CLIFTON PARK — The Malone football team got a good lesson why Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake is the second-ranked team in the state in Class A Friday night.
The Spartans used their outstanding team speed to score four touchdowns within a 5:17 span to start the second quarter and rolled to a 54-13 victory in NYSPHSAA quarterfinal action.
Burnt Hills (11-0) held a 12-7 lead after one quarter and then scored 35 unanswered points in the second to take a 47-7 halftime lead.
Brandon Beatty put the Spartans on the scoreboard with a 74-yard run, but Jake Gravel ran the kickoff back 84 yards for a score and added the point after for a 7-6 Malone lead.
But, that was about it for the Huskies' highlights.
Keaton Flint caught a 45-yard scoring strike from Phil Neumann later in the first quarter to put the Spartans ahead to stay.
Burnt Hills added five more touchdowns in the second — three coming on Beatty scoring runs of 14, two and 29 yards.
Evan Nusbaum added two touchdowns of his own — a nine-yard pass from Neumann and an eight-yard run.
Jake Gravel's 15-yard run late in the third quarter accounted for the Huskies' second touchdown.
The Spartans tacked on their final score early in the fourth.
Beatty ran the ball just seven times for 122 yards and four touchdowns. Burnt Hills ran for 287 yards and passed for 78 more.
Jake Gravel was Malone's leading rusher with 31 yards on 10 carries. He went three-of-11 through the air for 28 yards and was intercepted a couple of times.
Malone (7-3) finished with 190 total yards.
—
Burnt Hills 54, Malone 13
Malone 7 0 6 0 — 13
Burnt Hills 12 35 0 7 — 54
First quarter
BH- Beatty 74 run (kick failed), 7:18.
Mal- J. Gravel 84 kickoff return (J. Gravel kick), 7:29.
BH- Flint 45 pass from Neumann (kick failed), 9:21.
Second quarter
BH- Beatty 14 run (Neumann to Flint), :58.
BH- Nusbaum 9 pass from Neumann (Nusbaum kick), 1:56.
BH- Nusbaum 8 run (Nusbaum kick), 2:23.
BH- Beatty 2 run (Nusbaum kick), 5:17.
BH- Beatty 29 run (kick failed), 10:20.
Third quarter
Mal- J. Gravel 15 run (pass failed), 11:49.
Fourth quarter
BH- Lewek 11 pass from Knightes (Nusbaum kick), 2:51.
Individual statistics
Rushing
Mal- Gravel, 10-31, TD; Doe, 3-4; Hilyard, 1-9; Soulia, 2-19; Stepnoski, 4-4; Tousignant, 1-1; Fullum, 3-6; Aguon, 1-1; team, 1-2. Totals: 26-77, TD.
BH- Lauria, 5-30; Nusbaum, 5-46, TD; Flint, 1-(-4); Beatty, 7-122, 4 TDs; Knights, 1-(-4); Guba, 3-64; Paluba, 1-42; Cerrone, 1-(-1); team, 1-(-8). Totals: 25-287, 4 TDs.
Passing
Mal- Gravel, 3-11-28, 2 ints; Hilyard, 0-1-0; Cosgrove, 1-1-27; Gagnier, 1-2-58, int. Totals: 5-15-113, 3 ints.
BH- Neumann, 4-6-67, 2 TDs, int; Cerrone, 0-2-0; Knightes, 1-1-11, TD. Totals: 5-9-78, 3 TDs, int.
Receiving
Mal- Tousignant, 1-9; Hilyard, 1-10; Doe, 1-9; Gravel, 1-27; Dunlavey, 1-58.
BH- Flint, 2-52, TD; Beatty, 1-6; Nusbaum, 1-9, TD; Lewek, 1-11, TD.
Interceptions
Mal- Soulia.
BH- Paluba, Guba, Russell.
