Grid Notebook: Mahopac Handles Carmel; Yorktown Seeks No.1 Seed; Surging Somers Peaking When it needs to; Do or Die Time for Panas
By Ray Gallagher
Examiner Sports Editor
It’s hard to imagine a Mahopac vs. Carmel football game as insignificant as the one we saw last Saturday; the one which Mahopac won by a 27-7 score but meant nothing — squat, nada, zero, zilch – in terms of the Section 1 Class AA playoffs. It’s hard to imagine a scenario whereby both the Indians and Rams could be fighting for their playoff lives in Week 6 of a seven-week regular season, yet the most important football rivalry in Putnam County means absolutely nothing more than Max Littleton holding bragging rights over Colton Anderson should they bump into each other at the Red Mills Pub 10 years from now.
Section 1 has to reexamine the way it goes about its football scheduling because there are far too many meaningless games being played in a sport that can ill-afford throwaway games. Yeah, it was still a great environment over at Carmel, but Section 1 did everything it could to minimize the counties single greatest rivalry by putting them both in separate leagues before the season began, ensuring the game means nothing by making all crossover games between Leagues A & B not count toward the playoffs.
Thank goodness the two schools locked horns as if it meant the world to them, because just as it is in every sport, Mahopac vs. Carmel was typical bravado before the Indians (4-2) simply wore down the Rams (3-3) in the fourth quarter. Momentum has a funny way of changing the outcome of a game and the Rams simply shot themselves in the foot too many times; twice either in or near the end zone. The Rams fumbled at the one just before the half (it was 7-7 instead of 14-7 Carmel), and QB Joey Rodriguez, who was brilliant throughout much of the day, threw an INT to Charles Heady in the end zone late in the third with the outcome still teetering in the balance.
After Indian junior RB Christian Donahoe snared a short Dan Foley pass and went 59 yards to the house on his own, Mahopac held on to a 14-7 lead through three quarters. Indian RB Max Littleton took over in the fourth, pulverizing Rams during a punishing drive he capped with a 10-yard TD with 8:58 left for a 20-7 lead. Heady capped the scoring from four yards out with 1:32 left.
“My O-line was awesome today,” Littleton said. “I think we wore them down in the fourth.”
Mahopac RB Joe Cavaciuti opened the scoring in the first quarter, hauling in a 10-yard pass from Foley. Rodriguez answered in the form of a superbly struck 32-yard pass to WR Quinn Willman to tie at 7-all.
Mahopac held firmly to the Bryan Higgins Memorial Trophy, which it has now won five of the last six years.
“Of course this won’t sit well with me, it never does when we lose to Mahopac, they’re our rival” Rams boss Todd Cayea said. “The better team won today.”
The Bryan Higgins Memorial trophy – which Mahopac won for the 5th time in 6 years – and the 2014 season won’t amount to a hill of beans if the Indians go out and lose to White Plains in Week 7, or if Clarkstown South pulls off an upset of John Jay EF, which would kill Mahopac’s playoff hopes. If Mahopac takes care of business and South loses, the Indians will likely visit state-ranked (No.4) New Rochelle in the opening round of the playoffs, qualifying for the first time since 2010.
“The games are just an extension of practice, so we’ll need to go out there and have the best week of preparation we can possibly have to make the playoffs,” Mahopac Coach Tom Donahoe said.
Meanwhile, Carmel, which hosts New Rochelle in Week 7, will likely fall out of playoff contention with the winner of the Greeley/Clarkstown North getting in.
CLASS A NOTES
Yorktown, Somers Lock up Playoffs
And so its sets up as such in a pivotal Week 7: a Yorktown win over host John Jay this Friday night would lock up the No.1 seed for the state-ranked (No.10), undefeated Huskers (6-0), who would then host a pair of playoff games while seeking their first sectional championship since 1998.
Essentially, the road to Mahopac – home of the Section 1 grid championships – would go through Yorktown, which makes the Week 7 showdown with state-ranked (No.18) John Jay one of Yorktown’s most important regular season games in the last decade.
“It’s definitely gonna be a war,” Yorktown junior RB Nick Santavicca said. “This whole week at practice we have to be focused, no goofing around. But I think we will be prepared and ready for Jay. That’s what we are going for, and we won’t be satisfied with anything but the chip.”
In fact, Week 7 is chock-full-of-goodness, with Class A playoff implications as far as the eye can see, including local places like Somers, and a do-or-die game between Panas and Sleepy Hollow, which will determine whether Lakeland or Panas gets in.
