Eagles’ Ground Game is Too Much for Valhalla in Class C Final
By Andy Jacobs
The dynamic duo of Brian Dann and Robert Sanzo proved to be too much of an obstacle for the Valhalla football team in Saturday afternoon’s Section 1, Class C championship game.
On a rainy, windswept day at Arlington High School, the inside-outside combo for undefeated Dobbs Ferry accumulated 400 yards on the ground as the Eagles overwhelmed the Vikings 41-14 in a contest that was suspended for two hours by lightning midway through the second quarter. Dann finished up with 215 yards and four touchdowns, punishing the Vikings time and again with his bruising carries.
“He definitely wore us down,” conceded Vikings head coach Art Troilo Jr. shortly after his team’s championship quest had come to a disappointing end. “He’s an outstanding football player. He’s a big, strong, physical kid, but Sanzo was a difference-maker. He wasn’t even there last year. We couldn’t stop them. The better team won. I give all the credit in the world to them.”
The Vikings, who finished the season with a 6-4 record, were still within two touchdowns late in the third quarter and driving deep into Eagle territory when a lost fumble shattered their comeback hopes. Dobbs Ferry then sealed the Vikings’ fate when Dann rumbled 47 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“You know, we were down 28-14 and we fumbled the ball on a first down inside the 15. So that was a killer,” said Troilo. “I thought the game was closer than the score. Obviously, the better team won, but we drove the ball down inside the 15 and didn’t score and then we drove the ball around the 10 and we fumbled on a first down. You have to score to keep up with them.”
The game had begun with Valhalla managing to stop the Eagles’ long opening drive at the Viking 22-yard line. But on first down, quarterback Michael Dawson dropped back to pass with a howling wind at his back and overthrew Je’Caryous Poteat near the right sideline. Dobbs Ferry’s Johnatan Almaras intercepted the ball and returned it for a touchdown. With 6:12 to go in the first quarter, Valhalla found itself behind 7-0.
But the Vikings answered with a 10-play, 64-yard drive, getting into the end zone when Dawson connected over the middle to a wide-open Poteat on fourth-and-six for a 23-yard touchdown. The point-after from Andres Osorio tied the game at 7-7 with just eight seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Dobbs Ferry was 10 plays into a drive that had begun at its own 15-yard line when play was interrupted by the brutal weather that had been forecast to arrive early in the afternoon. When teams finally emerged back on the field after the lengthy delay, it was the Eagles who quickly gained the upper hand. Three consecutive running plays, all by Dann, concluded the drive and the five-yard TD run with 5:31 to go in the half gave Dobbs a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Valhalla quickly went three-and-out and the Eagles soon found the end zone again. Dann rumbled for 38 yards on first down all the way to the Vikings’ 1-yard line. He then burrowed his way over the goal line and the PAT from Almaras increased the Dobbs Ferry advantage to 21-7 with 2:16 left before halftime.
The Vikings responded with a six-play, 66-yard drive in less than two minutes, scoring their second touchdown of the game when Dawson lofted a pass into the end zone beyond a trio of Eagle backs and into the hands of Devan Cooper. The point-after kick by Osorio narrowed the Valhalla deficit to 21-14 at halftime.
But that was as close as the Vikings would come. Dobbs Ferry marched 70 yards in eight plays on its first drive of the second half. Dann capped it by rumbling 34 yards for his third touchdown of the day, carrying three Valhalla defenders into the end zone with him. Soon came the Vikings’ fumble near the Eagles’ 10-yard line with 2:46 left in the third quarter, all but dashing their hopes of playing in this Saturday’s state regional against Section 9 champion James I. O’Neill.
For Valhalla fans, it was the last time they’ll see Dawson, who helped lead the team to the 2019 sectional title over Dobbs Ferry, barking out signals in a Viking uniform.
“He’s a great leader and a great player, and he’s gonna be missed,” said Troilo about his star who earned the game’s Most Outstanding Back award. “It’s a strange situation because all our receivers are juniors and the quarterback’s a senior. We’ll go home and go to sleep for a while and figure it out as we move forward.”
Andy is a sports editor at Examiner Media, covering seven high schools in the mid-Westchester region with a notebook and camera. He began there in the fall of 2007 following 15 years as a candid photographer for the largest school picture company in the tri-state area.
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