Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football fueled by early season adversity | Sports

The Spartans led 0-2.

Burnt Hills lost to Section 9 state power Cornwall 33-14 in Week 0. Then it fell to Columbia 25-8 in Week 1.

“Everyone was frustrated. “We faced two state-ranked teams at the beginning of the year and we weren’t used to going 0-2,” said Burnt Hills head coach Kevin DeBonis. “We had to turn the page.”

“Obviously, when you're on a team and you start out like that, there's always doubt,” Burnt Hills senior running back DJ Mosher said of his team's confidence at this point in the season. “But growing up, we knew we were always a good team and we knew we had to fix some mental issues.”

Facing a rocky start to the season, the Spartans had to choose between embracing adversity and using it as fuel, or giving in to it and heading in the wrong direction.

“It's a slippery slope,” DeBonis said. Everything they did inside transferred onto the pitch. It's day by day, week by week, and we use our adversity to our advantage.

“When you play these difficult matches, there is a chance that you lose confidence and believe me, that was a serious problem that you have to deal with. But it must be admitted that we circled the wagons, changed a few things and thanks to that we played faster and more confidently.

After the loss to Colombia, the message was to focus on one day and why the Spartans were there in the first place.

“We stressed that every time we step on the field we have to have fun,” Mosher said of how the group turned things around earlier in the season. “We had a nice workout since we talked about it and everyone has had a smile on their face since then.”

Since losing to Columbia on Sept. 13, Burnt Hills has won four straight games to climb to the top of the Class A Grasso Division rankings.

The Spartans won 63-0 against Mohonasen on September 20, and the following week they defeated Ballston Spa 13-7. On October 4, Burnt Hills thwarted a two-point conversion attempt that thwarted Queensbury in a 22-21 victory.

Entering Thursday's game, Burnt Hills was 3-0 in league play and 3-2 overall. It faced Bethlehem, the leader of the Class A capital division, also 3-0 in its league and 3-2 overall.

Just a few weeks into the postseason, one of the division's two leaders had a rare opportunity to make a statement.

“We have all the division games, and then all of a sudden there's a crossover game, but there's a leader on the other side,” DeBonis said. “It's extra motivation, but it was great to see we kept the same approach.”

Burnt Hills held a slight lead over Bethlehem early in the first half, but came out swinging early in the third quarter. The Spartans won 44-20, outscoring the Eagles 27-7 in the second half.

“This game was amazing,” senior running back John Gload said. “(Bethlehem) is a great team and we were both at the top of our classes. They're an aggressive, great team and we knew we had to come out and play more physical than them, so we ran the ball down their throats to win the game.

Gload scored on two touchdown runs, including one for 68 yards and the other on the goal line.

Mosher led with three touchdown runs, including runs of 55, 38 and 25 yards.

Burnt Hills was certainly well-positioned to make a statement against another division leader.

“If you don't play some strong teams early on and see things come to light, you're going to struggle later in the year when you finally get a strong team,” DeBonis said. “We faced adversity in the first two weeks and had to build momentum every day.”

“We are brothers,” Mosher said. “We have been playing this game together since childhood and we just had to integrate.”

Burnt Hills is now 4-2 on the year and remains 3-0 in division play. She faces another big test next week in Saturday's non-classroom match against Niskayuna. The Spartans will conclude the regular season on October 25 against South Glens Falls.