Despite playing only three games together this spring, Glens Falls’ offensive line has looked as sharp as ever.
They paved the way Saturday for a 47-6 Class B North football victory over Hudson Falls in a springtime version of the Jug Game at Glens Falls High School. The Indians improved to 3-0.
“You’re always worried, in a rivalry game, how things are going to go,” Indians head coach Pat Lilac said in a phone interview, “and we were really happy with how efficient we were on both sides of the ball.”
The Indians returned only big senior Logan Gonyea as a starter up front, with Greg Breault having played some guard last season. Newcomers Cole Bennett and Gavin Williams and first-year center Joe Erwin have jelled together despite the short season.
“We’re really fortunate that we have a good offensive line coach in Kurt Conduzio, and our old line coach Tim Graham comes back to help,” Lilac said. “Kurt’s a teacher in the school and he’s a good educator, he does a really good job with drilling those kids and getting them to do what they have to do.”
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Behind that effort up front, Griffin Woodell and Aalijah Sampson each rushed for two touchdowns to power Glens Falls. The Indians also got short scoring runs from Aiden Hirsch and Noah Girard, who connected with Jackson Brand on a screen pass that Brand turned into a 49-yard touchdown.
Girard, who completed all eight of his passes for 157 yards, scored on a bootleg on fourth and goal in the first quarter. Brand caught four passes for 92 yards.
Woodell rushed for 136 yards on 14 carries, and Sampson added 59 yards on five rushes, including a 43-yard touchdown sprint. Sampson is nearly healthy after a hamstring injury in a preseason scrimmage.
Hudson Falls (0-3), which was coming off a lackluster 14-0 loss to Green Tech last week, avoided the shutout as Andrew Hogan scored on a 29-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Jason Rodriguez rushed for 239 yards and a touchdown and Kolby Anderson added two scores as Queensbury topped Niskayuna 33-21 Saturday.
“To be honest, we had a good week of practice, and as much as the score doesn’t show it, there were signs of life in this game that we felt good about and we can build on,” said Brett Watkins, the Tigers’ first-year head coach. “They’re a very fast team, but I thought our kids did a really good job of responding — they were gaining yards, but we were making them work for it. That’s what we wanted.”
“I know that Hudson Falls has had some injury issues, they have a first-year coach in a tough situation,” Lilac said. “But it’s a rivalry game and we knew that they would come out and play hard — and they did play hard — but I was just pleased with how we executed on both sides of the ball.”