Published: September 25, 2008 01:51 pm         

CCS football in first place

By ERIC AHLQVIST
Cooperstown Crier

SAUQUOIT — The undefeated Cooperstown football team moved into sole possession of first place in the Center State Conference East division with a triple overtime, 16-9 victory over Sauquoit Friday night. The win did not come without a price, however, as junior Luke Folts suffered a leg fracture in the first quarter, the same leg he broke last year, and is out for the season, said head coach Steve Pugliese.

``Luke is one of our best, if not the best, all-around football players on the team and we can’t replace him with just one person,’’ Pugliese said. ``At the same time we did a nice job of adjusting without him for most of the game Friday night.’’

R.J. Alton broke a 9-9 tie in the third overtime, running 25- yards for a score on the first play from scrimmage, and Brad Ashford intercepted a Sauquoit pass on the Indians’ ensuing possession to seal the win.

In the first overtime, Chad Parshall kicked his first field goal of the season to give the Redskins a 3-0 lead, but Sauquoit answered with a field goal of its own to force a second overtime. That marked the first points Cooperstown’s defense had given up in three plus games.

In the second O.T, Sauquoit scored first but missed the extra point to take a 9-3 lead. Ashford caught a pass from quarterback Tyler Hoke and broke several tackles to make his way into the end zone to tie the score again, but Cooperstown also missed the extra point to leave the game tied at 9-9 and setting up Alton’s heroics.

``R.J. Alton played a fantastic game on both sides of the ball,’’ Pugliese said.

Alton was Cooperstown’s leading rusher with 79 yards on 19 carries, while Alec Silvera had 58 yards on 10 carries. Andrew Auriemma led the team with 13 tackles, while Tanner Niedzialkowksi and Jed Rowley were each in on 11 tackles.

Cooperstown, 3-0, failed to convert several good scoring opportunities during regulation, which ended in a 0-0 tie, including a first and goal from the nine yard line which stalled on the two-yard line.

``We had the ball inside their 15-yard line four times but couldn’t score,’’ Pugliese said. ``We still need to get our offense clicking and that will come when we start executing our blocks.’’ Cooperstown will head to Mt.

Markham Friday night for their only non-league contest of the season, and then will host Adirondack on Friday, Oct. 3 in the annual Homecoming contest.

``We’re in first place now, but our league is very tough and any team can beat any other on any given day,’’ Pugliese said. ``We’re in a good position right now, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us.’’