Colonie's defense forces 7 turnovers to stun Albany in Class AA opener
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ALBANY – Colonie head coach Jon LaPoint anticipated his team would have a battle on its hands with visiting Albany Friday in the Class AA opener for both teams and LaPoint was spot on in his pre-game assessment.
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Despite being outgained 325 to 163 in total yards, the opportunistic Colonie defense hung tough when it had to, and the offense did just enough as the Wolf Pack pulled out a 14-6 win over the Falcons.
The defensive unit, with just one returning starter from last season, yielded a 27-yard touchdown run by Amir I Nasir on the game's opening drive and buckled down from there to help pull out the win.
"We knew that Albany was going to be a tough matchup for us," LaPoint said. "We capitalized on mistakes, which is something we preached all week. They stepped up in a huge way. We had that bend don't break mentality."
Kaiden Hill scored for Colonie on a 98-yard fumble return for a touchdown late in the first half before Colonie quarterback Steven Thomas ran for a two-point conversion to give Colonie an 8-6 lead at halftime.
The Wolf Pack had the first possession of the third quarter and drove 60 yards on 11 plays and increased the lead to 14-6 when Thomas eluded a tough Albany pass rush and rolled to his left before spotting Cameron Frazier alone in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown pass."
Key moment
Trailing 6-0 late in the second quarter and with Albany inside the five-yard line, Keegan Nieckarz chased down Falcon quarterback Jah'Quinn Thompson as he rolled to his right and as he turned to cut upfield, Nieckarz hit Thompson's blind side and forced a fumble that was scooped up by Hill at the 2-yard line.
"My coach told me to go make a play and I made a play," Nieckarz said. "That play brought us up and we were able to capitalize off that and win the game."
Hill, a sprinter on the Colonie track team, had a clear path to the end zone and flashed his speed down the sideline for a 98-yard touchdown return with one minute, 55 seconds left in the first half.
"I run the 200 (meters), the 400 and the 100. I do it all," Hill said. "My teammate came in, swatted it, I picked it up and ran for my life. It felt good. This is my first one (touchdown)."
Star of the game
The Colonie defensive unit forced seven Falcon turnovers and, just as impressively, forced turnovers on all three Albany drives that put the Falcons in the red zone.
Junior Jaxson Woodward recovered two fumbles deep in Colonie territory and senior quarterback Steven Thomas, in the first action of his varsity career on defense, forced a fumble and later added an interception in the second half.
"We had a lot of seniors lost, but a lot of guys stepped up, a lot of guys playing both ways that never had, including me," Thomas said. "Last year, I was QB only, but this year, they needed me and I stepped up and made some plays."
Gavin Uzzo had an interception for Colonie and Frazier recovered a fumble and also intercepted a pass.
Numbers to know
244: Yards of total offense by Albany senior quarterback Thompson, who rushed for 123 yards on six carries and completed nine passes for 121 yards.
7: Turnovers forced by the Wolf Pack defense as the unit recovered four Albany fumbles and intercepted three passes.
2.5: Sacks by Albany linebacker Qaleb Rice, who also recovered a Colonie fumble in the first half.
What's next
Albany: The Falcons continue their season-opening road trip by traveling to Schenectady to play the Patriots next Friday night.
Colonie: The Wolf Pack head out on the road and will face Niskayuna on Thursday.
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