by Steve Bradley
The Hoosick Falls Central School Panthers did everything in their power to bring home a State championship from Syracuse. They gave everything they had. They played as well as they could. But a win wasn’t to be on this day.
[private]The Chenango Forks Blue Devils were the defending Class C state champs. They were well coached, big and fast. The Blue Devils had been here, done that. But Chenango Forks, when all was said and done, was a just a break or two from going home with a loss. Chenango Forks ended up with a lopsided stat sheet in their favor, but the outcome of the game was anyone’s guess up until two minutes remained. Panther determination and heart made sure of that.
The Panthers lost the game … by six points. No Class C team in New York State is going to embarrass the Panthers defense by blowing them out. That wasn’t going to happen, and it didn’t. The defense was solid all day, ripping the ball from ball carriers, making stops. In the end, they gave up yards, but they didn’t give up many points.
The offense did all they could. As the game progressed, it became clear the Panthers weren’t going to move the ball on the ground. So they adjusted and went to the air. Quarterback Garrett Wright threw 35 passes, completing 16 for 152 yards and no interceptions. As hard as yards were to come by when they needed them, for the most part, they dug down deep and got some.
With their first possession, starting at their own 40, the Devils methodically moved down the field gaining four or five yards a carry. Four yards a carry doesn’t sound like much, but three four yard carries is a first down, and when you put enough first downs together, you score touchdowns. Seven rushing plays later found the Devils on the Panther 25 yard line. Going to the right, the CF player was headed downfield when Mark Hackett wrapped him up and ripped the ball from the ball carrier’s arms. Hackett then pounced on the loose ball, ending the CF drive.
With the possession, the Panthers ran a three out, coming up one yard short of a first down. On their first play from scrimmage after the punt,, CF tried a handoff from the quarterback to a running back but missed and instead handed the ball right back to the Panthers. Evan Hand recovered the fumble, and the Panthers were in business at the CF 23 yard line.
A 12 yard pass to Remington Hickey and a 10-yarder to Connor McCart put the ball on the one yard line. From there, on the second attempt, Wright handed the ball to Austin Pitt who plowed into the line and just got over the stripe for the TD. The Panthers had that all important first score that gave them a lead and some breathing room. Damon Dubois tacked on the PAT, and the Panthers led, 7 – 0.
The Devils scored on their next possession. Starting at the 20 after a Dubois kickoff touchback, the Devils took 15 plays, which included six first downs, to move down the field to score. The PAT was no good after Hand got in to block the kick – Panthers 7, CF 6.
Later in the half, CF pounded their way down the field from their own 37 yard line to the Panther 24. From there, a rush up the middle took CF the rest of the 24 yards and put them on the board once again. After failing with a two point play attempt, the Devils held a 12 – 7 advantage.
The Panthers came back at them. With less than four minutes to go in the half, the Panthers received the kickoff and started their possession at their own 31. The Panthers began a drive that was critical. The Panthers couldn’t let CF have another possession and an opportunity to score again before the half. The Panthers went on an eight play drive, all of which started as pass attempts, with one exception. On the drive, Wright was 5 of 6 for 65 yards, including a big completion to Connor McCart for 36 yards. With less than a minute to go in the half, the eighth and final play was a four yard rush that Wright took over the right side of the line into the end zone. When Dubois added the extra point, the Panthers were up, 14 – 12.
CF ran three plays before the clock ran out on the half.
The halftime score was only two points to the good for the Panthers, but it was huge. CF had to be shaking their heads. They did everything. They marched up and down the field. They gained at least 3 to 5 yards a play. They had controlled the first half. They had the best stats in every category but two, points scored and turnovers. CF was a team not accustomed to being down.
The second half began with the Devils losing fumbles on their first two possessions. The first CF fumble, a bad handoff between the QB and running back put the ball on the ground. Recovered by Colby Davendonis, this gave the ball to the Panthers with 33 yards to go to pay dirt. But the Panthers came up short of a first down and turned the ball over.
