Class AA Grid Notebook: Mahopac Left it on Turf, Fall to New Ro’, 6-0; Carmel Fading
There were plenty of tears along the Mahopac sideline and just as many in the host locker room after the Indians were defeated 6-0 at the hands of former five-time defending Class AA champions New Rochelle (5-0) last Friday night.
Mahopac (2-3) wanted this one badly and its defense rose to the occasion on a night when the Indians special teams unit had one significant miscue; a costly 90-yard touchdown return from Jason Ceneus to start the second half. Ceneus found a crease, slipped five would-be tacklers and went to the house for the game’s only score as the state-ranked (No.6) Huguenots improved to 5-0.
“That was the best game I have ever played in” Mahopac DB Brandon Fitzpatrick said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates. We left everything we had on that turf.”
In last week’s Class AA Grid Notebook, we practically pegged the outcome when we said: Mahopac has the athletes to hang with New Ro’, but beating a team of this ilk is a tall order, particularly when you factor in SPEED. We get the feeling Mahopac won’t be intimidated, and will be a persistent thorn in New Ro’s side, but it’s going to take a Herculian effort to take the dragon down.
That theme rang true as New Ro’ pitched its third shutout in five games. But Mahopac played New Ro’ as tough as anyone in Section 1 has this season, including North Rockland, a 12-6 loser.
Mahopac will travel to Clarkstown South Friday night (7:00 p.m.) to take on the 3-2 Vikings, who’s two losses were at the hands of New Rochelle and state-ranked (No.16) North Rockland by a combined 38 points. Mahopac, which was also defeated by Section 1’s only state-ranked teams, did so by a combined 20 points. Both teams will enter the game like it is a playoff game, which it essentially is. Clarkstown South is currently ranked third in the Section 1 Class AA Piner rankings, while a loss would end Mahopac’s slim post-season hopes.
While most objective sideliners were impressed by the heart of both Mahopac and New Ro’ last Friday night, the common theme among them was that Section 1 could be in for a quick exit in the Class AA state playoffs if New Ro’ were to represent against Section 9’s Monroe-Woodbury (6-0, No.9 in NYS) in the opening round.
New Rochelle walked off the field frustrated; flustered that it didn’t win by more. The Indians played solid defense all game, only allowing the Huguenots, who totaled up 71 points against all of their previous opponents, to escape with a narrow win.
Although the Indians lost, and in the process fell to 2-3 on the year, Head Coach Tom Donahoe was proud to see his defense hold an offensively powerful team to just six points. He attributed the gritty, defensive game plan to his assistant coach Mark Langella.
“It was a great job our defense did, and we played a very talented team essentially to a tie, minus one play,” he said. “The plan and the motivation by Coach Langella was the reason for that. He had an outstanding plan to stop their offense and he was able to motivate the team on the defensive side.”
Mahopac had a hard time generating offense, missing a chance to score with the ball on New Rochelle’s 17-yard line in the first quarter. Frankie Dellacamera missed a field goal attempt, but it made little difference, as Mahopac held New Rochelle scoreless through the first half.
“It was just a little miscommunication on our part about what we wanted to do,” Donahoe said of New Rochelle’s scoring play. “The kids made a great effort, they just have some very talented players on their side.”
With 1:24 left, Mahopac nearly staged a comeback. Starting from its own 24-yard line, Fitzpatrick made a catch on a deflection. QB/RB Chris Rhue followed with a big time, 24-yard reception, as the Indians moved the ball down to the New Rochelle 28. But Ceneus struck again, picking off Rhue in the end zone with just 36 ticks on the clock to put the final stamp on it.
“We had a lot of ground to cover; we had a long field to go with and we used our timeouts when they had the ball on their last drive,” Donahoe said of the Indians’ last effort to upset the Huguenots. “We tried to spread our athletes out, see if we could throw the ball up and get lucky. We got lucky once on a deflected pass that we caught, Chris Rhue made a real nice catch, and we came close after that.
“It’s Clarkstown South next, and I think the key is that these guys love to play football,” he added. “They’re disappointed with this loss, of course, but they’ll be anxious to come back Monday in practice.”
The Indians are finally getting some love from other local scribes, including MSG’s Kevin Devaney, who ranks Mahopac at No.4 in Class AA. Mahopac is finally being recognized for its penchant for playing tough against one of the section’s more brutal schedules.
CARMEL (3-2) left the Mamaroneck turf in very bad shape after a costly 27-7 loss to the Tigers, who jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead and kept the Rams off the scoreboard until their fourth quarter touchdown. Carmel, which has been outscored 68-7 over the last eight quarters, will host Scarsdale (2-3) Friday night (7:00 p.m.) in a win or go home game. Coach Todd Cayea’s Rams are still in fourth place in the Piner Playoff Rankings, tied with Clarkstown South. A win over Scarsdale (1-3) won’t give them much in terms of bonus points but it is imperative they win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
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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