The CCA Patriots and the Sherwood Christian Academy (Albany) Eagles were in a dogfight for over three quarters at Sherwood’s stadium in the shadows of the Albany airport. Then the two-time defending state champion Eagles flexed their muscle and scored 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter enroute to a 46-13 win.
The Eagles scored the first two touchdowns and were up 14-0 until late in the second quarter. After the Patriots recovered a Sherwood fumble, running back Tyson Crosby broke a 75-yard touchdown to cut the Eagles’ advantage in half. Ethan Duran’s point-after was good and with just under 4:00 left in the first half, Sherwood was up 14-7. The Eagles got on the board again in the second quarter when they scored on a 4th and 15 pass to the front of the end zone. They took a 20-7 lead into halftime.
The Patriots received the opening kick of the third quarter and embarked on what was nearly a quarter-long journey. CCA controlled the game for the entire third quarter, allowing the Eagles only one three-and-out possession. The Patriots, however, were unable to score again until a few seconds into the fourth quarter when quarterback Sam Ables dove into the end zone from the one-yard line for CCA’s second touchdown of the game. A bad snap foiled the extra point but the Patriots were back in the game, trailing 20-13 with 11:16 remaining.
At that point, the Eagles decided enough was enough. They scored touchdowns at the 8:32, 4:34, and 2:05 marks. Sherwood added a safety just before the final touchdown on a flag thrown for intentional grounding in the end zone.
The Patriots are 1-2 on the season. Next week, the Holy Spirit Prep (Atlanta) Cougars travel to Patriot Field for a 6 p.m. kickoff.