Take away three plays and the Minnewaska Area Lakers beat the Albany Huskies during a battle of area football powers Friday night on at Veterans Field at Glenwood State Bank Stadium.

However, football doesn’t work that way so when the three plays are counted, it added up to a 21-0 Albany victory, clinching the top seed in the section and sub-district title for the Huskies.

It was a great game for the Lakers, who held the fourth-ranked team in Class AAA to just 181 total yards and the two teams could meet up again in the section tournament.  “We played a great game, but you have to give Albany credit for making the big plays,” Minnewaska coach Jared Lyle said.

One of those big plays was the opening kickoff where Ethan Meyer picked up a squib kick at the 24-yard line and somehow evaded the entire Laker defense for a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, giving Albany a quick 7-0 lead after only 13 seconds.

That would be all the scoring for the first half as the Laker defense took over, picking off two passes and twice driving inside the Albany 25-yard line before coming up short.

Another big play came on the third play of the fourth quarter when Albany lined up for a field goal after a big goalline stand by Minnewaska.  

However, the snap from center was off the mark, forcing the Huskies to improvise and somehow Elliott Burnett got off a pass to Braeden Justin, who barely evaded a Laker would-be tackler at the three-yard line before scampering in for a touchdown to give Albany a 14-0 lead.

The final big play for the Huskies was a 48-yard touchdown run by Meyer to close out the scoring with about four minutes left in the game.  Meyer rushed only one time in the game, but it ended up being a big one, giving Albany almost half of its rushing yards for the night on only one carry.

“Our team played great and I’m really proud of the guys.  It was a great high school football game,” coach Lyle said.  “We know we can play with them and hopefully, we’ll get another shot.

The Lakers dropped to 4-2 in the sub-district and 4-3 overall with the loss.  Minnewaska Area is set to close out the regular-season at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16 against Melrose.  

The Lakers are guaranteed a playoff game at home this fall.  Whether that will be in the Section 6AAA quarterfinals, Tuesday, Oct. 22 or the semifinals, Saturday, Oct. 26 has yet to be decided.    Turn to Speaking of Sports on page 2B for some possibilities.

Albany meanwhile, clinched the sub-district title with its 6-0 record and also guaranteed itself the top seed in the section tourney.  See Area Scoreboard and Section Football Standings on page 2B for more information about playoff possibilities.

Albany 21, Waska 0

Albany scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to hold off an upset bid by the Lakers during a 21-0 Husky win, Friday  night.

Albany was held to 10 first downs and 181 total yards on 45 offensive plays, but the Lakers couldn’t muster enough offense of their own, ending the game with eight first downs and 152 total yards.

Albany scored on the opening kickoff for a quick 7-0 lead, but the Lakers dominated the rest of the first half despite not scoring.

Minnewaska Area drove to the 11-yard line early in the game before two-straight losses brought the ball back 14 yards to the 25 and Zach Gugisberg’s 32-yard field goal try was just short.

The Lakers also drove to the 23-yard line with about a minute left in the first half, but a penalty forced the Lakers into a passing situation and Levi Johnson’s long pass to Gugisberg near the goalline was intercepted by Elliott Burnett to end the first half.

Minnewaska’s passing defense was especially proficient, holding the Huskies to 96 net yards on 19 pass attempt while also intercepting three passes; one each by Luke Danielson, Gugisberg and Miles Wildman.

“We did a great job defending their pass and our defensive line and linebackers kept the running game in check.  Overall, it was just a great defensive effort by our team,” Lyle said.  

The game remained 7-0 through three quarters as the Lakers had three possessions in the third quarter but only one first down.

Albany drove to the Minnewaska one-yard line to start the fourth quarter, but was stopped on three-straight plays, including a big tackle by Carter Meyer on third down.

Albany was left with a fourth-and-goal situation from the three and decided to try a field goal.  The snap was off the mark, but the holder got off a nice pass to Braeden Justin, who barely squeaked by a Laker defender near the goalline to break the scoreless drought and increase the Husky lead to 14-0.

The Lakers went three plays and punt on their next possession and Albany proceeded to put a nail in the coffin with a final score on a 48-yard run by Meyer.

•  The Laker running attack was successful against the Huskies, generating 138 yards on 38 rushes.  Kearri Dickens had six runs for 47 yards, Riley Dell had 11 for 40 and Asante Adams had 12 rushes for 30 yards.

Levi Johnson, who ran five times for 15 yards, completed 4-of-12 passes for 38 yards with two of the passes going to Meyer for nine yards and one each going to Tristan O’Neill and Gugisberg.

Albany 21, Minnewaska 0

Albany (7-0) 7 0 0 14 — 21

Minnewaska (4-3) 0 0 0 0 — 0

Albany — Ethan Meyer 76-kickoff return (Elliott Burnett kick)

Albany — Braeden Justin 3-pass from Burnett (Connor Plumski kick)

Albany — Meyer 48-run (Bur. kick)

Team stats Min ALB

First downs 8 10

Rushes-net yards 38-138 26-85

Pass-cp-int-yds 12-4-2-14 19-9-3-96

Total yards 152 181

Fumbles lost 1-0 0-0

Punts-average 6-32 4-30

Penalties-yards 5-25 1-9

Minnewaska statistics

Rushing — MIN-Kearri Dickens 6-47, Riley Dell 11-40, Asante Adams 12-30, Levi Johnson 5-15, Carter Meyer 4-6 . . ALB-Ethan Meyer 1-48, Haiden Linn 3-15, Drew Lehner 8-9, Zach Birr 8-8, Jacob Buttweiler 1-4

Passing (attempts-comp-intercept-yrds) — MIN-Johnson 12-4-2-38 . . . ALB-Boone Roemeling 18-8-3-93; Elliott Burnett 1-1-0-3

Receiving (catches-yards) — MIN-Meyer 2-9, Tristan O’Neill 1-5, Zach Gugisberg 1-0. . . ALB-Braeden Justin 5-69, Burnett 2-24, Meyer 1-(-2), UA 1-5

Punts-average — MIN-Connor Frey 6-32

Returns — Kickoff-Dickens 1-16, Tyson Metz 1-4, Kolton Rogers 1-3, Evan Armstrong 1-0. . . Punt-None

Defense — Fumble Rec-None . . . Interceptions-MIN-Luke Danielson 1-20, Zach Gugisberg 1-0, Miles Wildman 1-0. . . Sacks-None

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!