Burnt Hills football rolls past Queensbury, Spartan field hockey beats Granville: Weekend Sports Roundup

BURNT HILLS — The Queensbury varsity football team fell behind early and couldn’t catch up on Friday, falling 50-14 to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake on the road.

Burnt Hills, the 12th-ranked team in Class A by newyorksportswriters.org, jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to their fifth straight win.

Luke Zoller ran for two touchdowns of 12 yards each in the opening quarter, with a two-point conversion on the first score giving the Spartans a 15-0 lead. A 15-yard touchdown run by Santino Mareno early in the second quarter extended the lead to 22-0, and a five-yard run by Myles Yannuzzi made it 29-0.

Queensbury got on the board with 4:20 left until the half, with Ian Reynolds breaking free for a 72-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 29-6. Burnt Hills answered, however, and Zoller ran it in from four yards out in the final seconds to make it 36-6 at halftime.

Jake Pausley added a touchdown for Burnt Hills in the third, running from three yards out to make it 43-6. Mareno returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown later in the quarter to extend the lead to 50-6 after three.

Queensbury broke off another big play in the fourth, with a fourth-and-three pass from Zavry Ward finding Ryan Blanchard, who broke away for a 90-yard touchdown. The big play was the second-longest touchdown pass in Queensbury football history, behind a Tracy Nelson 99-yard touchdown pass to Doug Harder in 1970 at Hudson Falls. 

A two-point conversion from Ward to Trevon Bailey made it 50-14 with two minutes left, and Burnt Hills was able to run out the remaining clock to seal the victory.

For Queensbury, Reynolds gained 62 yards and a touchdown on six carries, while Ward was 3 of 9 passing for 154 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Blanchard had one catch, the 90-yard touchdown, while Bailey caught two passes for 64 yards. 

Burnt Hills is 5-1 overall, and 3-0 in the Class A Grasso Division with the win. They will play at Ballston Spa (6-1, 2-1) on Friday.

Queensbury falls to 1-5 overall, 0-3 in the Grasso Division after the loss. The Spartans will host Albany (1-5, 0-3) for homecoming at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Queensbury field hockey ends regular season with win over Granville

GRANVILLE — The Queensbury varsity field hockey team finished its regular season with a road victory, defeating Granville 4-0 on Friday.

Dani Hand scored three goals for the Spartans, with Gianna Marcantonio adding a goal. Ryan Allen picked up an assist, while Abigail Kittell stopped three shots in goal in the win.

The Spartans will play at South Glens Falls in the opening round of sectionals Oct. 26 at 4:30 p.m. The winner will advance to play the winner of Burnt Hills and Scotia-Glenville in the Class A championship game on Oct. 30.