Huggins' 4 TDs power Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football past Troy

TROY – It was a quick start Friday night for Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake as the Spartans established early superiority at the line of scrimmage against Troy in a clash of unbeaten Class A football teams.

Burnt Hills got off the bus ready to go and scored touchdowns on its first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead before holding off a Troy rally to post a 28-14 win over the Flying Horses.

Junior Owen Huggins rushed for 117 yards on 21 carries and scored all four Burnt Hills touchdowns.

“Our O-line has come a long, long way, they are confident in each other and work together,” Burnt Hills coach Kevin DeBonis said. “This kid (Huggins) ran his tail off and it was just everybody together. They came together and battled, they (Troy) are a great team.”

Tristan West, the Spartans’ junior quarterback, completed six of seven passes in the first half to help keep the Troy defense off-balance and the rushing attack accounted for 184 yards in 37 attempts.

Troy cut the Burnt Hills lead to 21-6 late in the first half on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Brown to Kieonte Green on a fourth-down play, and narrowed the game to just seven points when Kyair Carr rushed six yards for a third-quarter touchdown to make the score 21-14.

Key moment

Trailing 21-14 and with its defense just having forced a punt, Troy had the ball at its own 7-yard line with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

On the first play of the drive, Carr took a direct snap up the middle before cutting to his left and took the ball 93-yards for a would-be touchdown that could have put Troy in position to tie the game with the extra point.

As the celebration in the end zone was on, a penalty flag was on the field five yards past the line of scrimmage. It was a holding call on Troy, the biggest of the nine penalties called on the Flying Horses in the game.

“Certain things you can’t control but you’ve just got to get the next play down,” Troy coach Jordan Canzeri said. “Those penalties are tough.”

The drive quickly stalled and following a punt, Huggins scored his fourth touchdown on the ensuing Spartans drive to seal the win for Burnt Hills.

Star of the game

In a crowded backfield of running backs, Huggins isn’t accustomed to carrying the ball 21 times in a game. but the junior earned every one of his 117 yards.

Huggins had 14 carries for 90 yards in the first half as Burnt Hills opened up a 21-0 lead with 3:04 to play before halftime.

“It feels amazing, I’ve barely gotten the ball, but today was my day,” Huggins said. “I’m proud of all the linemen, proud of their blocks. It could not have been set up any better. We came out firing, we were hot coming in here. We wanted to punish them with the run.”

Numbers to know

174:Rushing yards by Troy senior running back Vulonn Forde, who sparked Troy’s first touchdown drive with a 57-yard run to help the Flying Horses get into scoring position.

48:Rushing by Huggins in Burnt Hills’ opening 80-yard drive, culminated by Huggins’ six-yard touchdown run.

4:Touchdowns scored by Huggins, a career-best.

What’s next

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake:The Spartans (4-0 overall, 3-0 Class A) return home to host Ballston Spa in a big Class A contest.

Troy:The Flying Horses (3-1, 3-1) head to East Greenbush this coming Friday for a big matchup against Columbia.

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This article originally published at Huggins’ 4 TDs power Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football past Troy.