Ready for Kickoff

By JAMES A. ELLIS

The Fonda-Fultonville Braves, Amsterdam Rams and Dolgeville Blue Devils all came up one game short of a Sectional football championships last season, while the Gloversville Huskies finished out their season with four straight crossover victories.

The Braves and Rams will begin their drives for a return trip to the championship games on their home turf this weekend.

Amsterdam will host Averill Park in a Class A crossover game, while Fonda-Fultonville hosts Class C Taconic Hills in its season opener at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Dolgeville makes the short trip to Little Falls for its Section III season opener tonight under the lights on the Mounties home field.

The Huskies are looking to run their win streak to five games when they host the Griffins of Bishop Maginn at 7 p.m. tonight at Robert E. Gould Stadium at Husky Field.

The Broadalbin-Perth Patriots will take to the road tonight for their season opener against Stillwater and Johnstown opens its season and league play tonight at Cobleskill-Richmondville.

Canajoharie makes its return to Class D competition this year and will make the long trip to play Warrensburg on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.

Today's Games

Bishop Maginn at Gloversville, 7 p.m.

Third-year Gloversville varsity coach Jared Bongo knew there were some holes that needed to be filled in the Huskies' lineup after graduation claimed several key players.

However, after last Saturday's scrimmage, he is confident that his team can pick up where it left off.

"We got better as the day went on," he said. "We played a tough scrimmage against Ravena, LaSalle Watervliet and Peru who are all pretty tops in their divisions. We got out healthy, which was a top priority for me. We got to see some things out of guys we haven't really seen in a competitive situation before. It definitely was a good experience and an eye opener for some guys to realize that they can do some things."

One question mark was at the quarterback spot that was occupied by Cam Oathout for the past two seasons.

Asa Barnhill took the snaps in the scrimmage and will get the start tonight against the Griffins.

"He is doing a great job. He is picking up the offense and is a smart kid," Bongo said. "The thing that is surprising me most is his feet. He is not the type of runner that Cam was. Cam was a downhill runner that would run you over if needed. Ace is elusive with good speed and that definitely can help us."

Barnhill will be joined in the backfield by running backs Mike Murray, Brandon Paul and Mike Fancher.

Facing Bishop Maginn in the season opener, Bongo does not expect many surprises.

"Joe Grasso has been coaching there forever. His guys will be prepared," Bongo said. "They run the dive opting pretty well. Watching film, they have a really good receiver on the wide out, so we need to know where he is on the field and come up with a good game plan to stop him. I think this is a game we can win. It will be vital for us to punch one in. It builds confidence and is a momentum killer. If we can punch one in early it will set the tone for the rest of the game."

Although not making the Class A playoffs last season, the Huskies finished strong with four straight wins.

"That was great for us to finish strong and the past couple of years we have played our best football the last couple of weeks, which is what you want," Bongo said. "This year it is very different because there are only a few guys back from the core we had last year. A lot of guys were three and four year players for us. We are starting fresh with some guys coming in from the JVs and building momentum from last year they felt that, even though in crossovers, they felt that this is the way we should be playing Husky football and the pride and tradition that goes along with it."

Averill Park at Amsterdam, 7 p.m.

The Amsterdam Rams hope to hit the ground running tonight against Averill Park.

And a lot of the running will be done by veteran runningback Brett Stanavich.

"We like to run him a lot," first-year Amsterdam coach Doug Edick said. "Geo Rodriguez is back at quarterback and Mason Calhoun will anchor the line on both sides of the ball."

The Rams enter tonight's game off a good showing in their scrimmage against Schenectady.

"Schenectady was a good test. They have some speed and we have some speed so it was a good test," Edick said. "I think we are prepared [for tonight] and the kids are excited to go against someone other than themselves."

Edick said the Warriors' running game will be a challenge for his Rams' defense.

"They have quite a few guys back from last year's team," he said. "They run that Navy-style offense so they want to run their fullback and quarterback. They want to get those two going. They don't pass very much. I hope we are well prepared. We need to play disciplined on defense."

Edick, who was a longtime assistant under retired coach Pat Liverio, will take the field for the first time as a head coach tonight in front of the hometown fans.

"Everybody asks me if I am nervous but I am not, I am anxious and I am excited about it," he said. "I have been here 10 years and there is no place I would rather be on a Friday night than at Amsterdam coaching football. It is electric and very exciting. I can't wait."

Johnstown at Cobleskill-Richmondville, 7 p.m.

The Sir Bills will find out how they stand against the other teams in their division right away.

"In our league, we are looking at teams like Cobleskill-Richmondville, Broadalbin-Perth and Hudson Falls," third-year coach Matt Benton said. "To me, those are the true B teams right now. They carry about the same numbers as we carry. This will give us a real good look at what we have to work for in our league.

"I know Glens Falls dropped down into our class, but I want to see how we compete right now in the B class," he said. "These first two games [on the road] against Cobleskill and Broadalbin-Perth are key for us before coming home to face Tamarac."

Benton has an option of two players - Matt Szurek and Dan Nellis - to fill the void left by graduating senior Matt Hecht.

"Matt Szurek who will get the starting call at quarterback," Benton said. "He is more of an option, strong running-type quarterback. Danny Nellis is right on his heels but he is more of a passing quarterback. Matt Hecht was kind of right between them. I have two guys that like a split of Matt Hecht."

