Glens Falls aims for state championship return

GLENS FALLS, NY (NEWS10) -- In 2018, Pat Lilac led the Glens Falls football program to its second state title in three years. Six years later, Lilac is one win away from getting an unbeaten Glens Falls team back to the state title game.

"It's Thanksgiving weekend and we're still playing football," said Lilac. "Being thankful, family, and football. I mean, what could be better than that?"

The Glens Falls football team, ranked third in the state with a 13-0 record, are set to take on Port Jervis out of Section IX in the Class B state semifinals. Port Jervis is 9-1, ranked fourth in the state.

Lilac has been here before, leading Glens Falls to state titles in 2016 and 2018. With the Black Bears one win away from punching their ticket to the dome, Lilac's message is simple. "I think the main thing is, things happen so fast, just try to enjoy the ride," said Lilac. "It's so much easier said than done because you're so into what you're doing that sometimes you forget to say, 'You know, this is great.'"

When Glens Falls last won the state title, this group of seniors were in the sixth grade. But they remember that run well, and it inspired them to try and do the same. "I remember that all those guys were very competitive and they all played together as a team, and when one guy wasn't doing well they let them him know and corrected him and they all played hard and they didn't play for themselves," said senior Oscar Lilac, the son of Pat Lilac. "When you're in an atmosphere and the areas that they were in and you saw what they were doing, they gave you a feeling inside of you, like, 'Man, I just want to try to do that because experiencing that is something different.'"

"I watched all those games," said senior wide receiver and defensive back Kellen Driscoll. "It was always fun watching that because I never saw any like real football. That was the first time I watched in-person football."

This is a group that's already done their fair share of winning. Driscoll, Lilac, and quarterback Brody Holcomb don't just lead Glens Falls on the football field, they led the basketball team to a 27-0 season that ended in a state title last year. The feeling of raising a state title plaque is a feeling they want back. "It's something that you're always going to be chasing after you've got it," said Driscoll.

What guided this group to the state basketball title is the same thing that has them where they are right now. "Obviously, they're all talented athletes," said Lilac. "But the thing is their competitiveness. That's just been the difference maker between them. Everything they do, they're doing it to win and doing it at the same time in a classy mode without ruffling feathers. Just, 'We're not going to lose and we're going to do everything we can to win.'"

Punching your ticket to go play for a state title is always special. But for the father son duo of Pat and Oscar Lilac, it would be even more so. "Obviously it makes it more special," said Oscar Lilac. "The players on the team I've been playing with ever since I came to Glens Falls, they've came to be my brothers. So doing something like that would be great."

"It'd be special," said Pat Lilac. "My son's in this crew and I've gotten to know these kids probably a little bit closer than I've known most of our other teams, just for that fact. They've all played basketball together for so long. It would be really special, but regardless of what happens, it's been a great ride."

Kickoff on Saturday at Middletown High School is set for 3:00 PM.