by Gary Danforth
It took them into overtime to do it but Ron Jones’ Hoosick Falls Central School Panther football team moved to 3-1 on the year in Class C, North division play with a 39-33 victory last Friday evening, September 26, in Corinth.
The home standing Tomahawks got on the board first when they scored on C.J. Saunders’ 66 yard run early in period one. The point after touchdown was added as Corinth led 7-0. Hoosick Falls came right back with quarterback Kevin Woods scoring from a yard out. Hutton Rasmus’ PAT boot knotted the score at 7-7. Early in period two Woods scored on a five yard run with Rasmus adding the PAT to put the Panthers ahead, 14-7. But Corinth returned the ensuing kickoff for an 85 yard TD and the PAT boot was good as the Tomahawks tied the score at 14-14.
Then Corinth’s Mike Rubel scored on a 29 yard run to give the hosts a 20-14 edge, and the score remained that way when the PAT kick failed. Rubel opened period three with a 79 yard TD scamper, and the kick failed again to leave the Tomahawks ahead, 26-14. HFCS came back with Woods scoring on a one yard run. The PAT boot was no good as HFCS trailed, 26-20. Thomas Bass hauled in a 29 yard TD pass from Woods to knot the score at 26-26. The PAT boot was no good for HFCS.
Corinth took a 32-26 advantage on a 57 yard run by Saunders midway through period four. The Tomahawks’ PAT boot put them ahead, 33-26. Junior Alex Hansen scored on a four yard run with less than a minute to go to get HFCS to 33-32. Rasmus’ PAT boot put the game into overtime.
Hansen’s one yard run in overtime gave the Panthers the hard earned win.
Under the Goalposts: In other Class C games this past weekend, Cambridge crushed Stillwater 41-0, Chatham blistered Voorheesville 62-7, Granville blasted Mechanicville 38-6, Fonda-Fultonville beat Brittonkill-Tamarac 41-39, Watervliet pounded Hoosic Valley 30-0 and Coxsackie-Athens beat Catholic Central High School 8-0. A lot of teams are putting up a lot of points this season. Cambridge looks to be rounding into their usual form. Watervliet has another experienced, senior dominated team. Fonda has some fine skill players, and Chatham looks to be loaded this year. That brings us to the rest of the Panthers’ final three regular season games. In two weeks HFCS will play host to Mechanicville for their final regular season home game which will most likely be Homecoming. That will be followed by a long journey to Cobleskill-Richmondville. They will be two very competitive games. This week the Panthers travel to Granville to take on the Golden Horde in their earthen stadium. Bring a lawn chair and watch the game from the hill on the Granville side of the field. Opponents’ fans have shared the high side of the field for years. Granville has a very respectable team this year and cannot be taken lightly. The Horde scored 30 points against Cambridge in week two and put 38 points on the scoreboard versus an always competitive Mechanicville eleven this past week. Granville and Hoosick Falls battled year in and year out for league supremacy in the early 1980s and this week’s game could be a throwback to those very competitive teams which battled so closely on even terms some decades back. HFCS seems to be coming along and they have a lot of players on offense and defense who are getting better and better. This one could come down to turnovers and extra points made. But Hoosick Falls has found ways to win versus Stillwater and Corinth the past two weeks, and I think they will find a way to beat the Horde. But this is not the same Horde team which the Panthers have played the past five or six years. Too many mistakes and it could be a long bus ride home from Granville. Corinth turned the ball over five times against HFCS and lost. This Saturday’s game will be very competitive.