On their first play, the CF running back went left, turned upfield into Wright, who wrapped him up. Then Pitt ripped the ball out and Davendonis recovered the fumble. The Panthers were right back in business at the CF 34. One rush for five yards put the Panthers at the 32. A Wright rush over the right side for two yards and the Panthers were at the 30. On the next play, Wright took the shotgun snap and moved to the left, bringing the entire CF defense with him. Wide receiver Alex Mendez, who started wide to the left, crossed from left to right just past the line of scrimmage and was wide open when Wright turned and threw him the ball at the 28. Mendez took off down the sideline and appeared to score when he stumbled into the end zone. The referee said he stepped out of bounds at the two, video would later confirm this, and that was where the ball was placed.
On the next play, from the two yard line, a Panther moved before the snap, setting the Panthers back five yards. This was arguably the biggest play of the day for the Panthers. Seven yards were hard to come by on this day. After the next three plays, an incomplete pass, a two yard rushing gain and a ten yard sack, the Panthers were fourth and goal at the 15. Dubois attempted a field goal, but the kick was no good.
The end of the third quarter came, and the game moved into the fourth. After the halftime defensive adjustments, the Panther defense stiffened, and CF was struggling to gain yards. The game went back and forth between the 30 yard lines. The Devils had to punt a couple of times. The Panthers attempted a 48 yard field goal.
With just under seven minutes left in the game, the Devils were at the Panthers 43. The quarterback handed off to the running back, who turned upfield just outside the tackle. From there he blasted his way through a tackle and then, assisted by a nice block to knock away the last possible tackler, ran the final 30 yards untouched into the end zone. With the two point conversion, in which the runner just made it into the end zone, CF held a 20 – 14 lead.
The Panthers had two more opportunities to score. On the first, taking over at their own 37, they moved the ball to the CF 48 before having to give up the ball with a punt. After stopping CF at the Panther 27 when the Devils failed to get a first down on fourth and 3, the Panthers took over. On their last opportunity, the Panthers were unable to get a first down and turned the ball over. Chenango Forks ran out the clock, and the game came to an end.
The Devils outgained the Panthers, 375 – 219. The Panthers’ bread and butter, its ground game, could only contribute 67 yards.
After the game, awards were handed out. Shayne Richard won the Sportsmanship Award, Logan Hoyt won the Defensive Lineman of the Game, and Jake Bakaitis won the Most Valuable Defensive Lineman of the Game. From Max Preps, the Offensive Player of the Game was quarterback Garrett Wright with 152 passing yards, 27 rushing yards and one touchdown. Jake Bakaitis, with 11 tackles, including one for a loss, was named Defensive Player of the Game. Mark Hackett, with 4 receptions for 34 yards on the offensive side of the ball and 14 tackles and one fumble recovery on the defensive side, was named the MaxPreps Most Valuable Player of the Game.
An award should also go out to the Panther fans for Best Fans In The World. They came by the hundreds. It is hard to estimate, but there had to be well over 1,000 Panther fans in attendance. The Pep Band deserves a tip of the hat also. They add so much to the atmosphere of a game. Combined, the fans and the band did all they could to cheer the young men on.
It was a tough loss. If a couple of things were just a little bit different, the Panthers may have won by double figures. There was no shame in the loss; every player gave it his all, and that is all you can ask. With seven minutes left in the game, Chenango Forks was trailing and fighting for its football life.
It is such an accomplishment to get to the finals, a hard earned honor few high school players get to experience, only to be disappointed by a loss. For the last six years, no other team in Section II has even known the thrill of winning the Sectional Super Bowl and moving into State play. The young men on this Panther team don’t know what it is like to not win the Super Bowl. It has been an unbelievable run. Some players go through their entire high school career and never get to play on a winning team.
For the last six years, when the Panthers lost, it was the last game of the year against one of the best teams in the State of New York, and New York is a big state. They were never blown out, and the other team always felt lucky to get out of it with a win. The amount of games these Panthers played over the last four years is six seasons for any other team.
Fifteen years from now every player will be bragging about their high school football team.[/private]