Fox Lane Slays Yorktown; Mahopac Blanks Lakeland
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Brewster, Westlake, Byram, Somers Grind on
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays
The Class A grid scene had one of the bigger upsets of the season last week.
FOX LANE Coach Andrew Giuliano has been building something over the course of his four seasons as the lead man on the Foxes’ sideline. Improvement has been measured in baby steps for a good portion of that time, but the Foxes took a giant leap in Saturday’s 28-25 come-from-behind win over state-ranked (No.9) YORKTOWN.
Fox QB John Czernyk (18-for-33, 278 yards, 3 TDs) found his main man Will Rudolph (10 catches,158 yards 2 TDs) time and time again, and then again in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score. Rudolph added nine tackles (1 TFL) on defense in an all-time great day.
“In a 4th down situation late in the fourth, Czernyk hit his favorite target of the day, Will Rudolph, over the middle with Rudolph leaping for the grab to get the first down,” said Giuliano, who previously served as an assistant coach since 2011. “A few plays later Czernyk found Rudolph again for the final score to put us up. John played tremendous down the stretch and didn’t let a late pick affect him. With three timeouts left, our defense held Yorktown to a 3-and-out to get the one more opportunity we needed.”
That opportunity provided Fox Lane with its first win over Yorktown since 2003, according to Giuliano, who had to sweat out a Yorktown kick return to the Fox Lane 27 with :02 left.
“Just an absolutely amazing job by our staff and players to not waver in that scenario,” the coach said. “A lot of these kids were here last year in a similar situation with Mahopac and have learned that it isn’t over until the end. We have a resilient group of kids and an incredibly focused staff to put them in situations to be successful. Class A in general and our league are so insanely good that we know each week we have to have great preparation to get the job done. It was spoken a lot before the game how well we practiced this week and we are all happy that the results showed. We still have plenty of season left that we need to take care of, but this was nice for our program. It is a testament to the hard work and focus of the players and staff. We have been saying it all year, ‘It’s all about us’. If we continue to keep the focus on us and do what we do and practice how we practice then hopefully we will see ourselves in a position to make the playoffs and have some more opportunities to play ball.”
Mac Keller (3 catches, 58 yards, INT on D), Logan Mammola (3 catches, 48 yards, including a huge grab down the far sideline late in the game) and Declan Connors (2 catches, 23 yards,1 rushing TD) all made big plays for the Foxes.
BREWSTER improved to 4-1 after taking out Nyack, 14-7, on Senior Night at the den. The Bears also found out that Ballston Spa used an ineligible player in Week Zero and were credited with a forfeit win.
Nyack opened the scoring when they scooped up a fumble and raced 55 yards for the TD late in the second quarter. It stayed that way until big Jack McKenney blocked a punt, picked it up and lumbered to the Nyack 10. Three plays later, Bears RB Tre Ficcarra plowed in from a yard out and Jacob Ercole kicked the extra point to tie the game.
“That was a big momentum changer for us,” Brewster Coach Ed Mulvihill admitted. “We became revitalized and rode that emotion the rest of the game.”
Bear RB Chase Prohaszka ran hard, gaining 47 yards on some tough sledding on the game- winning drive, running behind OLs Luke Johnson, Jack Mckenney, Matt Tempesta, Cameron Lamoreaux, Adrian Martinez and Dylan Welker, with Brewster moving the ball down to the Nyack 11 where QB KJ Dillon fired a high, arching pass to 6′ 5″ Harrison Schmidt in the back of the endzone for the go ahead score just under 3:00 to go.
“Nyack is not your typical 0-3 team,” Mulvihill stated. “They are well coached, have played the top teams in their division and play hard every snap. We had to work hard in this game to come back for the win.”
Nyack drove inside the Brewster 35-yard line before Abe Sanchez pounced on a botched snap to seal the Brewster victory. Defensively, it’s the third shutout by the Bears defense, which continues to play at a high level. Jack McKenney, Marco Parrello, NIck Smith, Ryan Brace and Luke Cunningham continued to shine on defense for the Bears.
