Direct Rays: It Could Not Have Been Scripted Better- Panas 23, Lakeland 22 (2012), One for the Ages; Mahopac-Carmel Feisty as Ever
There’s nothing that you, me or anybody else could say or write to describe the euphoria associated with host Walter Panas’ 23-22 win over rival Lakeland last Friday night. Unless you were somehow linked to the last eight years of futility, you have no idea what it felt like to be a part of Panther Nation, what it felt like to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004, what it felt like to defeat Lakeland for the first time since 2001, or what it felt like to finally shed the sasquatch from the back of Walter Panas.
Chris Beato, a converted soccer player at Panas, made the biggest kick in Panas history with 23 seconds remaining in regulation, connecting on a game-tying 49-yard field goal, which the senior snuck inside the left upright, and RB John Brophy sealed the deal in OT with a 20-yard TD jaunt.
“I didn’t think it had the distance at first,” said Beato, who had previously connected on kicks of 27- and 26-yards and was perfect on PATs. “God just pushed it through for me.”
Beato’s kick forced overtime after Steven Kelley blocked Lakeland’s game-tying 41-yard attempt with .01 seconds left, and the Panthers won in overtime when Brophy, a gutty junior, atoned for two fumbles on the first play in OT. Brophy’s 203 yards (on 32 carries) and two TD’s were instrumental in procuring Panas’ first playoff berth since 2004, and you just had to feel good about Panas Coach Dan Patronik calling his number in OT, giving him a chance to redeem himself.
“I’m extremely proud of my guys,” Patronik said. “We made some bad mistakes to hurt ourselves, but they never gave up. John’s been working hard all year for me. He’s always said, ‘feed me the ball, feed me the ball’, so I’ve never lost faith in that kid. Those fumbles were just a result of him working hard for extra yards, so we were always going to go back to him.
“That’s a great team over there,” Patronik said of Lakeland. “They went for two and the win and why not? It was very exciting. We had two soccer players show up for us, too, and Chris Beato hits a 49-yarder. What can you say about that, it’s a school record? I knew we would need him to come up big sometime before the end of the year.”
Brophy had come up big before but he couldn’t live with those two fumbles. He did not want those two miscues to be what he would be remembered for after all the good things he had done this season.
“There’s no way I could live with that,” said Brophy. “My team was there to support me every time I fumbled, and they told me to keep moving forward and that’s what I did and I scored the winning touchdown.”
Lakeland junior HB Jimmy Flaherty, who went for 175 yards and three TDs on 22 carries (and for the record has over 1,100 yards and 12 TDs on the season), answered in overtime, racing in from nine yards out to bring the Hornets within a point. Flaherty was something else, but his fumble late in the fourth was scooped up by Steven Kelley and the Panthers turned it into game-tying points. Lakeland boss Rob Cappelli, with stones of steel, went for a game-winning two-point conversion, which the Panthers thwarted.
Rapture ensued, a kind of football rhapsody that had been bottled up since 2004 at Panas. Panther assistant Coach Chris Totten had been an OL/DL at Panas the last time the Panthers were aboard the playoff ship. Totten admitted this playoff berth was much sweeter, on account of all the suffering Panther Nation had gone through since. In addition to seven consecutive beatings at the hands of Lakeland by a combined score of 209-71, the once-woeful Panthers had gone 13-46 the last seven years. Losing football games had become a way of life at Panas, something these seniors failed to accept willingly.
“This is an incredible feeling, a tremendous victory and a long time coming to be going to the playoffs,” Brophy admitted. “I feel like we finally proved everybody wrong about Panas, and we’re not backing down at all going forward.”
As a result, the Panthers, who never quit despite trailing 6-0, 13-6, and 16-13, secured the No.4 seed from League A-1 in the Class A playoffs and will travel to face top-seeded A-2 Brewster in a game they have to feel good about. In all honesty, the Panthers have to feel pretty good about everything that’s happened this season…
MAHOPAC vs. CARMEL had some feisty exchanges at times last Saturday, but that’ll happen when the Hatfields and McCoys have at it. Let’s just say the relationship between the two should remain frosty after Mahopac (4-3) took control early and went the distance in a 34-13 rout, taking back the coveted Bryan Higgins Memorial trophy from the host Rams (3-4). Carmel Coach Todd Cayea was none too happy that the Indians were “bringing the house” with a 34-point lead and an angry Cayea let the Indian sideline know it when a Ram player went down on a blitz protection; actually he let about 3,000 of us know it.
From 1974 to 1986, Mahopac went 10-3 in the rivalry. The next 10 years saw the two split at 5-5 before Carmel went on a tear, winning 10 of the next 12. Despite that run, the series, which allegedly dates back to 1932, has been relatively close since 1974, with Carmel holding a slight 21-18 edge. Mahopac is without question the best 4-3 team in Class AA and really belongs in the playoffs over Mamaroneck (6-1), which hasn’t beaten or played anybody any good and lost to an RCK team Mahopac creamed.
“Section 1 screwed us,” said Mahopac captain Mike Simone, always one to lighten the mood with some of the best quotes a scribe can find, including his 100% guarantee of a Mahopac win over Carmel. The 6’4” DE even put a pick-six into his repertoire when he plucked a pass out of thin air and went 65 yards to paydirt. “I don’t think there was any way they were going to stop us today. This was our season since we got screwed out of the playoffs. I think we made a statement today and showed Section 1 that they got the wrong teams is in the playoffs. We’re going to show everyone that WE should have been there by finishing strong and playing this out to get a bowl berth and a bowl win.”
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.
