.

“We put him all over the formation; he’s such a good athlete,” said Sapienza of Parry, who is a first-year varsity player. “He’s so good down the field, so we did have some specifics for him.”

Mechanicville’s defense thought “run” throughout the game, and thought wrong. Voorheesville was taking advantage of Mechanicville’s weak pass coverage.

“You’re not going to find many players as athletic as him,” Denman said of Parry. “We just have that connection where we can go out there, make eye contact, and know what to do. I know he’s going to go deep and get the ball, and I put it there for him. Having that type of connection is good to have, and that’s why he has those numbers.”

Parry and Denman hooked up for two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half last Saturday. After Parry had run the ball for 21 yards, Denman aired it out to him on the next play; Parry shook the defender and snatched the pass for a 47-yard touchdown. Then, after Scott Roney made an interception to give the ball back to Voorheesville, Denman threw a bomb to Parry again for a score.

“It’s awesome. It’s ridiculous,” said Parry of the Birds’ undefeated record. “We planned on this, and we knew it would be a tough road, but it’s nothing but awesome.”

Whatever Voorheesville’s limit is, it has not yet been reached.

“Wherever this team goes, I don’t know,” Parry said. “We just want to keep winning.”

Sapienza told The Enterprise that Voorheesville spends a lot of time watching film, and walking through things. The Blackbirds prepare for that one game.

“There’s no doubt that we’re a good team,” said Sapienza. “We’re peaking at the right time. These players believe that they’re championship caliber.”