Grid Notebook
Mahopac Retires Koz’s #62, Honors Vets, 1st Responders
Carmel Rocks Arlington, Somers Puts it to Fox Lane, Yorktown Suffers 1st Loss
Despite a sub-par 2-3 record, we can’t ignore when a program pulls out all the stops like MAHOPAC did last Friday night, officially retiring the No.62 of former Indian OL/DL Mike Kozloski (2001 graduate), a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, who was fatally injured last January in a crane accident while on duty in the town of Homer, Alaska, where he was stationed. Additionally, Mahopac went next level on many echelons — including a pro-patriot theme, a chopper fly-by, bagpipes, smoke shows and fireworks — for a Hero’s Ceremony to honor military personnel, veterans and first responders last Friday, displaying that the Mahopac community is full of special people.
“This was an amazing ceremony, an amazing event for our community,” Mahopac Coach Dominick DeMatteo said.
Mahopac A.D. Frank Miele said, “The Kozloski and Hero’s ceremony shows everyone why the Mahopac community is such a special place with so many incredible and caring people,” he said. “All I can say is thank you to everyone involved in making this such a special day.”
But visiting Suffern spoiled the party, doling out a convincing 34-14 Class AA setback,that may have doomed the 13th-seeded Indians’ (2-3) playoff hopes (only 8 teams qualify). Mahopac QB Anthony DeMatteo, just a soph, hit on 5 of 7 passes for 82 yards, including a scoring strike to RB Vin Bastone, but the Mounties held the tribe to just 192 yards of offense from scrimmage (69 yards rushing, 122 passing).
Meanwhile, crosstown rival CARMEL (4-1) went on the road to Arlington and stomped the Admirals out in a 35-13 Class AA thrashing. Carmel RB James Cox torched the Admirals time and time again, going for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries while WR Alex Beauchesne, functioning primarily from the Wildcat formation, added 10 carries for 100 yards and a tuddy. The Rams creased the Admiral defense for 306 yards on the ground. TE/DE Will Boalt scored a defensive touchdown and set up another score with a dazzling deep ball off a trick play called by Rams Coach Todd Cayea, who notched the 148th win of his 25-year career. He will shoot for No.149 vs. Scarsdale (4-1) in the hopes of getting his 150th in Week 7 at Mahopac.
“This was definitely one of my best performances so far but it couldn’t have been done without my surrounding teammates and coaching staff,” said Boalt, who added numerous pressures off the edge. “There is always more to work on. We had some mistakes that we must clean up if we want to improve moving on for sure, but we’ve been playing together since the fifth grade and we trust in each other and work hard every day to get 1% better each play.”
CLASS A
SOMERS (4-1) QB Jackson Kossow had a career day, firing two touchdown passes to lanky receiver Kenny McGrane in the Tuskers’ 28-7 win over previously unbeaten host Fox Lane Friday. Kossow added a rushing score as the Tuskers handed the Foxes (4-1) their first loss. Tusker RB Charles Balancia, returned from a two-game absence due to a knee injury, rushed for 108 yards on 10 carries, and looked good in doing so. Somers (4-1), which currently hold the No.2 seed, will host third-seeded Nyack (5-0) Friday with the No.2 seed on the line.
“We are super excited but we’re going to prepare for this game like any other,” Kossow said. “It’s our homecoming, it’s going to be a playoff atmosphere, especially after they upset Yorktown. Our coaches will prepare us well.”
Somers RB Jack Kaiser added a second-quarter TD for the Tuskers.
Nyack, which was once a Class A powerhouse but hasn’t been stellar since 2010, comes in fresh off a 35-14 triumph of state-ranked (No.9) and previously unbeaten YORKTOWN (4-1), which failed to bring it’s a-game, according to Coach Mike Rescigno.
Somers will have to key on Keshawn Evans, who posted 112 yards and two touchdowns on just three totes. The Huskers turned the ball over six times.
BREWSTER junior Christian Rhodes had an electrifying 95-yard touchdown run, senior RB Tommy Consolato added a touchdown run and sophomore QB Chris Donohue fired TD strikes to Jack Gusler and Dom Batolomeo in the Bears (4-1) 28-0 rout of Beacon.
“Yeah, we’re happy over here in Bear Country,” Brewster Coach Ed Mulvihill said. “The guys are playing well and we’re starting to zero in on some concepts we like. Christian Rhodes had a big game for us. The big 95-yard TD run and another big catch. He’s going to be a player teams need to watch.”
