Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
The Glens Falls High School football team is New York State’s Class B champion after a heart-stopping 47-39 win over powerhouse Chenango Forks in Syracuse’s Carrier Dome on Saturday, Nov. 26.
The 13-0 Indians won Glens Falls’s first state title doing what they have done all season: Using their incredible team speed and skill, and a gritty Glens Falls-borne toughness, to get the job done.
“This is definitely the most talented team we’ve had in my 17 years here,” Coach Pat Lilac said.
“The whole experience was breathtaking,” senior captain Andrew Murphy said.
Sophomore quarterback Joseph Girard III was the game’s Most Valuable Player. His electrifying 79-yard touchdown run in the second quarter set the tone early for Glens Falls.
In all, the Indians pounded Chenango Forks for 400 yards of total offense, plus more than 200 yards on kickoff returns.
Junior Aaron Sampson, the game’s Most Valuable Offensive Back, ran for 165 yards on 15 carries and scored twice.
Murphy, who was double-teamed all game, clinched the victory when he snagged Chenango Forks’s last-minute onsides kick and ran 48 yards to the end zone.
“That’s what he does,” Coach Lilac said. “He just goes. It was nice to see him finally get loose. We were thrilled for him. He’s such a good kid and such a kind-hearted person, you can’t help but cheer for him.”
Before Murphy’s touchdown with 30 seconds remaining, Chenango Forks had scored a touchdown to cut Glens Falls’s lead to 40-39. Chenango Forks (12-1) was seeking its fourth straight state title.
They tried for a two-point conversion, putting the ball in the hands of star running back L.J. Watson, who finished the game with 191 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
But on the extra point try, Watson was smothered at the line of scrimmage, hit first by Isaiah Prunty and then dropped by Noah Dixon, Lucas Sanders, Dakota Trombley and Tony Green.
Sanders, a senior captain, was named the game’s most valuable defensive lineman. Chris George received Glens Falls’s team sportsmanship award.
Aaron Sampson said he will always remember “the way we came together, and our defense at the end. We didn’t let them in when it counted. I’ll never forget that.”
On Monday, Coach Pat Lilac said the days since the championship game had been “numbing. It still hasn’t set in. I’ve woken up the last two mornings and thought, did this really happen? I’m just feeling grateful.”
Quarterback Girard said, “The whole scene was unreal. Every player dreams of getting to the Dome and playing for a state title, and to do that and then win the game is just incredible. And it’s more amazing because it’s the first state championship for Glens Falls.
“It just shows us that all of our hard work during the season and before the season paid off, and it proves that you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Sampson said of the atmosphere in the Carrier Dome, “It felt like a college game. We couldn’t even hear our own cadence. It was crazy.”
Double-teaming Murphy backfired
Sampson said Chenango Forks’ decision to double-team Murphy “made the holes a lot bigger for me, and it made it easier to get to the outside.”
Murphy said being double-teamed was “nothing new. I knew it would expand the field for everyone else, and they’d be playing nine vs. 10. I’m glad they pressed me, because we’ve got Dylan Balcom and Joe and Aaron Sampson and Tony Green. We have plenty of other weapons. I think Chenango Forks is going to regret that decision.”
Coach Lilac said, “Andrew is such an integral part of what we do in our passing game, and they were going to let anyone but Andrew beat them. They had one guy right up on him and one guy directly in back of him…
“Just like the other games when he was double-teamed, the other guys are good enough to get themselves open and they are skilled enough to get themselves open and run with the ball after they catch it.
“Tony Green had a huge fourth-down catch, Dylan Balcom had two touchdown catches and he came up big with a couple of long kick returns. I thought Dylan played the best game of his career.
“And Quinn Girard [named most valuable defensive back] is just so gritty and tough. And in that situation, there’s one less guy that can tackle Aaron, and I think his ability to run the football and his determination was a big part of our success, not to mention Joe’s decision-making and that unbelievable touchdown run that he had.”
