In two weeks, Troy High will open its athletic Hall of Fame to induct their 1996 football championship team. I may be wrong, but Colonie coach Eric Rouleau may have been on that team and/or the 1998 squad.
Rouleau returned to Troy as a visiting coach for the first time on Friday, hoping to not only spoil Senior Night for the current Flying Horses, but also deny them the Liberty Division title, which, on tiebreakers, would've gone to Shaker.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Garnet Raiders put up the first points on a 37 yard field goal by Christian Hubbard, who was left off the Colonie roster listed on the game program.
Then, Joey Ward took over, and, oh, did he ever.
It took just 4 plays for Troy to take the lead, with Ward racing in from 20 yards out. Jordan Audi returned after missing last week's win over Shaker, booted the extra point, and Troy was off and running. The defense kept Colonie's running game in check, denying them the end zone. Ward added four more TD's, and Dev Holmes caught a TD toss from Joe Casale, plus a 2 point conversion, then really put the game away with a 65 yard run off the option. Audi finished with four extra points, and Troy routed Colonie, 48-3, to wrap up a third consecutive perfect regular season under coach Bob Burns at 7-0, and their second straight Liberty title.
Audi still wasn't able to kick off, so junior QB/kicker Michael Fazio handled those duties. For what it's worth, Holmes changed jersey numbers just for this game, wearing his brother Darius' #22 instead of his usual #8.
Colonie entered the game with the lowest points against average in the division, but that took a hit after Troy rang up 48 unanswered points. Troy, meanwhile, lowered their PAA to 9.5 points per game, while Colonie's ballooned to 15.2.
Up next for Troy will be a first round playoff game at home against Christian Brothers Academy, which dropped to 4th place in the Empire division after losing, 21-10, to Shenendehowa. Colonie visits Shen, while Shaker hosts Guilderland, and Empire champ Saratoga welcomes Bethlehem. The Eagles close the regular season later today vs. winless Schenectady. CBA nearly stole one last year at Picken Field, but the Brothers (3-4) have not been the same team they were a year ago. I don't have the brackets in front of me for the playoffs, but it all points to Troy meeting Saratoga in the title game, as they're the two undefeated teams in Class AA. This year's title game, per the Albany Times-Union, will be played at a neutral high school site on November 2, as RPI reportedly will be unable to host the game this year due to a scheduling conflict. With the turmoil between students and administration there, it's just as well.
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