After Saratoga QB Wes Eglintine did his best Tom Brady impersonation a week ago in leading the Blue Streaks past Shaker, Troy High knew they couldn't let him do that again.
Conversely, Saratoga coach Terry Jones knew that if his defense couldn't contain Troy's quick strike offense early in the Class AA Super Bowl, it was going to be a long, long night.
For the 2nd straight year, Troy was designated the road team for the Super Bowl, which was contested at Bob Ford Field at Thomas & Mary Casey Stadium at the University of Albany. Troy won the toss, and took the opening kickoff. Sure enough, they struck quickly, but senior receiver Dev Holmes was called for taunting, taking away what would've been the game's first score. Inevitably, Joey Ward punched it in from 5 yards out, and Troy was up, 7-0.
Late in the first quarter, Holmes atoned for his earlier gaffe. He took an end around 75 yards, and this time, he simply laid the ball in the end zone and ran back to the sidelines. Troy led, 14-0, after the first quarter.
Saratoga thought they had the Flying Horses pinned at their own 3 yard line halfway through the second quarter. Perish the thought, why don't you? QB Joe Casale marched his team down the field, 97 yards, capped with a 5 yard flip to Holmes. 21-0, Troy, at the break.
If there was anything that would've sabotaged the Horses' attempt at repeating as Section II champs, it would be a combination of penalties, due to a lack of team discipline, and a sudden rash of cramps to Casale, Ward, and other players. However, the Blue Streaks couldn't capitalize. They held the ball for much of the 3rd quarter, but couldn't score. Troy added one more score in the 4th quarter on Ward's 2nd TD of the game. Eglintine finally broke the shutout with a pass to Carter Steingraber with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game, but the extra point was no good.
Steingraber feigned an onside kick, hoping to pin Troy deep or have the defense recover the kickoff for a quick score. Xavier Ward, Joey's brother, foiled the strategy, and put the Flying Horses in position to add one more score. However, Michael Fazio, who did the placekicking in place of the injured Jordan Audi, and took over for Casale for the final series of the game, took a knee at the Saratoga 5 with under a minute to go, and Troy advances to the state tournament, 28-6.
This year, the road to the state title game at the Syracuse Carrierdome starts closer to home. Troy will get to play one more game in their home district against the Section 1 winner next weekend, date and site to be determined. The winning streak is now at 23 in a row, and, overall, Troy is 32-1 in 3 seasons under Coach Bob Burns, whose next challenge comes Tuesday at the polls, as he's running for Rensselaer County Legislature. Something tells me a late groundswell of support carrying over from this game might get him his first political office. Just sayin'.
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