by Steve Bradley
Billy Pine, a 2013 HFCS graduate, had a great senior season in high school. As the quarterback of the Panther football team, he led the way to a state championship.[private] The team defeated heavy favorite Hornell to claim the title in 2012.
Fast forward a couple years and Pine is now the starting signal caller for the Hartwick College Hawks (1-4), located in Oneonta, NY. Although competitive in every game the Hawks are having a tough year. But the team has scored between 27 and 48 points in each game.
On October 24, Pine was involved in a shootout game with league rival Cortland where the teams combined for 97 points. The day Pine had was a day most quarterbacks can only dream about.
The game was a back and forth affair. Hartwick got off to a good start, grabbing a 30-14 halftime lead. Pine had 329 passing yards and three TD passes at the half. Hartwick surrendered the lead in the second half, grabbed it back at 47-40, then gave up ten points to Cortland to lose the game 50-47.
The amazing thing was the statistics, especially Pine’s. Pine connected on 33 passes for 521 yards and rushed for 82 yards. He gained an amazing 603 total offensive yards. It was the third highest total in Division III football this season.
The two teams combined for 1,253 yards, second most in the country at the time.
For his efforts, Pine was awarded the Empire 8 Football Offensive Player of the Week, and a day later, D3Football.com named him to the Team of the Week.
Pine is the son of Ray and Peggy Pine of West Hoosick. He has four sisters, three have attended Hartwick. (Sister Kelly is a senior at HFCS.) His sister Brittany is in the Hartwick Hall of Fame (soccer) and his sister Rachel, a 2015 HFCS graduate, currently starts on the Hartwick womens soccer team. [/private]