Averill Park football rallies past Lansingburgh for title

Lansingburgh unleashed three huge plays on Averill Park to establish a lead at halftime Friday night, and those first 24 minutes certainly were not what Averill Park sophomore fullback Carl Nitz and his teammates had envisioned.

Undaunted by a sloppy first-half showing, the Warriors responded by scoring three touchdowns, cutting down on mistakes and limiting Lansingburgh to 17 yards of offense after intermission to generate a 33-21 Class A Southeast Division victory.

Lansingburgh (4-3, 2-2) opened the contest in dramatic fashion when senior quarterback John Vandenburgh connected with junior receiver Eric Thompson for an electrifying 66-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage.

Averill Park responded with two touchdown drives capped by scoring runs from senior quarterback Ryan Long and Nitz, but Vandenburgh found Thompson again for a 65-yard scoring toss — a wild juggling catch the junior finally corralled after tipping it to himself twice — to take a 14-13 lead.

Vandenburgh scored on a 40-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to provide the Knights a 21-13 halftime advantage.

A bruising 195-pound fullback, Nitz swung momentum in the Warriors' favor in the third quarter when he turned a third-down run into a 39-yard touchdown after breaking four tackles.