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GUILDERLAND — Logan Broomhall’s first half consisted of a pair of touchdown runs mixed with a pair of lost fumbles.
With his team’s season hanging in the balance, Broomhall shook off his early mistakes and delivered in the clutch, converting a key third-and-long pass to set UP Guilderland for a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference as the Dutchmen hung on for a 17-14 win over Shenendehowa ON Friday in a Class AA semifinal.
The win sends Guilderland (4-1) to the Section II Super Bowl next week.
“I was really proud of the grit we showed. We lost the turnover battle three to nothing, all week I’m preaching take care of the football,” Guilderland coach Dan Penna said. “We put ourselves in a hole but we came through in the fourth quarter. I’m really proud of the grit of our guys.”
With the game tied and just less than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Guilderland took possession of the ball on its own 33-yard line and drove into Shenendehowa territory but faced a third-and-seven from the 37-yard line before Broomhall spotted Ethan Curtis on a crossing pattern that resulted in a 32-yard gain and put the ball at the Plainsmen 5-yard line.
Four plays later, Dillon Blanchard capped the 12-play drive with a 20-yard field goal to give Guilderland a 17-14 lead.
“Those mistakes were mine. Football is a game you have to learn from your mistakes and come back,” Broomhall said. “I got a little down but my guys out there, they know how to surround around me and bring me back up so that final drive, I could do the same for them.”
Guilderland led 14-0 at halftime, sparked by a 42-yard first-quarter touchdown run by Broomhall, who looked to be stopped after a 1-yard gain but kept his feet moving and broke free up the middle for the game’s opening score.
“Every play, I play to the whistle,” Broomhall said. “My dad has always told me that. My fumbles, I was just trying to play to the whistle, that is my mentality that I’m going to keep my feet moving.”
After Broomhall scored from one yard out to put the Dutchmen up 14-0, the senior lost a fumble at the Shenendehowa 11-yard line with 44 seconds left in the half.
Shenendehowa (4-2) cut the lead in half in the third quarter on Dyvante Terrelonge’s 20-yard run and grabbed more momentum on the ensuing kickoff when Nicholas McIetchie-Goldman forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Ely Bruhns at the Guilderland 21-yard line.
Four plays later, Terrelonge scampered in from 15 yards to tie the game.
Shenendehowa had one last drive following Blanchard’s field goal but was forced to punt with just more than three minutes left in the game and never got the ball back.
“When you are 16, 17, or 18 years old and you put your heart and soul into something, you have high goals and you fall short, it is a devastating thing,” Shenendehowa coach Brian Clawson said. “The seniors have been through so much, from COVID, they kept working on their own and just wanted a season so bad. I feel awful that it ended that way for them.”
The Plainsmen struggled on the ground in the first half as Guilderland’s Paris Hart and K.C. Aghanenu clogged the interior of the line of scrimmage and though the unit gave some ground in the third quarter, it gave Shenendehowa fits in the fourth quarter.
“We practiced all week, we know our D-line is strong and capable, so is their D-Line,” Hart said. “We anchored down and stopped the push. Teams get down and take themselves out of the game. We know we have that energy and are going to fight to the end. That is the culture that coach Penna has built into this program.”
Sean Martin, a local freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.
Sean Martin is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.