Class A Grid Notebook: Huskers Still Own Yorktown After Defeating Lakeland, 29-28; Somers, Brewster Remain Unbeaten; Panas, Hen Hud Fall

Through five weeks of action, the Section 1 Class A grid circuit took some twists last weekend as two of the eight Class A teams covered in these pages — vying for one of eight Class A playoff berths — took a big hit. Panas and Hen Hud lost big-time points in the Piner System standings. The Panthers did so with a 13-7 loss to visiting Tappan Zee while a 38-3 blowout loss to host Sleepy Hollow won’t help the Sailors’ cause; though they remain among the top four in their league.

Undefeated state-ranked (No.15) Somers is still hoping to lock down the No.1 seed from its league after a 33-22 win over host Ossining. It was not an easy win by any stretch of the imagination as the Pride nearly went the distance, but Somers Coach Tony DeMatteo cashed in the 297^th victory of his heralded career.

The Brewster Bears are still on the prowl after eking out a 21-20 win over host Eastchester.

The big local game of the week, which had no bearing on the playoffs whatsoever, was the Yorktown – Lakeland game, which the Huskers held on to win, 29-28, when Lakeland’s two-point conversion was thwarted by a host of Huskers in the waning moments.

“To be honest, I was surprised he (Lakeland Coach Rob Cappelli) went for two,” Yorktown Coach Mike Rescigno said. “Stopping them in the fourth quarter had been our Achilles heel, but on the two-point conversion we swarmed the ball and our coverage was solid as he rolled out. Our kids made a great play.”

Though the game did not mean anything in terms of playoff standings (an obvious flaw in Section 1 Class A’s system), both Yorktown and Lakeland took the game to heart and played like their lives depended on it.

“You can’t tell the kids from either team that this game didn’t matter,” Rescigno said. “This was a great test for us because from here on out every game is a must win. A game like this will surely test us and prepare us for what lies ahead.”

What lies ahead is a pivotal Week 6 schedule that will determine the playoff fate of several teams; in particular, Hen Hud (Saturday vs. Yonkers), Lakeland (Saturday @ Sleepy), Yorktown (@ Nyack Friday) and Brewster (Friday vs. Byram Hills). Panas will also play at Somers Friday in an essentially meaningless non-league game that will surely test the Panthers’ mettle. Similarly, Ossining will host defending champion Poughkeepsie Friday.

So here’s your unrewarding Week 5 NWE/Putnam Examiner Grid Poll (with an “if the playoffs started this week” look).

Week 5 NWE/Putnam Examiner Grid Poll

No.1 SOMERS – State-ranked (No.15) Somers (5-0) erased any doubt about this one when the Tuskers opened the second half with an 84-yard touchdown drive for a 27-16 lead. Good to see senior FB Joe Lombardo cap the drive with a 20-yard TD trot. RB Stefano Bicknese had another monster game with173 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, giving him 12 rushing TDs for the year. Lombardo had 76 yards and the touchdown on 16 carries as Somers amassed 306 yards on the ground. WR Joe Festo had a career-high 103 yards on five catches. The Pride scored 16 points in the final 6:44 of the first half and trailed 19-16 at the break.

“This was not a good game for us but we still got the W,” Somers QB John Decker said, assuring his Tuskers would enjoy the challenge of throwing on Panas. “In the second half we came out throwing and that’s what worked, and Stefano and Lombardo got us in the end zone to finish our drives.”

It seems Somers is looking to light up Panas for some reason, so the Panthers best be ready to bring it.

If the playoffs started this week, No.1B Somers would host No.4A John Jay-CR in the quarters. Somers would love that after the beating John Jay put on them last year.

No.2 BREWSTER – By the skin of their teeth, the Bears (5-0) remain one of three Class A unbeaten (No.2 Harrison, Somers). RB Fernando Solis was the flavor of the day for Coach Mulvihill, who saw his senior rush for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Senior QB Brian McNeil fired a 22-yard scoring strike to Kyle Riccardi and the Brew Crew is still living the high life.

“With each week we continue to improve and hope to be at our peak by playoffs,” said Solis, who has four TDs for the year. “Heading into Week 6 we will continue to work our butts off in practice and eliminate any mistakes that were made in the past.”

If the playoffs started this week, No.2B Brewster would host No.3A Hen Hud in what would surely be a game nobody saw coming. Brewster cannot look past visiting Byram Hills (3-2) this Friday in a game that could ultimately determine whether or not the Bears are for real. The Bobcats are legit and better than their ninth-place rank would indicate and cannot be taken lightly, or the Bears will drop considerably from their current No.2 rank in League B.

