Panthers Dethrone Westlake to Win the Class B Championship

By Andy Jacobs

Near midfield, Westlake senior running back Joe Ferri knelt in disbelief and anguish late Saturday afternoon at the realization that his high school football career and the Wildcats’ pursuit of a second straight championship had just come to a disappointing end. 

Not far away, the entire Pleasantville football team was already on Cloud Nine, jumping for joy in celebration of a 28-21 victory over the Wildcats in the Section 1, Class B title game before a packed house at Mahopac High School. Sophomore quarterback Jack Howe threw three touchdown passes as the top-seeded Panthers remained unbeaten this season and advanced to a Friday night matchup against the Section 9 champion New PaltzHuguenots in the state playoffs. 

“I’m numb because all my energy and emotion was focused on wanting it so bad for the kids,” said Panthers head coach Tony Becerra amid all the hysteria of his team’s second sectional title in the past four years. “I just wanted it all day. I was turning upside down inside, I wanted it so bad for them. I just couldn’t imagine them not getting it. I’m so happy for these kids.”

In defeating No. 2-seeded Westlake for the second time in less than a month, the Panthers had to avoid exactly what had happened to the Wildcats when the teams met back in mid-October – losing a grip on a 14-point, first-half lead. Pleasantville scored a pair of touchdowns before the contest was even nine minutes old, but the Wildcats eventually evened the score and provided plenty of drama in the fourth quarter. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Westlake coach John Castellano about his crestfallen players, whose one-year reign as Section 1 champions ended in the diminishing daylight of a perfect autumn afternoon. “There were about five times in the game that they could’ve said, ‘You know what, it’s over.’ And they fought and they fought and they fought. And I think, more than anything, that’s the thing I’m most proud of.  When the opportunity presented itself, to just run and hide, we didn’t do it. We played ‘til the end, right to that last play there.”

Just three weeks after Howe had decided the regular-season showdown between the two neighboring schools with a last-second field goal, it was Pleasantville that quickly gained the upper hand by taking advantage of a Wildcat fumble a couple of minutes after the opening kickoff. From the Westlake 32-yard line, it took them just three plays to find the end zone. Howe connected with Declan McDermott along the left sideline for a 26-yard touchdown on a third-and-four play. Howe’s point-after gave P’ville a 7-0 lead with 8:35 remaining in the first quarter. 

The Panthers soon added to their lead by moving the football 94 yards in a 10-play drive that lasted less than three minutes. A 23-yard run by Charlie McPhee on third and one was eventually followed by a fourth and five 20-yard touchdown pass from Howe to Jack Minerva in the left side of the end zone. The Howe PAT stretched the Pleasantville lead to 14-0 with 3:41 still to play in the opening period.

Westlake, held without a single first down until early in the second quarter, would have left the field at halftime still scoreless if not for a Panther turnover on a dropped punt with a minute to go in the second quarter. The Wildcats got the ball at their own 42-yard line and quarterback Rob DiNota, who finished the day with 165 yards on the ground, promptly picked up 18 of them on first down. 

Two plays later, DiNota found senior wide receiver HaseebAzhar along the left sideline for a big gain to the Panthers’ 4-yard line. After a four-yard loss, DiNota again connnected with Azhar, this time on a square-in right in the middle of the end zone. Kicker Kyle Donnery added the extra point and the Wildcats were suddenly within seven points as intermission arrived.

“Yeah, it would’ve helped,” said Becerra about the prospect of not turning the ball over just before halftime. “But we had a chance to stop ‘em, too. We gave up some passes that we don’t usually give up. All that did was give ‘em momentum going into halftime. Our theme going in was to be more mentally tough than anything. The guys showed that out here.”

“Well, I thought that was critical,” said the Wildcats’ Castellano about the last-minute touchdown by his team. “We needed to get on the board. Once we got on the board, we knew that we could do some things. In the second half, we made an adjustment, ran that play and we scored. We had a little bit of momentum.”

Both teams went three-and-out to start the second half, but the Wildcats quickly changed the complexion of the game on their second possession. Starting at their own 44, DiNota scampered 56 yards for a touchdown on first down. When Donneryfollowed with the extra point, the teams were suddenly tied with 8:51 remaining in the third quarter. 

The Wildcats seemed to have all the momentum, but it didn’t last very long because Pleasantville’s Thomas Browne soon blocked a punt, giving the Panthers the ball at the Westlake 5-yard line. On third and goal from the 9-yard line, Howe rolled to his right, then threw to Brian Reda in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. The Panthers missed the PAT, but still had a 20-14 lead with four and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

“It was huge,” said Becerra about regaining control so quicklyafter Westlake had tied the game. “But with an asterisk because we missed the extra point. So right there, we needed another (score).”

It came early in the fourth quarter as the Panthers marched 66 yards in a dozen plays, getting their fourth touchdown when McDermott ran around left end for a four-yard touchdown. They faked an extra point and Howe hit Cullen Dell with a pass over the middle for a two-point conversion that restored P’ville’s 14-point cushion with just 7:17 left on the clock.

But the Wildcats, 8-1 coming in, were hardly finished. They answered with their own 75-yard drive that ended with DiNotarunning 20 yards for his second touchdown. Donnery’s point-after kick narrowed the Westlake deficit to 28-21 with 3:49 remaining.

Castellano decided against an onside kick, trusting his defense to get the ball back again. But on third and two, McPhee plowed into the line and just barely picked up the first down that all but clinched a championship for the Panthers. Westlake had only one timeout left and the Panthers were soon able to run out the clock.

“Hey, listen, that third and one, I’ve got to look at the film,” said Castellano. “It sure looked short to me. I’m not gonna blame anyone. I thought maybe if we got that stop, he had to punt on that third and one. And now we’re gonna get the ball around the 40, 35, and that kid (DiNota) can make things happen. I thought we had a shot right to the end.”

Instead, time was soon running out on the Wildcats and the Panthers’ Becerra could start to celebrate his second sectional championship.

“It’s similar to the first time,” he said. “I was numb and I had to be reminded that they have no more timeouts. We don’t have to run a play. It really didn’t hit me until it was all zeroes (on the scoreboard clock) that we won the section.”

While the Panthers now prepare for their regional playoff game against New Paltz on Friday night at Kingston’s Dietz Stadium, the Wildcats can start planning to regain their crown a year from now.

“I don’t think people thought we’d be here,” said Castellano. “We graduated 17 kids and I don’t think they thought that we would be here. The bottom line is we got here. I thought it was a helluva accomplishment. I told ‘em, ‘Remember this feeling. You don’t want it to happen again. And now it’s something to drive you in the offseason.’”