Averill Park Overcomes Slow Start to Advance to Class B Super Bowl

AVERILL PARK — The start was sluggish, but a second-quarter scoring burst helped the Averill Park football team shake off its early struggles in a Section 2 Class B semifinal against LaSalle.

After trailing 14-0 in the first half, the Golden Knights scored 27 straight points to close the first half and added one more score in the third, pulling away from the Cadets for a 34-14 home win Friday night.

Averill Park (9-1) will face unbeaten Glens Falls in next week’s Super Bowl after the teams met in the 2025 final, which Glens Falls won 47-7.

“We’ve been there the last couple of years; it never gets old, and it’s always fun,” Averill Park coach Zach Gobel said. “It is more time I get to spend with these young men and these coaches, and I’ll take it. These guys have put in the time and effort in the offseason. They do what we ask in practice, and they’re high-character guys.”

Junior quarterback Mason Sansone rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries, spearheading the Averill Park offense. Safety Braeden Kilgallon led the defense with two interceptions, the first of which he returned 17 yards for a touchdown to give the Golden Knights their first lead of the game at 20-14.

Kilgallon’s touchdown came 24 seconds after Sansone tied the game with an 11-yard touchdown run.

“Just playing deep, but I saw the quarterback’s eyes and his front shoulder intention,” Kilgallon said. “Coach always tells us to attack the ball. We made a few adjustments, did what we needed to do and got the job done.”

Key moment

Trailing 14-0 and with its offense stagnant, Averill Park got the jolt it needed when Griffin Baker found a seam up the middle on a kickoff return and sprinted 79 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7 with eight minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half.

“I was just looking the ball in, saw a hole and hit it as hard as I could,” Baker said. “We were down 14-0 and needed to get something going, so I went out there and did what I could do.”

Averill Park went on to score touchdowns on its next three offensive possessions and added another on Kilgallon’s pick-six.

“That woke us up, and there was another guy (Kilgallon) with a pick-six and another guy (Sansone) who decided to run the ball, so that worked out,” Gobel said.

Star of the game

Sansone completed 4 of 6 passes for 47 yards, but did most of his damage with his legs after reading the LaSalle defensive alignment correctly.

After his 11-yard score tied the game in the second quarter, Sansone’s patience in the backfield as he waited for a hole to develop resulted in a 56-yard touchdown run just two plays after Kilgallon’s second interception of the half gave Averill Park a 27-14 lead with 52 seconds left in the first half.

“We have a shot every game to come back and win it,” Sansone said. “Pump each other up on the sideline; that’s how you get back in the game. Energy is the most important thing. Coach told me before the game that if they dropped eight into pass coverage, I should run the ball if I saw a seam. His game plan was perfect and it worked. The offensive line was phenomenal; they were giving me holes left and right.”

Coming out of halftime and with the ball, Sansone again showed patience as the offensive line opened a hole, and the junior took off for a 59-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter to increase the lead to 34-14.

Numbers to know

Passing yards for LaSalle quarterback Jason Poremba, who completed 13 of 27 attempts.

Yards per rush for Averill Park in the game, as the Golden Knights accounted for 258 yards rushing on 22 carries.

Interceptions recorded by the Averill Park defense. Kilgallon had two, and Landen Welcome had the other.

What’s next

The loss ends La Salle’s season with a 5-5 record.

The Golden Knights will head to the Class B Super Bowl to face Glens Falls on Nov. 14 at 3:30 p.m. at Shenendehowa High School.

Source link