Class A Somers, Class C Valhalla Cop Section 1 Crowns
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
DeMatteo Brethren Lead Tuskers, Vikings to NYSPHSAA Regionals; Class B P’ville Ousted
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays
If you were a member of the DeMatteo family, you couldn’t ask for much more at last weekend’s Section 1 grid championships at Mahopac High where Somers High Coach Anthony DeMatteo led his Class A Tuskers to a fourth consecutive Section 1 title, ninth overall (including 2020 Covid regional), while his cousin, Dan DeMatteo, in his first season at Valhalla, guided the Class C Vikings to their first sectional championship since 2019; all while legendary boss/coach Tony DeMatteo served as a sideline earpiece for both #ChickenParmForAll.
CLASS A
A good chunk of Section 1 coaches, local media members and regional football fans questioned whether two-time defending NYSPHSAA Class A champion SOMERS had enough left in the tank for Friday’s showdown with then-reigning NYSPHSAA Class B champion Rye, in the first-ever Section 1 championship battle between reigning state champs.
Consider the Tuskers’ tank on overflow after Somers turned a 14-7 halftime deficit into a 35-21 four-peat as Section 1 champs behind one of the great performances in recent history by Somers senior QB Miguel Iglesias. The Notre Dame-bound lax star rushed for three scores and 123 yards on 17 carries for state-ranked (co-No.1) Somers and fired the go-ahead TD pass to sophomore WR Cam Violante with 9:50 left in the fourth.
“Yeah, it was a great game, but coming out after halftime we realized that the offense needed to show up and start being physical and our defense had a couple of huge takeaways,” Iglesias said.. This is the best; winning games, winning championships together.”
Somers turned three Garnet turnovers into points, essentially making state-ranked (No.3) Rye look ordinary throughout a stunning second half. The Garnets (10-1), who were the talk of the town coming in, were on a 20-game win streak while Somers upped the ante with its 25th-straight victory.
After a sluggish start, Iglesias forged a Somers revival, taking a 49-yard carry to paydirt with 5:19 to go in the half, providing the hope and confidence the Tuskers (11-0) would need.
“Miguel was incredible, he couldn’t be stopped,” said All-NYS junior WR/RB Dean Palazzolo, whom the Garnets would not let beat them. “We knew people had to step up and Miguel did and so did our defense. We didn’t let them get anything.”
After Somers senior captain Aiden Coolican broke up a fourth-down pass, the Tuskers were set up at their own 42 where Iglesias took over, eventually scoring from 16 yards out to tie the score at 14-all with 2:32 left in the third quarter, the Tuskers converting three times on third down.
Iglesias then found Violante for a 21-14 lead after Somers sophomore Hudson Ruby recovered a fumble.
Somers junior Lorenzo D’Ambrosio recovered yet another Garnet fumble and the Tuskers then plunged in from a yard out on another TD by Iglesias for a 28-14 lead with 5:12 to play.
Rye, out of its element by now, was forced to play catch-up, and the Tuskers made the Garnets pay dearly when junior LB Bret Kennedy took a short pick-six into the end zone for what was Somers’ fourth consecutive TD for a 35-14 lead with 3:41 to go.
Somers senior RB Mason Kelly found the sledding tough in the first half but moved the chains effectively in the second half and finished with 93 crucial yards on the ground.
Somers advanced to the NYSPHSAA Class A Quarterfinals against the Section 2 champion Averill Park (8-3) Friday (7:30 pm) at Shenendehowa High School on the outskirts of Albany.
Averill Park, ranked No.30 in NYS, won the program’s first sectional championship in five attempts, including title losses against Niskayuna in 2023 and 2022. For some perspective, Mahopac handled AP, 17-6, in a Week Zero meeting for the second straight year. Would be quite shocking if Somers didn’t handle its business and reach the state semis where the Tuskers would face the Section 4 Vestal (unranked) vs. Section 9 Cornwall (No.6 in NYS) winner at Middletown High on Nov. 29 (6 pm). A berth in the state finals would be on the line at the JMA Dome in Syracuse on Friday, Dec. 6 (3 pm).
CLASS C
As part of the first family of Section 1 football, first-year VALHALLA Coach Dan DeMatteo has been around the block a few times as a head coach in the Yonkers system, and upon meeting the Vikings in their initial meetings prior to the start of the 2024 campaign he was struck by several things: First and foremost was their fairly large size for a Class C club; DeMatteo then captured a sense of willingness, followed by an eagerness to buy into what the coach was selling. It wasn’t long before the natural bonds of football took care of the rest, and, before long, the state-ranked (No.8), top-seeded Vikings (9-0) were well on their way to Saturday’s 27-14 Section 1 Class C title triumph of No.3 Dobbs Ferry (No.13 in NYS), the fifth sectional title in Valhalla history, we’re told by Vikings historian Dave Greiner (1972, 1996, 1998, 2019, 2024). The Eagles (6-4) ended Valhalla’s season in 2021 and 2022, adding to a wild storyline.