Don’t sleep on LAKELAND as a potential quarterfinalists; not after the Hornets played a strong game in a 35-21 loss to reigning Class A champion John Jay-Cross River last Friday. State-ranked (No.12) John Jay remained unbeaten, but the Hornets let them know they were in a game when junior QB Tyler Santucci hit on 25 of 41 passes for a career-high 401 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. Senior WR Landon Ruggieri had career highs as well in catches (10), yards (197) and scores (3). Against one of the premier offenses in the section, Lakeland’s John Guifridda led the defense with 11 tackles and two fumble recoveries, but in the end the Hornets could not contain Jay QB Luke Mercer and company.
Lourdes eased their way to a 33-7 win over PANAS (1-3), which is on the outside looking in at the playoffs with the No.18 seed currently.
“We play tough,” first-year Panas Coach Paul Ronga said. “It’s not reflected in the win/loss column, but we are competing in an extremely competitive Class A division where we are the fourth smallest school. We will continue to give our all.”
CLASS B
PUTNAM VALLEY has had as many key injuries as any team in the section, losing five starters to season-long injuries, but Coach Ryan Elsasser’s Tigers put their best foot forward on Homecoming Day/Senior Night in a 7-6 win over visiting Woodlands last Saturday.
“It’s been rough, losing this many players to injury,” Elsasser admitted, “but the kids haven’t quit on us… not one bit.”
Versatile Kieran McNamara scored PV’s lone TD in its first home win since back-to-back wins over Briarcliff and Blind Brook in 2016. Kyle Wassil was credited with having played “an amazing game on both sides of the ball,” according to Elsasser. “Cole Durocher kept us in great field position most of the game with his punts. We got the win but have a lot of work to do this week to get ready for Nanuet. We made a lot of mental mistakes.”
CLASS D
HALDANE saw the Santos brothers go off. QB Daniel Santos scored four TDs, three rushing, another on defense, and had a hand in five scores, in the Blue Devils’ 48-30 win over Croton. He rushed for 107 yards in all while his brother Darrin Santos, rushed for a career-high 201 yards and a score.
NWE/Putnam Top 5 Grid Poll
No.1 YORKTOWN – State-ranked (No.7) Class A Huskers (4-1) will surely take a hit in the state polls but still have Somers head-to-head in this one. However, the six turnovers against Nyack in a 35-14 loss quite is alarming. A loss to Fox Lane (4-1) in Week 6 would be even more so, but we reckon the Huskers will rebound and secure a potential top 4/5 seed. P.S. get Nyack, once a Section 1 powerhouse from 1990-2008, on your radar for first time since 2010 because it is currently challenging top-seeded, state-ranked (No.8) John Jay for the No.1 playoff seed.
No.1A CARMEL – Class AA Rams (4-1) are right there with the top challengers to state-ranked (No.3) New Ro’, but the 4-time defending champion Huguenots are the upper crust and appear to be invincible for what would be the 14th time in 20 years in Section 1 should they win it again.
No.1B SOMERS – Class A state-ranked (No.18) Tuskers (4-1) could/should secure a top 1-2 seed in playoffs with a win over visiting Nyack, but the Indians are speed demons so the Tuskers best tackle in gangs in the game of the week.
No.4 BREWSTER – Class A Bears’ (4-1) would have signed in blood for a 4-1 start and a current No.5 playoff seed, but they best be ready for host Hen Hud, which, as the current No.12 seed, is playing its first real test on its spanking new turf in Week 6. Can’t imagine they won’t be ready.
No.5 LAKELAND – Class A Hornets (3-2) appear to be turning a corner and it’s no coincidence that the vast majority of the current coaching staff are former Coach Rob Cappelli disciples. There’s no one on God’s green earth that gave more to this Hornet program than Coach Cap’, and my bad for not being clearer on that last week.
HM MAHOPAC – Class AA Indians (2-3) will likely fall short of playoffs for a 2nd year in a row, but 2019 was never about now, not with the talent they among the current sophs and what Mahopac has at the levels below, including an unbeaten JV team and a fiery freshman RB/QB named Joey Koch, should he not be courted out of town by the private schools. Kid had 9 TDs and nearly 700 yards through four games #Legit.
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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