High School Fridays: Schalmont @ Lansingburgh (football), 9/7/18

We are expanding our scope of high school coverage even further in the new season, as tonight's action takes us to Lansingburgh High for the Knights' home opener vs. Schalmont. The Sabres are coming off a 14-6 upset of Troy last week, while Lansingburgh fell to Amsterdam, 37-14.

Tonight was a different story for both sides. The Sabres' first team offense, led by QB Shane O'Dell, seemingly scored at will against a Knights defense made up mostly of underclassmen. That defense forced Knights QB Anthony Thompson into four first-half interceptions, three of them on deflections. A fifth pick led to a touchdown that was called back by a penalty. In all, Schalmont led, 39-7, at halftime, and it could've been worse, as four TD's in all were called back by penalty flags.

With just 12 seniors on their 44 man roster, Lansingburgh has the same problem that Troy has, except theirs is even worse. The Knights are not fielding a junior varsity team this year due to declining interest, and they don't have any varsity cheerleaders, at least for right now. The Knights' lone first half touchdown came from a 45 yard scamper by freshman tailback Alonzo Barrett. The Lansingburgh offense came to life in the second half, but it was too little, too late, as Schalmont improves to 2-0 with a 60-21 win. Lansingburgh drops to 0-2. Like Troy, the Knights dropped down in class this season, from Class A to Class B, but may be worse for it going forward.
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Speaking of Troy, the Flying Horses got back on the winning track tonight, besting Amsterdam, 25-14, and what did the trick for Coach Bob Burns was a change of quarterbacks from Michael Fazio to Alex Wolfe. Senior receiver Hunter Redden, who missed most of last season due to injury, scored his first touchdown of the season on a pass from Wolfe, who led the Horses back from a 14-0 deficit. Both the Rams & Flying Horses are 1-1 on the season, and the win comes at a perfect time for Troy, as they'll play host to LaSalle next week with the Collar City Cup on the line.