“These kids are special,” Coach Dan DeMatteo said. “They deserve this. From day one they bought into whatever I said and took a leap of faith on me, and they just did everything we asked and they have not blinked. I enjoy so much watching them have success. This is something that has exceeded a lot of dreams early on, but as we kept working and I saw how tough they were I knew the sky’s the limit for these kids.”
Valhalla advanced to face unranked Section 9 champion Chester/Seward (8-3) Saturday (noon) at James I. O’Neill High School.
“We’re going to enjoy this,” said Dan DeMatteo, who had the vintage perspectives of former two-time NYS champion coaches Tony DeMatteo (Roosevelt, Somers) and former Yorktown boss Ron Santavicca in his head set. “We’ll enjoy the bus ride home, we’ll enjoy a nice meal and my staff and I will be back at work tonight and we’ll see the kids tomorrow, ready to prepare them.”
Viking RBs, senior Tyler Ratti (3 TDs, 137 yards total offense) and super-natural sophomore Luke Foisset (115 yards, TD), were too much to handle. The stars were aplenty for Valhalla, though. Viking QB Brayden McGinty spotted Ratti for a short pass he took for a 16-yard TD to open the second quarter and knot the score, 7-all. Game film will also show senior OL Daniel Lynch and Foisset opened a crease, from which Ratti scooted for a 55-yard score with 1:44 left before the half for a 14-7 lead the Vikings would never relinquish.
In the third, Ratti went 60 yards on three carries on the opening drive of the second half, scoring from 30 yards out for a two-TD lead. Eagle RB Nastiek Smith hushed the Viking crowd (but for seconds), scoring from six yards out, but Foisset “called game”, taking a 60-yard jaunt up the gut of the Dobbs D for the final margin with 3:16 to go in the third.
“Foisett’s a winner, I saw that on day one,” Dan DeMatteo said. “He’s just a kid that works every day and wants to win, and he’s really, really tough. Ratti’s a gamer. He jumped out to me on game film from last year, and as soon as I saw it I said ‘This kid’s a gamer’ and when the stage is the biggest he’s at his best.”
More of the same against Chester/Seward this weekend would send the Vikings to the NYSPHSAA semifinals vs. the Section 10/Section 2 winner Saturday, Nov. 30 at Middletown High School where a trip to the JMA Dome in Syracuse on Saturday, Dec. 7 (noon) would be on the line.
CLASS B
When fourth-seeded PLEASANTVILLE RB David Hundzynski set the Panthers up first and goal from the 9 and RB Louis Sdao, off a Wildcat snap, plowed in from the 1-yard line with 5:35 to go in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead, things were looking good. Who knew the Panthers (5-5), ranked No.19 in NYS, wouldn’t score again until a late, almost-meaningless fourth-quarter score in a stunning 28-14 loss to No.24 Ardsley (6-4) Saturday afternoon at Mahopac High, thus delivering Ardsley’s first sectional title since a 2019 win over Putnam Valley.
Leading 7-0 midway through the third quarter, the wheels came off the Pleasantville wagon as turnovers on three consecutive possessions led to 21 unanswered points. From 5:34 of the third quarter to the 1:01 mark, momentum visibly swung when the Panthers fumbled twice and were picked off, leading to a 21-7 deficit they could not overcome. As the third quarter ended, a deflated P’ville club was well on its way to a second-straight Section 1 championship setback as a once-stout defense was forced to work against short fields and a massive shift in energy.
Ardsley, the No.6 seed, went from trailing 7-0 at the half with just 73 yards of total offense, to forcing three turnovers, and scoring three TDs on a combined 79 yards in a stunning shift as Ardsley junior RB Ahmady Dolcine started gaining the edge and turned both takeaways into 12 points, scoring from six and then 15 yards out… game over!
Still, the prideful Panthers turned an 0-2 start into a championship appearance, which is nothing to sneeze at in Class B, while Ardsley started out 1-3, and consider championship appearances will only get tougher to come by with heavyweight Somers dropping down to join the frey in 2025 as potential heavy favorites.
“Obviously, this was not the outcome we wanted or expected,” Panther Coach Tony Becerra said. “When you have two evenly matched teams on paper, the one with fewer mistakes usually comes out on top, and we certainly made more than a few mistakes between the turnovers and the penalties. Let’s just say we picked a bad day to have a bad day.
“From an overall season standpoint we couldn’t be prouder of this team,” he added. “Their resiliency in dealing with all the highs and lows was exceptional. Our seniors set a great example for the guys returning and we know after some time off our underclassmen will be anxious to get back to work for the 2025 season.”
CLASS D
HALDANE ran into a buzzsaw in state-ranked (No.14) Tuckahoe, which handed the Blue Devils (4-5) a 28-0 loss. The rival Tigers (5-3) dethroned the Blue Devils and advanced to the state regionals.
RAY GALLAGHER/ANDY JACOBS/DAVID TABER/CHRIS SMAJLAJ PHOTOS
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.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
