by Steve Bradley
They said they were going to play football in the Dome. They were only 11 and 12 years old, but they honestly believed they were going to play in the Dome. The mother of one of those then 12 year old boys wanted to move back to her hometown, but her young son said he wanted to stay in Hoosick Falls so he could play football and go to The Dome with his friends. When they won the Pee Wee football championship, they said they were going to play in the Dome.
And they did. They played in the Dome. Boy, did they ever play in the Dome.
[private]Last Saturday the Panthers traveled to the Syracuse Carrier Dome to take on the Hornell Raiders to determine who would be the NYS Class C champion. The Raiders sported a 51 game winning streak, the longest in NY and second longest in the country. Their star running back weighs 230 pounds, larger than many professional running backs. The Raiders were winners of the last three straight NYS Class B State championships. For 2012, they were moved down to Class C after state-wide changes in enrollment requirements were made. Both teams were 13 – 0. This would be the Panthers’ first trip to play in the Dome since 2003. The Panthers were undersized in comparison to their opponent at almost every position. Any football oddsmaker would pick Hornell to win this game. Hornell never stood a chance.
The Panthers took the field to the cheers of hundreds of their fans. The fans had come by chartered bus, rented motorhomes and carpooling. Their vehicles were painted with encouraging words in Panther blue. The Pep Band and the cheerleaders were having no problems getting the fans fired up. In Hoosick Falls and all over the country, HFCS alumni, former residents and grandmothers who know nothing about football were glued to the TV or computer screens to root for their Panthers.
Panther Damon Dubois kicked off to the Raiders, and the ball soared into the end zone for a touchback. On their first play from scrimmage, the Raiders gained seven yards. The opponent didn’t take the ball for a first play touchdown like the previous week. So far, so good. On the very next play, the Raider quarterback handed the ball off to number 32 and he took the ball to the end zone for a 74 yard touchdown. It looked like the same play used the previous week. Less than thirty seconds gone in the game, Hoosick Falls 0 – Hornell 7.
The Panthers didn’t flinch. On their first possession, the Panthers marched right down the field on the mighty Raider defense on a thirty yard pass to Josh Brogue and a forty plus yard run by quarterback Billy Pine. Seven yards away from the end zone, Pine took the snap and fired a bullet pass to receiver Randy Tutunjian. Tutunjian stepped around his defender and into the end zone for a Panther score. Hoosick Falls 7 – Hornell 7.
As the time of the first half went on, Hornell was having trouble moving the ball. Their fans became quieter and quieter. The Raiders made mistakes uncharacteristic of a team with a 51 game winning streak. Yards on the ground, which is what got them here, became hard to come by. Mark Hackett, Brad Burns, Brandon Hodges, Austin Pitt and the entire Panther defense were stopping Raider runs at the line of scrimmage. On the other side of the ball, the Panthers were moving the ball with relative ease, gaining 270 yards in the first half. With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, Pine stepped into the end zone on a one yard quarterback keeper behind the block of center Grady Beck. In the second quarter, after Tutunjian ripped the ball away from the Raiders’ big running back and recovered it on the Raiders 22 yard line, Pine quickly hooked up with Brogue on a 22 yard TD pass. With just over five minutes to go until the half, Burns burst up the middle for a 35 yard TD. Halftime score – Hoosick Falls 27 – Hornell 7. The underdog Panthers had the big bad Hornell Raiders looking like rough tough cream puffs.
But Hornell didn’t get here by not being able to overcome a challenge. The Raiders were a team built to get a lead and protect it, now they were in the unfamiliar position of having to come from behind. They started passing.
It worked. With just over eight minutes left in the third quarter, the Raider quarterback connected with a receiver for a 45 yard TD reception. With the extra point tacked on, the score became Hoosick Falls 27 – Hornell 14.
The Panthers got the ball back, and, just over a minute later, Brad Burns took the handoff from Pine, put his head down and ran through a hole in the middle of the line. When he looked up, there was no one in front of him, and he didn’t stop running for 59 yards. That TD was very comforting to the Panther fans and the coaches. After Eric Kaufmann made the PAT – Hoosick Falls 34 – Hornell 14 with almost 19 minutes of game time left. The Panthers ate up six minutes of that time with one drive at the end of the third quarter. The Panthers didn’t score, but eating away at that pesky time clock was critical.
With less than a minute gone in the fourth quarter, the Raiders struck again with a 22 yard TD pass. Hoosick Falls 34 – Hornell 21. The remainder of the game went back and forth with HF chewing up the time and Hornell doing everything they could to score. Finally, with just over two minutes left, the Raiders threw a pass that Levi Brewster intercepted, his second of the day, to seal the victory.
The Hoosick Falls Panthers beat the mighty Hornell Raiders. The young men had accomplished what they set out to do as twelve year olds on a Pee Wee football field. What a fantastic finish to a fantastic season.
The entire town met the team bus upon its return with a parade of fire trucks and police cruisers with sirens blasting, rescue squad vehicles with the lights flashing and dozens of cars honking their horns. Hundreds of people lined the streets to cheer, and households on every street flashed their porch lights as the parade went by. People from all over the country were sending congratulations via Facebook. Everyone was so proud of these young men it was amazing.
What a fall for Hoosick Falls Central sports.
Ladies And Gentlemen, Your 2012 New York State Class C Champions
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