by Ryan Mosher
On Friday night, under the lights in Greenwich, the Witches football team did something no other team in Section II had done this year – score touchdowns against the Hoosick Falls first team defense. Unfortunately for Greenwich, those points did not faze the Panthers, who responded almost immediately with touchdowns of their own on both scores.
After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, Greenwich started the second quarter with a drive starting on their own 20 yard line. Quarterback Tony Giroux and the Witches offense moved the ball the length of the field but seemed to be backed into a corner, facing 4th and 11 from the 18 yard line. Giroux did not back down though and connected with John Barnes for the 18 yard touchdown pass, capping off the 14 play drive and making it 14-7.
The Panthers did not let the score stay close for long though. Just over one minute later, Tanner Williams ran in his second touchdown of the day, pushing the score back to 21-7. As the half wound down, Giroux moved the Witches back down the field again. The 12 play, 86 yard drive was capped off with a 3 yard touchdown pass to Jason Flynn and pulled Greenwich back to within a touchdown at 21-14 with just :41 remaining in the half. The momentum heading into the half seemed to be swinging the Witches way, but the Panthers wanted none of that. As the first half clock expired, Tanner Williams out-leaped two Greenwich defenders to haul in a 37 yard pass from Billy Pine to make the score 27-14 taking the wind out of the Witches sails.
The Hoosick Falls offense scored four touchdowns in the second half, two by Brad Burns and two more by Tanner Williams, giving him five on the night. More important than those four touchdowns was the improved second half play of the Panther defense. The Panthers did not allow Giroux to get comfortable in the second half, allowing him to pass for just 29 yards, as opposed to his 164 in the first half. They also intercepted him twice in the second half, while constantly putting him under pressure in the pocket.
The final score was Hoosick Falls 54, Greenwich 14. Williams rushed for four touchdowns on 226 yards, as well as his touchdown reception. Burns rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns. The Panthers host Granville on Friday night in their final regular season home game.