Sir Bills power past Bulldogs, 35-20
Arrunategui rushes for four touchdowns in Johnstown’s West Division victoryBy BILL CAIN, The Leader-Herald
Article Photos
JOHNSTOWN - The return of Craig Cook and Derek Hayner lifted the Johnstown football team past Cobleskill-Richmondville in Saturday's homecoming game.
The Sir Bills had the fullback Cook and lineman Hayner lead them upfield often enough for a 35-20 Class B West Division win. Cook carried the ball 12 times for 98 yards, paving the way for four Jake Arrunategui scores.
"What a lift we got from him," Johnstown coach Bob Kraemer said. "We got him back and Derek Hayner back on the offensive line. Those two things alone ... we talked about morale last week and those guys returning to us gave us the boost in morale we needed."
The oft-injured Sir Bills were the healthiest they have been in weeks and made it through the game without losing more personnel. The win puts them in position to challenge for a playoff berth next week against Hudson Falls, when a win would guarantee a postseason spot.
Cook was knocked out of the Week 3 game with a high-ankle sprain and Hayner left the Week 4 game with a hyperextended elbow. He was nearly ready to come back Oct. 3 against Broadalbin-Perth, but was held out until Saturday. On defense, he added two sacks to his game stats.
Tailback and sometimes-quarterback Arrunategui said whether Cook was carrying the ball or blocking, his return gave his team a lift.
"It's really nice to have him back," Arrunategui said. "He's a power back. I just follow his blocks and he does all the dirty work."
Just as they did last week, the Sir Bills occasionally put Arrunategui under center on running plays. He threw once Saturday, when the run to the left was sealed off. He scurried back to his right and threw to Marcus Whitman, but the third-down pass was dropped.
Arrunategui had 86 yards on 23 carries with four touchdowns. He scored on runs of 1, 2, 3 and 7 yards. His first score came with 4:51 left in the first quarter on a keeper up the middle. His next three were all carried around the end to the wide side of the field.
"They knew it was coming, but I had Damian Beman and Reggie [Brooker] pulling most of the time," Arrunategui said. "They were loading the middle, so I went outside on them every time."
After Arrunategui scored his second touchdown with 9:32 to play in the first half, Cobleskill-Richmondville started moving the ball with Charles Willoughby. He carried the ball 19 times for 197 yards and a touchdown and seemed unstoppable on several drives.
Willoughby set up a 3-yard scoring run by John Miner, then carried for a 33-yard touchdown to pull his team within a point with 3:17 left in the second quarter. The kick on the second score failed.
"He's a great football player and we didn't realize how fast he was until he got out there," Kraemer said. "On film, he got mixed in. [Justin Markley] is a great football player for them and that's the person we were trying to shut down today. But [Willoughby] stepped up for them and so did [wide receiver Josh France]. We were just fortunate to get the 'W.'"
The Sir Bills had to punt the ball away with 1:36 left in the first half and Cobleskill-Richmondville was set to receive at the start of the third quarter. The Bulldogs had a chance to stick a dagger in the Johnstown defense before the break.
That was, until, Beman broke through the line from his linebacker position and hit Cobleskill quarterback Spencer LaMountain as he threw the ball. The resulting pass was picked off by Johnstown safety Mike Kelly and returned 40 yards for a pick-six touchdown.
"That was a nice hit," Beman said. "Reggie [Brooker] opened it up big. He looked right at me and said, 'Let's go, we're going to get him on this one.' He opened up the hole, I went through and he was there. I just hit him as hard as I could."
Beman had two sacks, a fumble recovery and seven tackles on the day. Whitman had two sacks and a forced fumble. Joey Morrison added another interception and 6 tackles.
Johnstown quarterback Adam Biron went 2-for-5 for 11 yards. Whitman threw an interception on an option pass on the Sir Bills' first possession.
Cobleskill (2-4 overall, 1-3 Class B West) added one last score when Markley, in at quarterback for LaMountain, who was nursing a injured right ankle, threw for an 11-yard score to a wide-open Taylor Collins. However, the Sir Bills (2-4 overall, 1-2 Class B West) were able to put pressure on the Bulldog quarterbacks throughout most of the game.
"That's been a weakness for us this year," Kraemer said. "We came in this week to turn it up and help out our secondary. We put some new schemes in and they seemed to work."
Johnstown held LaMountain to 39 passing yards on a 4-for-13 day with two interceptions. Markley was 1-for-3 for 11 yards.
Beman said the new blitz packages opened more lanes for the Johnstown defenders to penetrate.
"We just blitzed the heck out of them," he said. "We started throwing stunts in on the line, which we weren't doing in the past. Now we're penetrating more and they couldn't stop it. It opened up some big holes for us."
Johnstown 35, Cobleskill-Richmondville 20
Cobleskill-Richmondville 0 13 0 7 - 20
Johnstown 7 14 14 0 - 35
First quarter
J - Arrunategui 1 run (Horning kick), 4:51
Second quarter
J - Arrunategui 2 run (Horning kick), 9:32
C - Miner 3 run (Markley kick), 5:21
C - Willoughby 33 (kick failed), 3:17
J - Kelly 40 interception return (Horning kick), 1:22
Third quarter
J - Arrunategui 3 run (Horning kick), 2:02
J - Arrunategui 7 run (Horning kick), 0:22.1
C - Collins 11 pass from Markley (Markley kick), 7:29
Hudson Falls 40, Broadalbin-Perth 14
HUDSON FALLS - Joe McMurray rushed for 250 yards on 24 carries and five touchdowns Saturday to power the Tigers past Broadalbin-Perth.
Cody Menge and Shane Hathaway accounted for the Patriots scoring.
Menge carried the ball in on a four yard run, while Hathaway was on the receiving end of a 27 yard touchdown pass from Corey Caswell.
Caswell finished the day with a 6-for-18 passing effort for 64 yards and rushed for 57 yards on nine carries.
Menge finished with 85 yards on 14 carries, while Andy Weeden pulled down a pair of catches for 25 yards.
Hudson Falls 40, Broadalbin-Perth 14
Broadalbin-Perth 0 0 7 7 - 14
Hudson Falls 13 14 13 0 - 40
First Quarter
HF - McMurray 51 run (Roggi kick)
HF - McMurray 15 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
HF - McMurray 8 run (pass failed)
HF - McMurray 1 run (Isiah Thomas pass from Brett Mellon)
Third Quarter
HF - McMurray 23 run (Roggi kick)
BP - Hathaway 27 pass from Caswell (Pingitore kick)
HF - Streeter 4 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
BP - Menge 4 run (Pingitore kick)
Section III Class D
Dolgeville 47,
West Canada Valley 6
NEWPORT - Clay Ardoin and Andy Johnston scored three touhdown apiece Saturday to lead undefeated Dolgeville (6-0 overall, (6-0 Section III class D East) to victory over winless West Canada Valley.
The victory sets up a Class D East showdown with unbeaten Utica Notre Dame 2 p.m. Saturday in Utica. Notre Dame defeated Richfield Springs Saturday 40-8 to keep pace with Dolgeville.
Dolgeville 47, West Canada Valley 6
Dolgeville20 21 6 0 - 47
West Canada Valley0 0 0 6 - 6
First quarter
D - Ardoin 1 run (kick failed)
D - Johnston 1 run (Johnston run)
D - Johnston 54 pass from Goyette (kick failed)
Second quarter
D - Ardoin 1 run (Robotham kick)
D - Ardoin 20 fumble return (Robotham kick)
D - Johnston 1 run (Robotham kick)
Third quarter
D - Snyder 14 run (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
WC - Fee 10 pass from Marshall (run failed)
