Sports
Football: Albany Beats St. Liz 45-15 for First Win of the Year
After dropping their first two games of the season, Albany was able to top St. Elizabeth.
Albany 45, St. Elizabeth 15
The Star: The third quarter belonged to Albany's Avi Rosenblum, who scored touchdowns on both offense and defense within a span of a minute, 45 seconds.
The Turning Point: Rosenblum's 38-yard interception return deflated St. Elizabeth and the Mustangs rarely threatened after the spectacular play.
The Quote: "We have a really good chance of winning league this year," Rosenblum said. "We can go right now win eight games, just full speed ahead into league."
What's Next: Albany opens up league play in two weeks when it travels to John Swett for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Bottom Line: St. Elizabeth gave Albany all the opportunities the Cougars needed by continuously giving away the ball on offense.
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Just like last week, the Albany High football team took a four-point lead into halftime. This time around, however, it managed to expand the lead instead of squandering it, beating St. Elizabeth 45-15 at Cougar Field.
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At halftime, coach Scott Shevelson had some very pointed words for his team members to make sure they had their heads on straight.
"Remember how that felt," Shelevson said, in reference to last week's loss against Vallejo. "Remember how you felt at the end of the game and correct that. I told them that we needed to learn how to win — learn how to put teams away."
Senior Avi Rosenblum took those words to heart. With three minutes, 51 seconds left in the third quarter, Rosenblum connected with quarterback Robert Crowley for a 48-yard touchdown.
"Me and Crowley both saw that they were playing one man deep to the right, so I was wide open," Rosenblum said.
Less than two minutes later, Rosenblum found himself in the end zone once again. This trip, though, came as the defensive end.
Mustangs' quarterback Anthonie Pearson rolled out to his right where he was met with pressure from the Cougars' defensive line. Only able to put up a weak pass, Pearson was intercepted by Rosenblum, who ran the ball back 38 yards for a touchdown.
"It just worked out that I got there, got the pick and the six," Rosenblum said.
St. Elizabeth was its own worst enemy. Along with that interception, the Mustangs fumbled the ball away twice. The second fumble was extremely costly, as it was was recovered and run back for a 45-yard touchdown by Quinn Miyashiro.
"We play a pressure defense," Shevelson said. "We have been getting some good turnovers, but we haven't been capitalizing on that. So we were able to do that, and sustain drives."
Albany looked to be in trouble in the early going. On the first play from scrimmage, Mustangs' wide receiver Aaron George slipped free of coverage and Pearson was able to find him for an 80-yard touchdown reception.
The Cougars answered quickly, however. They methodically marched the ball down to the 24-yard line where kicker Thomas Rocroi knocked it through the uprights.
Rocroi hit another field goal, a 13-yarder as time expired in the first half. The field goal was set-up by running back Akwasi Agyekum.
After being called for a holding penalty with less than a minute in the half, and Albany on its own side of the field, Shevelson called a running play. Agyekum ended up breaking several tackles until he was finally brought down at the St. Elizabeth 13.
"We know that when we play on our field, we protect it," Rosenblum said. "We don't give up wins on this field easily."
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Albany 45, St. Elizabeth 15
St. Elizabeth 7 8 0 0 — 15
Albany 3 16 13 13 — 45
Scoring summary
11:53, 1st: S — Pearson 80 pass to George (kick good)
7:32, 1st: A — Rocroi 24 field goal
10:48, 2nd: A — Crowley 1 run (kick blocked)
4:03, 2nd: S — Pearson 3 run (two point attempt)
3:05, 2nd: A — Crowley 37 pass Roberson (Rocroi kick good)
0:00, 2nd: A — Rocroi 13 field goal
3:51, 3rd: A — Crowley 48 pass Rosenblum (kick blocked)
2:16, 3rd: A — Rosenblum 38 interception return (Rocroi kick good)
10:50, 4th: A — Gurule 21 run (blocked kick)
6:30, 4th: A — Miyashiro 45 fumble return (Rocroi kick good)
Individual Statistics
Rushing (car-yards): S — #2 11-45, Brisco 10-49, Asah Pearson 6-10, Anthonie Pearson 10-(-1); A — Crowley 3-0, Gurule 2-24, Agyekum 14-85.
Passing (comp-att-yards-ints): S — Anthonie Pearson 3-7-107-1; A — Crowley 10-18-142-1.
Receiving (rec-yards): S — George 1-80, Maldonado 1-22; A — Rosenblum 1-48, Gurule 1-13, Roberson 4-73.
Total offense (rush-pass-total)
St. Elizabeth — 56-142-198
Albany — 103-107-210
Records: St. Elizabeth 0-2; Albany 1-2
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