Fourth-Quarter Eruption Lifts the Panthers to the Class B Title
By Andy Jacobs
With the football in Daniel Picart’s hands, opposing teams are quickly discovering the Pleasantville Panthers have no trouble saving their best for last.
For the second week in a row, the sophomore sensation took command of a tight playoff game in the fourth quarter on Saturday evening, jolting a struggling offense to life and running for a pair of touchdowns. This time, his late-game heroics helped lift the Panthers to a 23-7 victory over Nanuet on the biggest of local stages, the Section 1, Class B championship game under the lights at Arlington High School.
“Daniel Picart does not play like a sophomore,” said Panthers head coach Tony Becerra after witnessing the game MVP’s latest rousing performance. “He plays with the confidence and ability you would only expect out of a senior. He thrives in big spots and doesn’t shy away from the challenge.”
Picart’s two nine-yard touchdown runs, one early in the fourth quarter and the other midway through it, enabled the Panthers to storm from behind to defeat the Golden Knights and remain unbeaten this season at 10-0. Pleasantville now moves on to the state tournament and will face Section 9 champion Port Jervis on Saturday afternoon at Middletown’s Faller Field in the first round of regionals.
“This season was somewhat unexpected because of so many unknowns after a shortened spring season and going 3-6 the prior season,” said Becerra, who has now guided the Panthers to four sectional titles. “But even though the team surpassed expectations, we all didn’t want this ride to end.”
For a while, though, it seemed the Panthers’ ride just might be coming to an end at the hands of Nanuet. A 30-yard field-goal attempt by John McCarthy caromed off the left upright in the final minute of the first quarter, keeping the game scoreless. Late in the second quarter, a Panther fumble at their own 9-yard line set the Golden Knights up for a one-yard touchdown run by James Moran three plays later.
As the teams left the field for the halftime break, the Panthers found themselves facing a 7-0 deficit against a foe that arrived with an 8-1 record this season. According to Becerra, the message to his players at intermission was simple.
“Don’t panic,” he told them. “Put your trust in what we’ve been doing all year. And that’s what we did.”
Just three plays into the second half, the Panthers got the kind of break they had been waiting for all evening. Senior defensive back Dom Matica recovered a Nanuet fumble at the Golden Knights’ 23-yard line. But even though Picart, running the Wildcat offense, scampered for 10 yards on first down, Pleasantville soon had to settle for another field-goal try, a 28-yarder for McCarthy that split the uprights and finally got the Panthers on the scoreboard nearly five minutes into the third quarter.
Nanuet responded by moving the football on its next possession all the way to the Panthers’ 33-yard line. But on fourth-and-two, Moran was stopped for no gain. The Panthers took over with three minutes left in the third quarter, determined to find the end zone for the first time against the Golden Knights.
They ran six plays before the quarter ended, five of them carries by senior running back Kieran Cotter, who along with Picart finished the contest with 103 yards on the ground. The fourth quarter began with P’ville faced with a fourth-and-one at the Nanuet 48, but with Picart now running the Wildcat for good.
Keeping the ball himself, Picart ran toward the right sideline, losing it for an instant before grabbing it again and finally being tackled after a 14-yard gain. On the next play, he went left for 18 more yards, down to the 16-yard line. Then came a seven-yard run by Picart before he capped the 67-yard drive with a hesitation move that got him past a pair of would-be tacklers at the line of scrimmage and then into the end zone. McCarthy added the extra point and the Panthers had their first lead of the night, 10-7, with 10:36 remaining in the game.
The Pleasantville defense was not about to give up a lead it took over three quarters to earn. Nanuet went backwards on its next possession, quickly going three-and-out. Picart took the line-drive punt just inside midfield and returned it to the Nanuet 32-yard line. Four plays later, he followed his blockers to the left, got to the outside and easily crossed the goal line from nine yards out. With just 5:58 to go, the Panthers’ lead was suddenly up to 17-7.
“In my opinion, our defense pitched a shutout because of the turnover by the offense deep in their territory,” said Becerra. “Coach George LaMar did an outstanding job with the defense all year, and especially this week where they bent a little bit, but never broke. They pitched a shutout in a championship game, which is unbelievable.”
The Golden Knights’ last hopes were dashed when their next drive stalled at the Pleasantville 48-yard line with just over four minutes left on the clock. On first down, Picart raced for 12 more yards before turning the Wildcat offense over to Cotter, who scooted right on the next play for another 12 yards. With 1:14 to go, Cotter scored from a yard out, completing the Panthers’ fourth-quarter eruption.
“I’m so happy that we were able to get Kieran in there and get a score,” said Becerra, “because from early in our season, Kieran was our workhorse in the backfield. I’m glad to see him finish this game like that.”
So now, with the Class B championship plaque and the gold football trophy set to be displayed soon in the gym lobby, the attention of the team turns to the Raiders from Orange County, who trounced Red Hook in the Section 9 final this past weekend. It’s been a special run for Pleasantville so far, and Becerra knows his players want it to last a bit longer.
“In this postseason,” he said, “we’ve seen the will and determination of this team to not let it end.”
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.
Read more of Andy’s full bio here.
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