No.3 YORKTOWN – In Yorktown 29-28 win over Lakeland, as many as six Huskers swarmed Lakeland QB Brian Prunty a yard before the goal line on the fate-sealing two-point try inside the final 2:00.

“It was the biggest play of our season to date,” OL/DL David Varian said. “We’re hoping a play like that can propel us into the playoffs. That was our season right there. This was a huge win for us, whether it mattered in terms of playoffs or not. A win like this will help our confidence down the road. We know we have to bring our A-game against Nyack this week or it won’t mean a thing.”

Yorktown (3-2) trailed 14-0 before QB Nick Mariano got the boys back on track, completing 9 of 14 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-sealing 15-yard score to HB Nick Bonitatibus with 4:17 left.

“That drive was crazy,” said Mariano, who also chugged for a game-high 90 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. “My adrenaline was pumping like crazy on that drive, my line came up big for us and are backs and receivers made some plays for me. I can’t even describe what it felt like when Nicky scored.”

RBs Eric Meyreles and Dan Delbene also snagged a TD pass for Yorktown, who is ranked No.8 in its league and will be playing for its playoff life in Week 6 against a Nyack team it should beat and Pelham in Week 7.

No.4 HEN HUD – Sailors (3-2) suffered a huge blow in a crushing loss to a quality, state-ranked (No.21) Sleepy club. Hen Hud, currently ranked No.3 in their league, is still alive in chase for playoffs but this loss hurt and leaves no wiggle room in remaining games against Yonkers and Pearl River. We like their chances of surviving this loss and somehow securing a playoff berth in Year 1 of the Lynch era.

No.5 LAKELAND – Lakeland (3-2) quarterback Brian Prunty connected with wide receiver Ryan Bonifati for three touchdowns through the air. Overall, Prunty completed 9 of 17 passes for 142 yards. Bonifati finished with five catches for 125 yards. Prunty almost won it for Lakeland, chucking a 40-yard touchdown to Bonifati on fourth-and-17 with 1:19 left in regulation to trim Yorktown’s lead to 29-28. The Hornets then opted to go for the 2-point conversion; however, they came up short as Prunty was stopped at the 1-yard line. Lakeland running back Jimmy Flaherty rushed for a team-high 85 yards on 14 carries. Hornet RB Anthony Kaplan rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and sophomore RB Anthony Capozzi dazzled us all late in the fourth with a crazy two-point conversion that gave the Hornets a lead.

When asked about the crucial two-point conversion, Cappelli admitted his team has some issues kicking PAT’s so there was very little hesitation in his mind to go for two.

“I’m so proud of my guys,” Cappelli said, “like I just told ‘em. They have 45 guys over there and we’ve got about half that many. They were bigger, faster, stronger… but we hung in there with them. We never quit. We came in here to win a football game. They were the 5th-ranked team in Class A this season, and we were 23rd, so we weren’t even supposed to be in this game. But once we were in a position to win it, we had to take that chance. We came here to win and we thought we could convert.”

Lakeland is ranked 7^th in the Piner standings and would not make the playoffs if they started this week, but “must-wins” over Sleepy and Panas would surely catapult them back into contention.

No.6 PANAS – TZ RB Joe Letizia had two touchdowns and 181 yards on 36 punishing carries in a 13-7 win over the previously unbeaten Panthers (4-1). Panas’ last-chance effort to pull out the game was thwarted when Giuseppe Maddalena picked off the final pass of the game at the TZ nine in the game’s waning moments. Panas’ Anthony Conti had two carries for 36 yards and touchdown. The loss will surely hurt Panas’ playoff chances (Panthers are ranked 5th now) as they head into Somers this week in a game that means nothing in terms of playoff implications. However, Week 7 against visiting Lakeland could/should be for all the playoff marbles. If the Panas community doesn’t turn out in force that day, it should be ashamed of itself #BeThereOrBeSquare.

No.6 OSSINING – Ridiculous amount of bad blood between some Somers and Ossining fans kind of marred what was an otherwise awesome effort from the players (even the poor Prince of Somers got thumped on the way out). Social media didn’t help matters as both sides sparred verbally. Pride QB Justin Davidov hit on 7 of 20 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns to WR Noah Morton, who hauled in four receptions for 62 yards, and finished with three scores (Morton also had an interception and a blocked punt). Ossining (2-3), ranked No.10 in League B, would fall well short if the playoffs started this week, just as their Week 6 opponent, defending Class A champion Poughkeepsie (4-1), would #PinerSystemBites!