Let’s start with Yorktown, which saw QB Ryan Baker scoot for a pair 10- and 24-yard first-quarter TDs in its 45-7 rout of Tappan Zee. Baker also connected on a 44-yard pass play with Max Costello for a TD and a 21-7 lead. RB Nick Santavicca broke 1,000 yards for the season when he rushed for 184 yards and a score and inched closer to Pete Cariello’s school record of 1,382 yards, which was set in 1996.
Turning to Week 7: Coach Mike Rescigno’s Huskers have one important thing on John Jay; depth. The Indians have essentially 12-15 guys going both ways. Yorktown, on the other hand, gets contributions from the better part of its roster. The Indians can score with anyone in Section 1 and will likely put points on the board, but the Huskers can score with the best of them, too. If depth has a way of affecting this game, Yorktown should prevail and secure the top seed, which would put defending two-time sectional champion SOMERS at No.2.
Coach Tony DeMatteo’s Tuskers (5-1) had their way with Beacon last Friday, hammering out a 44-7 victory. Somers will face BREWSTER (2-4) in Week 7, which should be a matter-of-fact win despite the Bears having taken care of Panas in Week 6. State-ranked (No.13) Somers, who could see Nyack in the opening round, is still the team nobody wants to see in the playoffs. Tusker FB Tim Fazzinga led the way over Beacon with 118 rushing yards and a score. HB Joe Spor had two carries for 53 yards and a score. Tyler DeVito and Matt Morgante each caught a TD pass from QB Nick Lombardo. Somers is peaking at just the right time, folks, but improving Brewster could be a trap game if the Tuskers don’t come to play.
PANAS has been a helter-skelter team all season and could right all that is wrong with a Week 7 win over Sleepy Hollow; as unlikely as that is after the Panthers (3-3) were humbled by the Bears in a 42-14 loss. The Catalano brothers clinched the deal when QB Matt connected with WR Kyle on a 52-yard strike. The duo also opened the scoring in the first quarter, making for a lifetime of memories.
Panas cannot feel good about itself going into the Sleepy Hollow game, which it will host this Friday night. Still, they cannot dwell on the loss and need a short memory if they are going to save their season.
LAKELAND (3-3) had the ingredients in place for an upset of Sleepy Hollow but a late TD resulted in a 27-20 loss, leaving the Hornets at the mercy of Panas and Byram Hills in Week 7. The loss to the Bobcats a few weeks ago could really come back to haunt Lakeland, which has lost control of its own destiny as it seeks its first playoff appearance since 2009.
CLASS B NOTES
PUTNAM VALLEY (3-3) will likely fall short of its playoff goal, but a 52-8 win over Hastings stopped the bleeding that comes with consecutive losses to Pleasantville and Lakeland. The Tigers saw senior RB Elviz Belen rush for a career-best 188 yards and three TDs and just 12 carries in the rout. Sam Honors, Ryan Mello, Kyle Anderson and Ryan Malone each scored a rushing TD for the Tigers, who rushed for 435 yards. The Tigers will close out the regular season against winless Croton (0-6) but it won’t be enough to make the playoffs.
CLASS D NOTES
Blue Devs Prep for Prize
HALDANE chalked up its third win in a row, a 35-8 manhandling at Valhalla to improve to 4-2. Blue Devils QB Tyler Giachinta hit on 9 of 11 passes for 107 yards and two TDs. WR Ryan McCollum snared five of those passes for 57 yards and a TD. He also took a punt return to the house. Anthony Percacciolo nabbed a 47 TD.
The rushing attack was led by burly Matt Balducci, who had 11 carries for 111 yards and a pair of scores to go over 100 yards for the fourth time this season, giving him 701 yards for the season. When Baldy goes over 100, the Blue Devils tend to win. Matt Koval led the defense with 10 tackles and two sacks.
“We played a better second half and it was sparked by the Balduci TD run of 94 yards on first possession of second half to put us up 21-0,” Haldane Coach Ryan McConville said. “That was a big momentum play for us. From that point forward we did a much better job controlling the line of scrimmage and getting stops on defense.”
The Blue Devils will need a four-quarter effort this week against Dobbs Ferry. From this point forward, everything the Blue Devils do is preparation for Tuckahoe, which stands between the Haldane and its first sectional title since 2011.
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