By JUSTIN PORRECA
News Editor
For the second straight week the defense was a liability, giving up yardage and quick-scoring drives, propelling the Guilderland High Dutchmen past the Albany High Falcons in a 48-26 rout on Friday night.
Lack of intensity and execution on defense plagued the Falcons for all four quarters of their second divisional match-up of the season.
Blown assignments, blown coverage and poor tackling were exploited by a dominant Dutchmen offense. Albany could not find a way to slow down Guilderland’s potent, high-powered play.
Falcons’ head coach Joey DiPiazza could not be reached for comment after the game.
The Dutchmen marched up and down the field in the first half, utilizing both the run and pass to find the end zone. Whether it was the jet sweep that was giving Falcons defenders headaches on the outside or the short-to-intermediary passes that were catching the defensive backs on their heels, Guilderland found ways to exploit Albany High’s porous defense.
The Falcons, for the third time in three weeks, made a switch under-center mid-game. Semaji Jones got the nod, but was quickly replaced by Noah John early in the second quarter.
“It’s been tough, but I wouldn’t say I embraced it, but I can pick a positive out of the fact that competition, I think, definitely makes me better,” John said.
Four of Guilderland’s seven first-half drives resulted in touchdowns, and they went into halftime with a comfortable 28-6 lead. The Falcons’ lone score in the first half came from a 20-yard passing touchdown from John to Jarrell Chaney.
The deficit continued to grow in the second half and Albany’s defense continued to look lethargic and confused.
The Dutchmen scored quickly on a 34-yard touchdown pass from George Marinopoulos to wide receiver Spiro Sokaris, increasing their sizable lead to four touchdowns, thwarting any plans of an Albany comeback.
Guilderland did not stop there.
Forcing Albany to punt, on their ensuing drive with tailback Tom Majkut they punched the ball up the gut, through the heart of Albany’s defense, en route to a 48-yard touchdown, increasing their sizeable lead.
The Falcons responded with a panicked demeanor, opting for an aerial assault to stop the bleeding. John capped off a lengthy drive with a 44-yard passing to Chaney, his second of the game, making it 41-12.
Star running back for Albany High, Ky’Ere Tillery, was absent for the majority of the second half. Tillery was benched early in the third quarter after a falling out with coaches over blocking and hitting the holes with ferocity, instead of dancing.
The Dutchmen offense played as if the Falcons’ defense were non-existent, consistently scoring at will.
Guilderland responded quickly to Albany’s passing touchdown, with one of their own. On second down, Marinopoulos threw a 70-yard strike over the middle to Sokaris, cooking the Albany secondary for another touchdown.
“I think it was mostly our offensive line, I thought they did a great job tonight opening up the seams,” Marinopoulos said. “I had plenty of time on most plays to pass the ball and they just did an overall great job tonight.”
Down 48-12, with one quarter left to play, the deficit was insurmountable for the Falcons to mount a comeback, allowing Guilderland to play their second and third stringers.
In garbage time, against Dutchmen back-ups, Albany High would score two more touchdowns. Both goal line plunges by fullback, Lamar Grady, making the end result 48-26.
A sea of yellow flooded the field Friday night. A combined 18 flags were thrown, and some were incredibly costly penalties. Guilderland was called for 12 penalties, two of them on rushing touchdowns. One was a holding call on a 60-yard touchdown, the other an illegal block in the back on a 23-yard rushing touchdown.
“We’ll work on our fundamentals and I think we’ll look at the film closely to make sure we don’t make those mistakes, because a lot of those penalties seemed to come when we had big plays,” said Dutchmen coach Dan Penna.
As for the Falcons, they consistently shot themselves in the foot with penalties. Four of their six were false starts, resulting from issues with the snap count and cadence.
The Guilderland Dutchmen, regardless of their 12 penalties and one fumble, played a near-flawless game Friday night.
Marinopoulos was the player of the game, going 6-13 for 184 yards and scorching the Albany secondary for four touchdowns. He also did it with his legs, rushing for 29 yards and one touchdown.
“We just came out and executed, made our blocks, halfbacks made good cuts up the hole—the line did a great job making seams all night against their defense.”
The Dutchmen chewed out 288 yards on the ground and potentially could have had over 350 had it not been for debilitating mental mistakes.
“I felt like with our game plan, we knew that the scheme that they had, we were really going to take advantage of that,” said Penna.
As for the Falcons, again it’s back to the drawing board. However, there are some positives that can be taken away.
Chaney continues to shine, catching eight balls for 126 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, he has five touchdown receptions and is currently on a touchdown streak, catching at least one a game since week two.
“I’ve just been working hard in practice and listening to my coaches, and we’ve been doing drills to work on our receiving and just work on our skills. I hope to continue that and work to get better,” said Chaney.
The quarterback carousel continues going into week five, with John having the momentum. He went 10-18 for 146 yards and two touchdowns. He also utilized his mobility to his advantage, scampering for 76 yards on the ground.
“I spent a lot more time than we did in past weeks, working on all that stuff like reads, progressions and just throwing the football, especially if there was defensive practice or special teams,” John said. “I would go and start throwing, but I think a lot of it had to do with comfort and having experience in other games.”
John showed progression Friday night, evading the pressure, moving up in the pocket and extending plays, but Albany High will need a complete game from him if they want to win this season.
It’s more Friday night lights action for Albany High. The Falcons (0-4) are in line to do battle with undefeated juggernaut Saratoga Springs. As for the Guilderland High Dutchmen (3-2), they are on the road against Christian Brothers Academy.
“There’s positive in that we’re getting better every week, at least in my opinion, and every game gives us new opportunity to see things in film or just from experience that we know we need to work on to make us better in the weeks coming forward,” said John.