About Girard’s 79-yard TD run
With Glens Falls leading 14-6 early in the second quarter, Chenango Forks turned the ball over on downs inside the Indians’ 10-yard line. After Sampson ran 14 yards for a first down, Coach Lilac called a running play for his star quarterback.
“It was a keeper for him designed to run to the left,” Lilac said. “Sometimes you see him take things into his own hands. He’s done it before, and that’s what he did on that run. You’re watching and thinking, ‘He’s going to do his thing right here,’ and you kind of just sit back and watch it and enjoy it.”
Girard started in shotgun formation and ran left. Seeing no opening, he reversed field as his backs and receivers scrambled to hold their blocks.
Approaching the sideline, Girard eluded one potential tackler and then was facing seven Chenango Forks defenders. He faked inside, got to the edge, got a huge block by Andrew Murphy, and deked out a final defender before breaking free for a most improbable 79-yard touchdown run.
“That was all Joe,” Coach Lilac said. “We’ve said it before, but special players make special plays, and that’s exactly what he did.”
Murphy said, “When Joe started coming right, everyone reversed field and I ran toward them. I laid down my block and then Joe got free. That run was a total momentum shift.”
Girard said, “After I reversed field, I started running left again and tried to reverse the field again, but I was stuck there, too, so I went back the other way and saw I could get to the edge.
“And then my mouth guard fell out! No one noticed that I was running with my mouth guard in my hand. It fell out as I was turning the corner.
“On plays like that, sometimes you lose yardage, but I was able to break it loose, and I got some huge blocks from the backs and receivers.”
Sampson said, “I was blocking and I turned around and Joe wasn’t there. Andrew and Dylan made key blocks and I just watched him do his thing. It took like 19 seconds but it felt like forever.”
Team ‘wasn’t going to be denied’
Coach Lilac said he will most remember “the fact that this team had such high expectations coming into the year — the highest we’ve ever had — and just being able to have them focus in the moment and not look too far ahead and say they are going to do something and then accomplish it. So many things have to go right throughout the course of the year, in terms of injuries and the ball bouncing your way, and we certainly got our share of breaks, but I think you create your own breaks and these guys weren’t going to be denied.
“They are so skilled and they are such a competitive group. It was our job just to steer the ship a little bit and try not to screw them up, you know? And I think the coaching staff did a good job with that, just letting them use their talent and it worked out for us.”
Coach Lilac: Humbled to follow Putt LaMay and Paul Bricoccoli
Coach Pat Lilac said he’s humbled to follow in the footsteps of the two legendary coaches who preceded him at Glens Falls, Putt LaMay and Paul Bricoccoli.
LaMay coached from 1953 to 1972, Bricoccoli from 1973 to 1999. Lilac took over in 2000 and is in his 17th season.
“It means a lot to me,” he said. “I think just the fact that prior to me there were only two other football coaches here tells you what a special place Glens Falls is. My first year I was overwhelmed early on, and Putt came walking over one day and just talked to me for about an hour.
“He kind of gave me a pep talk and actually drew up on the board one of his favorite plays back when he coached. We actually still use the play, it’s just a fullback trap right up the middle. The fact that he cared enough to come over and do that kind of opened my eyes that this was the real deal.
“And then Coach B. After he retired, he ended up coming back and coaching our seventh and eighth grade teams for close to 10 years. To have his guidance and his mentorship and his support was special.”
Lilac’s father, Mike, is a Section II legend, having coached the Stillwater basketball team to a state title in 1988.
“I remember the first conversation I ever had with Paul,” Pat Lilac said, “and he said ‘You can’t be your dad, you can’t be me, just be yourself.’ And that was some sound advice and I’ve tried to follow that and just be myself.
“I really feel connected to Glens Falls for one reason or another. Whether it’s the blue-collar nature of the City or just how much the people love their sports here and I grew up in a similar environment. I just feel really fortunate about the whole thing.” — Gordon Woodworth
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