Johnstown got off to a slow start at its scrimmage last weekend but Benton drew a positive result out of the way the Sir Bills finished the day.

"The positives were we finished. It seems like we are in shape and conditioned," Benton said. "By the time we got into the second quarter the kids started figuring out their assignments. We finished well and were able to march down the field and score against Cohoes. It showed they have the ability to late in the game to move the ball and get the job done."

Benton said he is also looking for leadership from veterans Brandon Akey and Steve Savage.

"We are healthy at this point but Brandon Akey had a slight shoulder problem but we gave him a couple of days off and he is ready to go," he said. "He is one of our three-year starting varsity players along with Steve Savage who are coming back and having them coming in healthy is key."

Broadalbin-Perth at Stillwater, 7 p.m.

With a young team with little varsity experience, starting on the road may be a good thing for the Patriots.

"To me, I like going on the road sometimes," second-year coach Jim Pelneau said. "Just going on the road, getting off the bus and playing the game is sometimes a benefit. That might help some of the players a little bit, being new to the varsity level."

The Patriots scrimmaged last Saturday against Fonda-Fultonville and Canajoharie.

"I was pleased with the scrimmage," Pelneau said. "We did a nice job playing physical and running the ball and played good defense so I was happy with the scrimmage overall. We got out of the scrimmage healthy and that is the biggest thing we were worried about. I think we are right on pace and now we are excited to see them play in an actual football game now."

Stillwater, a Class C contender, brings an experienced squad into tonight's crossover game.

"Stillwater is a tough, physical team with some good-size linemen," Pelneau said. "They have a very good tailback I believe was there last year and he is a good downhill runner. I don't think it makes much difference [Class C or Class B] once you get suited up and get out there on Friday nights. We are not even looking at it like that. Being a crossover game we are just looking to play it the best we can."

Dolgeville at Little Falls, 7 p.m.

Graduation took its toll on the Dolgeville football team but coach Chris Connolly is confident his young Blue Devils will respond positively as they look to get back to the Section III Class D title game.

"We are very young," he said. "There are eight seniors, 20 juniors and 20 sophomores and they are going to see a lot of playing time. I hope we get happy with the wins but I think everybody will be happy with the playing time. Our goal early this year was to get a lot of two way players. I think that is going to happen."

Connolly said containing Little Falls quarterback Mike Battisti will be crucial for success in tonight's season opener.

"Their quarterback is a Tebow-like player who can run and and also is a good passer," he said. "We need to stop this kid from sprinting out and making things happen. They were in a scrimmage against West Canada who is supposed to be very good this year. I guarantee they may have come out on the upside up that scrimmage."

Offensively, the 2012 Blue Devils are looking to find its identity.

"More than usual," Connolly said. "We don't have a complicated play book anyway but we are going to have to try to be a little simpler, not make a lot of mistake and hold on to the ball. We have Andrew Drumm at quarterback and we are three-deep at runningback. A lot of them [runningbacks] will be splitting time. We have to play Dolgeville defense and that it the name of our game any way. Our strategy, I think, will be just to wear people down. Some teams have like 25 kids out and I have 45 kids playing football."

Saturday's Games

Canajoharie at Warrensburg, 1 p.m.

After two years of playing at the Class C level, the Cougars return to Class D competition.

Their reward is a 2-hour opening day bus ride to Warrensburg.

"[Warrensburg] run that double-wing offense with some big linemen," Canajoharie coach Ken Sullivan said. "They try to pound you between the tackles. From what we have seen it is nothing fancy. They try to move you forward and move the chains three and four yards at a time."

Stopping the run will be a little more difficult as the Cougars will be without the services of Trevor Brownell who was injured in an accident.

Sullivan said to be successful Saturday, "we have to stop their run and that is the forte for that type of offense. We have to control the ball with no turnovers and establish our running game."

Canajoharie participated in a scrimmage with Fonda-Fultonville and Broadalbin-Perth last Saturday and it gave Sullivan and his coaching staff a good look at what adjustments they needed to work on.

"We did better defensively than offensively," he said. "We had some young guys in the line and they had some trouble with their blocking assignments. I think we have some things straightened out and we will much better job over the ball."

Taconic Hills at Fonda-Fultonville, 2 p.m.

The Fonda-Fultonville Braves are ready to begin another run toward the Class C championship game.

Hosting Taconic Hills Saturday at John Boshart Field will be the first step on their journey.

"They are always a physical team," Fonda-Fultonville coach tom Carpenter said. "We saw them in a scrimmage last Saturday. They have good size up-front and a real good tight end and their quarterback is a good player who can throw and run the ball. They looked good in the scrimmage."

The Braves scrimmaged Broadalbin-Perth and Canajoharie last Saturday.

"Our scrimmage went pretty well," Carpenter said. "There were some things we saw that we needed to correct but we had a good week in practice and the kids are excited to get playing."

To pick up a season-opening victory Carpenter said, "It will be important that we execute offensively and that we know our assignments and tackle well on defense."

Fonda-Fultonville will have a break in its schedule next week.

"Cairo-Durham folded again this year," Carpenter said. "There is nothing we can do about it. We tried to find a game, but couldn't match up with anybody."