13 months ago, former Troy High assistant Bob Treacy came to Picken Field as a visiting coach for the first time. Columbia ended up absorbing a 55-14 beatdown that started Troy off on another run to the state title.
This season, Columbia jumped out to a 3-0 start, and two weeks ago were tied for first with Averill Park. However, the Blue Devils, it can be said, could've been looking past Schuylerville and planning ahead to a meeting with the Warriors. The end result? Columbia hasn't scored in two weeks.
Troy coach Bob Burns can relate. His team could've also been guilty of looking past a Class B foe---Schalmont---and paid for it on opening night. The Flying Horses have won four in a row going into tonight's Homecoming game.
Making things even more interesting was the fact that one of Columbia's offensive stars a year ago, Ari Holmes-Parsons, now wears Troy purple & gold, having transferred over the summer. That meant that Treacy's defense could key on their former teammate, hoping to short-circuit Troy's explosive offense.
Well, it worked. For three quarters.
Holmes-Parsons, now known simply as Ari Holmes, was bottled up for most of the night, and didn't find the end zone. Defense ruled in the first half, as the teams went to the break in a scoreless tie.
It was Columbia that drew first blood in the third quarter, as Garrett McDonald broke the Blue Devils' 2 1/2 game scoring drought with a TD toss to Darryl Williams. Ryan Kelson added the extra point, and Columbia led, 7-0, entering the final frame.
Troy promptly answered back on their next possession, as Xavier Leigh put Troy on the board. However, a bad snap forced an improvised attempt at a 2 point conversion that failed, leaving Troy down by one. Later in the fourth quarter, the other Xavier---Ward, that is---put Troy in front for the first time. Alex Wolfe then hit Hunter Redden for the 2 point conversion, and Troy led, 14-7, with about 2 1/2 minutes left, which was more than enough time for McDonald to bring Columbia back down the field.
However, sophomore defensive back Tyrell Penalba forced a fumble, which he recovered himself, and Troy, despite some penalties, ran out the clock to run their winning streak to five in a row. Columbia has now dropped three straight, but they have a moral victory in that they finally scored.
That sets up Troy's Senior Night showdown with Averill Park. The Warriors blew away Amsterdam, 54-27, to maintain a one game lead in the Capital Division of Class A. Columbia closes at Bleecker Stadium against Green Tech.
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Schalmont became the latest Section 2 school to fall victim to Coxsackie virus, aka Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease, the same affliction that forced Amsterdam to postpone their game with Broadalbin-Perth a couple of weeks back. It's the same disease that sidelined a pair of major league baseball pitchers, the Mets' Noah Syndergaard and the Yankees' J. A. Happ, earlier this summer. Schalmont's campus was disinfected, with classes and a Homecoming night game cancelled. The game will be made up at a later date to be determined.
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Back at Troy, basketball player Juliana Valenti was crowned Homecoming queen at halftime of tonight's game. As often happens, the cattle herd thinned out of the bleachers after the ceremony, making it easier for everyone else to make it off the campus safely at game's end.
Funny thing, though. Neither the Albany Times-Union nor El Cheapo Media published pictures of the candidates for Homecoming queen, ending a years long tradition. Given the present environment de-emphasizing the sexualizing of young women, that would explain why the pictures didn't appear in the papers. El Cheapo hasn't run the pictures since 2016, but, then, there's other issues there.
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Troy's women's soccer team has won two in a row after shutting out Albany on Senior Night, 1-0. Coach Justin Haviland's club made a similar run to the postseason a couple of years ago, and will close on the road with games at Averill Park and Bethlehem next week. The boys' soccer team, meanwhile, has been shut out in four of their last five games, falling by a 2-0 count on the road at Albany on Thursday. Coach Mike Murnane's winless squad comes home tomorrow to begin a season ending homestand with a brunch special vs. Colonie.
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