Niskayuna Football Magical Season Comes to a Close 

Nobody could have anticipated the incredible season that the Niskayuna Silver Warriors football team had before the season began, let alone imagine a chance to play in the Class A State Semifinals. Unfortunately, the top-ranked Somers Tuskers overpowered the Niskayuna squad by a score of 35-7. On the first play of the game, Somers was able to recover a muffed kickoff and go for a quick score to wide receiver Ravi Dass. Another touchdown throw from Matt Fitzsimons, the Tuskers 6 foot 4 quarterback, led to Niskayuna facing a tough situation. But with 7:53 left in the second quarter, running back Isaiah Linyear scored the Silver Warriors first and only score on a huge 59-yard touchdown, running down the sideline untouched. 

Although early penalties and mistakes by Somers in the first half gave Niskayuna a fighting chance, the second half was all Matt Fitzsimons and the Tuskers offense. Fitzsimons threw for two more touchdown passes in the third quarter, and one more touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that would secure a Somers victory. While the Tuskers defense allowed only eight yards of offense outside of Niskayuna's single touchdown score, the Niskayuna defense also couldn’t stop the quarterback and wide receiver duo of Fitzsimons and Dass. Somers eventually won the Class A State Championship at the newly renamed JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse. 

 However, this defeat does not diminish what an incredible season that Niskayuna was able to have. The season has set the tone and a standard of success that will and should be repeated in the next season and the years after that. After a 1-2 start with losses to Saratoga and La Salle, Niskayuna was able to rally, and in a huge way. They won 6 games in a row to finish out the regular season, and then beat La Salle and then Averill Park to win the Section II Championship. Never had this been done in Niskayuna football history, and they didn’t stop there, winning against Canandaigua Academy in the State quarterfinal. Despite the heartbreaking finish in the state semifinal, the team was able to rally from adversity and finish the season with a 10-3 record. The incredible group was able to win 9 straight games and nearly make it to the State Championship. The Silver Warriors were led by a dominant defense, and many explosive offensive weapons. Even though they were not able to finish out the season with a win, Head Coach Brian Grastorf was incredibly proud of this phenomenal group. After the game he said, “They set the standard of the expectation of what we want at Niskayuna and we have the ability to do it year in and year out. They just set the standard for everybody. It’s still amazing, it still hasn’t settled in, what we have accomplished. Wish it could be more, but super proud of these guys.” Niskayuna hopes to continue improving during the offseason, and despite the departure of seniors, the Silver Warriors will focus on pursuing a Section II Championship and hopefully go even further than they did this season.