Make it three years in a row that the Stillwater Warriors have walked off the field victorious in their annual Indian Bowl Matchup with neighboring rival Mechanicville.  The walk offs have come on three different fields over the three year  stretch with the game results as different as the venues.

Two years ago Stillwater won close in Mechanicville, last year it was a blowout in Stillwater, and last night somewhere in between at Tamarac high school.

The game scheduled to be played in Mechanicville was moved to Clum’s Corners with the Red Raiders new field not quite ready to go, and that made no difference to the Warriors as they notched the 29-6 “W” in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate.

Stillwater wasted little time getting on the board, taking the opening kickoff and keeping the ball exclusively on the ground covering 80 yards on eight plays with junior running back Mason Seymour cashing the check with a 5-yard touchdown run.

After the initial Mechanicville drive stalled at mid-field, Stillwater got the ball back pinned on their own six yard line after a beautiful punt by Mechanicville’s Dan Motta.

One play later the Warriors were in the end zone. Stillwater QB James Galanareau found senior wideout Joe Conti on the post, in stride near midfield and Conti took it home for the 94 yard touchdown connection and the Warriors led 13-0 midway through the first quarter.

At that point the Friday night matchup had all the makings of a one-sided affair, Mechanicville had other ideas.

For the remainder of the first half the Red Raiders played the field position game, multiple times pinning Stillwater deep in their own territory with Motta time and again hitting quality punts and the Mechanicville defense handling their business.

With both defensive units playing well the two rivals went to the break with Stillwater holding the 13-0 advantage.

Mechanicville put points on the board with 5:18 remaining in the third when Motta ran it off the right edge and up the sideline scoring from 20 yards out, trimming the Warrior lead to 13-6.

Seemingly the Raiders had seized momentum as the game suddenly became a one possession affair. Less than two minutes later the momentum and the six point spread were gone.

After Raider kicker Jake LaFountain’s kick went for a touchback the Warriors started from their own 20. Four plays later Galarneau, calling his own number ran it in from 46 yards out and Stillwater’s lead was 20-6 with 3:37 left in the third.

Stillwater put the game away on their next drive with a 22-yard touchdown run by Luc Lescault capping the series and giving the Warriors control, on their way to their third straight Indian Bowl victory.

Seymour led the strong Stillwater ground attack with 140 yards on 18 carries, with Conti adding 77 rushing yards to go with his long touchdown catch.

Motta led the Mechanicville attack running for 83 yards and the Raider lone score as both squads look ahead to weekend number three in the high school football season.