MAHOPAC kicked back and watched senior RB Jack Clifford take on a full-time role with injured junior RB Nate Mascoll sidelined, and the Wolf Pac saw ‘Big Cliff’ go for a career-high 221 yards on a career-high 35 carries, two of which went for scores in a 34-0 win over host LAKELAND Saturday. Wolf Pac WR/RB Lorenzo Enchandy (1 catch, 18 yards) added a 16-yard rush for a score. K Kyle Pinto (4-4 on PATs) hit 2 of 3 field goal attempts from 41 and 44 yards. QB Ethan Dedvukaj (4 carries, 30 yards) added a one-yard tush push to provide a 10-0 lead. Justin Sanchez notched five tackles and two assists and Michael Trinchitella was in on five tackles to lead the defense. Landon Varley and Ryan Sacco (3 solos, 1 assists) each recovered a fumble while Nick Tardio and Ronan Hunter both picked off a pass.
State-ranked (co-No.1) SOMERS remained undefeated after a 46-7 thrashing of host John Jay CR Saturday when Tusker QB Miguel Iglesias hit on 5 of 8 passes for 83 yards and three touchdown passess, also rushing for a TD. Tusker RB Mason Kelly added 153 yards and one touchdown on just eight carries. Tusker Jackson Whipple gained 83 yards on 14 carries and Cameron Violante snagged two TD passes and Tristan Iglesias added another TD grab. Gavin Kelly connected on two field goals for the undefeated Tuskers (5-0), who host a 4-1 Harrison club this week.
CLASS B
WESTLAKE rolled to 4-0 after a 40-0 whitewashing of Edgemont. Wildcat RB Harry Hudd needed just one carry to go 69 yards for a score, only to be matched, and then some, by Nicholas DiNapoli’s 72 yard TD. Wildcat Brayden Lingeza (3 carries, 28 yards, TD), Jake Zaino (12 yard TD), Joe Scarano (4 carries, 57 yards, 2 TDs) fueled a fired-up offense while Luca Piazza and Cole Barnett had five tackles apiece on defense.
BYRAM HILLS (3-2) put a hurt on HEN HUD in a 51-28 win over the host Sailors (2-3), spoiling First Responders Night in Montrose.
Bobcat QB Bryce Baskind threw for two TDs and rushed for another. Speedy Tyler Marescot took a kickoff 90 yards to the house and snared another from Baskind. RBs Michael Bordoni and Luke Weiss combined for three more rushing TDs while TE/DE Evan Petta caught a TD pass, blocked a punt, and added a sack and a safety.
Hen Hud QB Joey Abboud hit on 5 of 6 passes for 66 yards and a TD pass to Justin Parkes (2 catches, for 43 yards, TD, 15 carries for 65 yards 1 TD, 85-yard kick return TD and a 97-yard INT returned for a TD), who had a monstrous day in defeat.
If you thought PLEASANTVILLE would go down without a peep after an 0-2 start in the post-Picart era, guess again. Coach Tony Becerra has the 2023 Class B runner-up Panthers on the straight and narrow after Saturday’s 42-26 triumph of visiting Pelham on Senior Night.
Panther David Hudzynski threw for one TD pass and rushed for 65 yards and two more scores.
Panther RB Louis Sdao was the horse P’Ville rode as the senior took 20 rushes for 163 yards and two scores. Nick Reich and Brian McPhee each caught a TD pass.
CLASS AA
CARMEL has now dropped two-straight games after the three-time reigning Section 1 champions were knocked off by unbeaten host North Rockland, 37-27. Leading 19-14, the Rams (2-2) were gushed by Raider RB Jaquan Johnson, who rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. The Rams will have a tough road ahead in Arlington and Scarsdale the next two weeks.
OSSINING RB Amare Ibarre rushed for 101 yards and two TD trots in the Pride’s 34-26 win over Yonkers Brave. Pride RB Jyquis Ramirez added 60 yards and two more touchdowns on 13 carries while QB Thomas McCormack threw for 84 yards and ran for 46 yards and a score as Ossining improved to 3-1, still in the hunt for one of two eligible playoff spots in the AAA-B league.
ANDY JACOBS/DONNA MUELLER/DAVID TABER/GIL McMAHON 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.
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