SCHUYLERVILLE — Schuylerville football has made a statement so far in 2014.
Heading into tonight’s homecoming game against Cobleskill, the No. 11 state ranked Black Horses have pounded teams by an average margin of almost 31 points per game and have outscored opponents 256-65.
The suffocating defense hasn’t given up more than 20 points in any contest, while Schuylerville’s offense has failed to reach the 40-point margin just once—in a critical 36-20 win over Broadalbin-Perth in Week 3.
But head coach John Bowen doesn’t care much about those numbers as much as he cares about being 6-0.
“We don’t get overly concerned with shutouts or keeping the score under 10,” said Bowen, who is in his second year as head coach at Schuylerville. “We’re more concerned with wins and losses than we are with point differential or anything like that.”
The Black Horses (6-0, 4-0 Class B West Division) have already clinched a No. 1 seed in the Class B sectionals.
The Broadalbin win solidifies the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two teams at the top of the West Division standings. Even if Schuylerville were to be upset tonight, the Black Horses are still guaranteed the No. 1 seed heading into the Section II Class B playoffs when they will be matched up with the No. 4 seed from the Reinfurt Division.
That game will be against either Albany Academy (2-4, 1-3) or Hudson (2-4, 1-3). Academy hosts Hudson Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for a shot at a playoff berth.
On Oct. 3, Schuylerville stomped on Albany Academy, 42-7, on the road.
One word that Bowen constantly uses to describe this year’s team is “selflessness.”
“It’s a tight knit group of guys who have been playing together for a long time,” Bowen said. “It’s been fun to watch and be a part of this team growing together. We have different personalities. They’ve all got their own way and their own quirks. They all fit well together and they understand one another. That whole selflessness has helped drive the success we’ve had at this point.”
A leader of that team characteristic is star senior running back Josh Thomas. The two-time team captain has a team-high 11 touchdowns this season while averaging a consistent 124 yards rushing per game.
“[Josh] is a big time leader for us on both sides of the football,” Bowen said. “He’s not an openly vocal leader, which fits well with the personality of the team. We don’t have a lot of yellers and screamers. It’s more of a quiet type of confidence that we have and Josh certainly fits right into that mold. He’s an outstanding player. I’d certainly put him in the top five in Class B. With the way that he works every day—his work never waivers and that resonates with not just our varsity team but also our JV team. He takes the approach of, ‘I may be the best guy at my position here, but I want to be the best guy at my position in the section.’ He grinds every day and the rest of the guys feed off that. Whatever comes his way is what he’s earned.”
But the so-far-perfect season hasn’t just been about Thomas.
Setting the tone with the first game of the year against Johnstown, the Black Horses had five guys on the field with at least seven carries. In the same game, no one had more than nine carries.
Quarterback Will Griffen and running back Zach Pierce have 16 touchdowns between the two of them, while Jake Petralia and Skyler Bateman have also been threats on the offensive end.
“It makes it difficult to defend,” Bowen said. “Other coaches can try to take Josh out of the mix, but you have several other guys who you have to contend with. If you want to stop one guy, you’re picking your poison.”
Another key to Schuylerville’s success has been the ability to turn the tempo up in the middle quarters, on both sides of the ball, said Bowen.
“I attribute a lot of it to our conditioning and playing at a high rate in the second half of the second quarter through the entire third quarter—those are the quarters when we’ve played our best football,” Bowen said. “Their ability to push the gas and increase at that point when other teams are trying to maintain tempo—we’re actually trying to increase our tempo.”
Hoping to end the regular season tonight on a high note heading into the postseason, Schuylerville will begin by honoring their seniors at 6:35 p.m. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Another highlight for the Black Horses’ future is that they have very few seniors this year. Including the cheerleaders, six total seniors will be recognized before tonight’s game.
Class B Notes:
Reinfurt Division
1.Shalmont (6-0, 4-0 Reinfurt) plays at Ichabod Crane (0-6, 0-4) tonight at 7 p.m.
2.Ravena (5-1, 3-1) and Cohoes (3-3, 3-1) square off tonight at 7 p.m. in Cohoes ( most likely for the No. 2 seed).
3.Albany Academy (2-4, 1-3) hosts Hudson (2-4, 1-3) for the No. 4R seed.
West Division
1.Schuylerville is the only decided seed in the West heading into Week 7.
2.Current No. 2 Broadalbin-Perth (4-2, 3-1) hosts current No. 4 Hudson Falls (3-3, 2-2).
3.Glens Falls (2-4, 1-3) hosts current No. 3 Johnstown (3-3, 2-2) tonight at 7 p.m.
