Class A Grid Notebook
Santavicca, Boyer Combine for 440 on Ground in Husker Rout of Jay- Lakeland, Somers Back on Track; Panas, Brewster, Hen Hud Fall
If Yorktown High football Coach Mike Rescigno is already out of words to describe senior HB Nick Santavicca, he might have to import a speaker on his behalf because the best is yet to come. Santavicca rushed for 230 yards and two TDs, giving him four scores and over 400 yards through two games. Fantasy Football fans would be licking their chops at those numbers, but Rescigno may think he’s simply in fantasy land every time the LoHud Super 11 captain touches the ball.
“I am not sure if I have any other creative words left for him,” Rescigno exclaimed after the host Huskers torched visiting John Jay CR, 51-27, last Friday night. “What else can you say about Nicky? He is not the kind of kid you want to defend. He has completely prepared his body for the test. He has not and will not be satisfied with status quo.
“He trained in the offseason to ensure that he would have the opportunity to outperform anyone,” the coach added. “For me, what was most important was that he chooses to outperform himself. Nicky knows that his accolades from last year are in the past. He wants what we want as a family, which is to take this year to another level. Nicky understands that this not a one man show. He is flanked by skill position players and linemen alike that would do anything for each other.”
Yorktown junior QB Jose Boyer, the Notre Dame-bound lax standout, was the yin to Santavicca’s yang, rushing for 205 yards and three scores on a mere eight carries. Boyer also fired a 53-yard TD pass to Max Costello.
“Yorktown is very, very good,” Jay Assistant Coach Joe Mammoser said. “Even if we had all of our guys, the outcome might have been the same, just not as lopsided. I’m not sure anybody has the athletes to keep up with them.”
The Makar boys left their mark when Brett Makar recorded a sack for a safety and his brother, Tyler Makar, forced a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown by Jesse Bambach.
“For the most part we had pretty big holes to run through,” said Santavicca. “You could call it a one-sided track meet; I guess we just played very well but it wasn’t easy, John Jay was a tough team.”
Rescigno’s Huskers are big, strong, quick and deep, and they claim they have unfinished business to attend to as a matter of family business.
“Guys like Jose Boyer and Scott Weaver had stand out games in the backfield,” Rescigno said. “Linemen like Joe Costella and Joe Blume made their presence felt up front. Perhaps the best part about this team is that they all want to see one another succeed. Your stats are my stats. Our kids always have and always put themselves last. That is what gives us the edge.”
That edge is being presumed as a second-straight championship run by the 2014 Class A runner-up Huskers, The talk around Section 1 has the Huskers and the reigning champion Rye Garnets squaring off again in November, but a Week 3 prelude is on the horizon as Yorktown visits Rye this Friday in the game of the week.
“Talk is cheap,” Rescigno said. “People assume that tradition is what wins football games. That is why it is critically important for a team to understand that tradition is fostered by preparation of the team, not any one individual.”
But Yorktown did, indeed, rally for one individual when the better part of the community came out in support of young Brielle Furci, the 16-year-old Yorktown lacrosse player who has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. She felt the love and went public with her thanks on Twitter: “Had the most amazing night💙 thank you to @THE__CROP, the whole football team, coaching staff, and everyone in blue #family #blessed.”
God, please bless this Furci girl in her fight.
SOMERS 20, PANAS 16
Somers senior WR Jason Holland tunneled his way to five receptions and 110 yards, including a 54-yard, game-winning TD pass from sophomore QB Kevin Olifiers, who hit on 6 of 8 passes for 103 yards as the Tuskers (1-1) overcame a surprising 16-10 third-quarter deficit. RB James Lucadamo also scored from a yard out for the Tuskers in the first quarter. Junior RB Messiah Horne led Somers with 93 yards on 13 carries. Tusker Eric Silvester, possibly the best kicker in all of Section 1, drilled a 36-yard field in the final minute of the third to provide a spark. (0-2) made major strides since its Week 1 loss and hopes to carry that momentum into a Week challenge from undefeated Eastchester (2-0).
LAKELAND 30, SRING VALLEY 28
Hornet senior QB Trevor McCarthy had the finest game of his career when he connected on 9 of 18 for 202 yards and three touchdowns (all career-highs), including two strikes to Sean Makar, who also had a career day with five catches for 77 yards. Hornet RB Keir Maley had 20 carries for 111 yards rushing and versatile WR Kevin Prunty added 118 combined yards rushing and receiving as Lakeland erased a Week 1 thumping at the hands of Fox Lane and now looks forward to a Week 3 challenge from a winless Byram Hills club that hasn’t stopped anybody in its first two losses, allowing a combined 88 points to John Jay CR and Nyack. It’s feasting time, fellas.
BREWSTER and HEN HUD could get nothing going offensively in a pair of losses; the Bears (1-1) falling to Eastchester, 20-3, and the Sailors (0-2) falling 10-2 to Pearl River.
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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