by Gary Danforth
Last Friday evening, September 5, two neighboring rival high schools, Hoosick Falls Central School and Cambridge Central School, came together for the greater good to honor the memory of longtime Section Two football Coach Ken Baker in the first annual Ken Baker Jug game. Though HFCS won the game by a 34-19 score and will keep The Jug in its trophy case until next year’s clash, in true Ken Baker fashion, there were no losers in this game. Nor will there be if future participants display the kind of good competitive fire and sportsmanship which Baker preached for so many years and which both teams displayed. A large crowd under the lights at HFCS saw both teams display the kind of sportsmanship and hard nosed play which was surpassed only by the number of cars parked up and down Route 22 in both directions from HFCS as fans surrounded the field by the hundreds.
Baker’s widow, Mrs. Ann Baker, flanked by Cambridge Central School Superintendent Frank Greenhall and longtime Baker coaching and teaching friend, Richard Reeve, presented The Jug to HFCS Coach Ron Jones, the last starting quarterback on a Baker coached Hoosick Falls squad. Baker was varsity gridiron boss at HFCS from 1972-1985. Doug Luke, head coach at CCS for the past eleven years and a Cambridge graduate who had served under Baker at Cambridge as an assistant coach, stood by as both teams spread across the football field, perpendicular to one another, as the presentation took place. Baker coached at CCS from 1986-1995. It was a whale of a game.
Cambridge, the defending Section Two Class C champions, and who had won 89 games the past ten years under Luke’s direction, took a 7-0 lead in quarter one when junior quarterback Kyle Parmenter hit sophomore Jesse Lybert with a twenty-one yard scoring play. Sophomore starting running back Matt Best kicked the point after touchdown as CCS took a 7-0 lead with 8:21 left in period one.
But HFCS came roaring back. Senior Panther signal caller Kevin Woods hit 6’5” junior wide-out Kevin McMahon with a 22 yard touchdown pass and junior Hutton Rasmus booted the PAT as the score was deadlocked at 7-7. Hoosick Falls, dominant in recent years under Jones’ tutelage, winning four consecutive divisional championships in the past five years, including two sectional titles, one regional crown and a trip to the State championship game in 2003, took a 13-7 lead. Senior running back Dan Okerman took a screen pass from Woods and bolted down the right sideline for a 60 yard TD play. Rasmus’s PAT boot gave HFCS a 14-7 spread with 5:26 left in the opening half. HFCS wasn’t done yet in first half action. In two plays, the last one being a 61 yard touchdown strike to senior wide out Jordan Brogue, Hoosick Falls extended its lead to 20-7. Rasmus’s PAT boot gave HFCS a hard earned 21-7 lead at the break.
Cambridge came back in period three, narrowing their deficit to 21-13 as Parmenter hit junior running back Joel Ferguson with a fifteen yard TD strike. The Indians’ PAT boot failed.
It was a busy fourth period as both teams continued to play solid football. HFCS took a 27-13 bulge
when Woods found junior wide-out Greg Stifter with a five yard scoring pass. CCS blocked the ensuing Panther extra point attempt.
Cambridge came right back. Parmenter scored on a five yard run with 8:51 to play to narrow the Indians’ deficit to 27-19. But Hoosick Falls put the game away when Woods connected from two yards out with McMahon to give the Panthers a 33-19 spread. Rasmus’ PAT boot made the final score 34-19 in favor of HFCS. In the Panthers’ final drive, junior Alex Hansen broke a tackle and turned a short pass into a 28 yard reception.
Under the Goalposts: Both teams played pretty well in their opening game effort. Woods looked very impressive in the Panthers’ spread offense, throwing for almost 350 yards as he rifled the ball all over the field to a cast of HFCS receivers. A young Cambridge team is only going to get better, and I wouldn’t want to draw CCS in sectional play. On Friday night, September 12, HFCS travels to Schuylerville in a big Class C match up with the Black Horses. The winner of that game most likely will have a leg up on the Class C North Division crown. Watch out for the Horses’ junior quarterback Austin Bateman and running back Shane Larkin. They have hurt HFCS in recent years. It should be a dandy.