Huggins Scores Four Times as Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Tops Troy 28-14
The short version
- Owen Huggins rushed for 117 yards on 21 carries and scored a career-best four touchdowns.
- Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake led 21-0, then held off Troy's rally for a 28-14 win between unbeaten Class A teams.
- Kyair Carr's 93-yard touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty, one of nine Troy flags.
- Troy's Vulonn Forde ran for 174 yards in the loss.
- Burnt Hills (4-0, 3-0) hosts Ballston Spa next; Troy (3-1, 3-1) visits Columbia on Friday.
Junior running back Owen Huggins ran for 117 yards and all four touchdowns as the Spartans built a 21-0 lead and survived Troy's comeback bid in a Week 4 matchup of unbeaten Class A teams.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake stayed perfect on the season with a 28-14 road win over Troy on Friday night in a Week 4 meeting of unbeaten Class A football teams. The Spartans jumped ahead 21-0 and then held off a second-half charge from the Flying Horses to improve to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Class A play.
Junior running back Owen Huggins carried the offense, rushing 21 times for 117 yards and scoring all four Burnt Hills touchdowns — a career best. He got 14 of those carries and 90 of those yards in the first half alone, including a 48-yard contribution on the game's opening 80-yard drive, which he finished with a six-yard touchdown run.
The Spartans scored on each of their first three possessions to build the 21-0 advantage, controlling the line of scrimmage early. Quarterback Tristan West, a junior, completed six of seven passes in the first half to keep the Troy defense guessing, while the Burnt Hills ground game finished with 184 yards on 37 attempts.
Troy, which fell to 3-1 overall and 3-1 in Class A, got on the board late in the second quarter. Anthony Brown connected with Kieonte Green on an 18-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to make it 21-6, and Kyair Carr's six-yard rushing score in the third quarter cut the deficit to 21-14. Senior running back Vulonn Forde ran for 174 yards and fueled the first touchdown drive with a 57-yard burst.
The turning point came early in the fourth quarter. Trailing by seven and taking over at its own 7-yard line after a punt, Troy appeared to tie the game when Carr broke free for a 93-yard touchdown on a direct snap. The play was called back, however, on a holding penalty — the most costly of nine flags against the Flying Horses on the night. The drive stalled from there, and after a Troy punt, Huggins scored his fourth touchdown to put the game away.
"Certain things you can't control but you've just got to get the next play down," Troy coach Jordan Canzeri said of the penalties. Burnt Hills coach Kevin DeBonis credited his offensive line, saying the unit has grown considerably and played with confidence, and praised Huggins for running hard in a game the coach said Troy's overall quality made a genuine battle.
Huggins, who said he rarely gets that many carries in a crowded backfield, called it his day and credited the offensive line's blocking for setting everything up, adding that the Spartans came in determined to win with the run.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake returns home to host Ballston Spa in its next Class A contest. Troy travels to East Greenbush to face Columbia on Friday.
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