Catholic football teams head to regional finals

Comebacks were the theme last weekend, as the football teams for both LaSalle Institute in Troy and Bishop Maginn High School in Albany rallied in their respective playoff games to advance to the Class A and Class AA Super Bowls.

Bishop Maginn, which also kept a perfect season in tact, overcame three turnovers in the first half to rout Amsterdam 31-13. Thanks to junior running bac-k Tymear Mallory's 128 rushing yards and quarterback Bundunka Kargbo's two touchdown passes, Bishop Maginn (9-0) will be taking on Burnt Hills in the Class A Super Bowl this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie.

For Burnt Hills, it will be their third straight appearance in the Super Bowl. The Spartans also sport an undefeated record heading into the game.

Against odds
Meanwhile, LaSalle (7-2) staged a comeback of its own, this one much more suspenseful, to knock off Saratoga and advance to the Class AA Super Bowl against Schenectady on Friday at 7 p.m. at Colonie High School. Quarterback Mike Murray led the comeback with 322 passing yards and three touchdown passes, as well as rushing for two.

The Griffins started out slowly, falling behind early on two fumbles and an interception. After trailing 6-0 and 13-10, Bishop Maginn scored a touchdown on a long pass from Kargbo to Mallory before halftime to take a 17-13 lead. They then proceeded to shut out Amsterdam in the second half, while tacking on two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win 31-13, a score which was much closer than indicated.

Long ball
While Maginn had rallied by halftime, the story was much different for LaSalle. Down 26-0 with three minutes left in the first half, the Cadets scored two quick touchdowns to cut the deficit to 26-14.

Then, trailing 39-27 going into the fourth quarter, LaSalle scored 14 unanswered points on Murray's run and a touchdown pass to Mike Blais to pull off a stunning 41-39 win.

(11/06/08)