Shenendehowa girls flag football knocks Niskayuna from unbeaten ranks

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — At the conclusion of their game with Niskayuna Wednesday night, Shenendehowa girls flag football head coach Matt Buckheit passionately reminded his team they’re capable of beating not just any team in Section II, but in the state. If the Plainsmen continue to perform the way they did in the second half against the Silver Warriors, they may very well be playing at Cortland in early June.

Shen used a 25-0 second half to take down Niskayuna on the road, 38-21, simultaneously ending the Silver Warriors’ perfect, 6-0 start.

The turnaround was all the more impressive considering Niskayuna had major momentum going into halftime. After the Silver Warriors took their first lead of the game, 14-13, with just 48 seconds remaining in the first half, they got the ball back for one more drive. On the final play of the half, quarterback Clara Stodolka hit Jayla Forrest at around the 22-yard line, and the seventh grade wideout blazed past the Plainsmen defense, racing in for a touchdown. Nisky tacked on an extra point to maintain a 21-13 advantage at the break.

Shen erupted in the second half, though, reaching the end zone on all four of its possessions, while the defense held the Silver Warriors scoreless. Quarterback Sydney Delisle was responsible for the first three scores of the half. She linked up with Saadia Alozie through the air before running in the extra point, trimming the margin to one. After Delisle picked off Stodolka on Niskayuna’s ensuing possession, she dropped another end-zone dime – this one to Serena Suchdeve, reclaiming the Plainsmen a lead they would never relinquish.

Delisle made it a two-possession game with 6:28 remaining on a strike to Gabriella Spraker, who coasted in for six more points. Gabriella Stuart provided the finish touch – a near 60-yard touchdown run for her second trip to the end zone of the day; her first being a pick-six back in the first half.

Shen improves to 4-3, and remains on the road for its next contest Friday against Bethlehem. Niskayuna falls to 6-1, and will travel to Albany Friday.

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