Pleasantville’s Coleman, Sdao Spark NYS Class B Semifinal Win
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State-Ranked No.3 Panthers Set up Rematch with No.1 Maine-Endwell for NYS Class B Title
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays, & Andy Jacobs
Section 2 champion Ravena/Coeymans/Selkirk’s plan going into Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class B semifinal was for anybody but All-NYS Pleasantville stud Daniel Picart to beat them, and while Ravena did a decent job of containing Picart, who finished with 26 carries for 95 yards and four catches for 27 yards, the Panthers found other ways to punch their ticket to Syracuse and a second-straight trip to the state finals after a nail-biting 14-6 win at Faller Field in Middletown.
State-ranked (No.3) Pleasantville will face top-ranked defending state champ Maine-Endwell (12-0) in the Class B state final after the Spartans posted a demonstrative 61-20 semifinal win over Batavia Saturday.
Trailing, 6-0, against No.8 Ravena (10-3), Pleasantville took its first lead when Panther QB Aidan Picart spun a 29-yard TD pass into the waiting arms of junior RB Erik Coleman. The PAT by Joe Sokich gave the Panthers a 7-6 lead they would never relinquish with 9:08 left in the second quarter.
“I thought they were definitely better than last year, but then again I thought we were as well, and it showed,” Pleasantville Coach Tony Becerra said. “Back and forth, tight game. Missed opportunities for both sides, and that’s the kind of game you got. There was a little bit of a sigh of relief when they missed the extra point. That gives you options. No way we were in panic mode (falling behind 6-0). But it was good to answer (on our next possession).”
Pleasantville sophomore Louis Sdao then went electric, snagging a butchered punt and taking it 55 yards for a score and a 14-6 lead at 7:02 of the second quarter. Sdao finished with 10 carries for 42 yards in an eventful first half.
The young fullback, Sdao, is coming into his own, not playing like a sophomore any longer.
He looks more and more like a seasoned veteran, and just in time as the Panthers will need another weapon at the dome
“He doesn’t play like a sophomore,” said Becerra, noting his heads-up play on the punt return. “His football IQ and the way he plays on both sides of the ball, he plays a lot older than he is. We are yelling at them to get away (from the ball), but (Sdao) is such a heady kid and took it upon himself. Thankfully, he did.”
In the third quarter, Pleasantville shot itself in the foot a couple of times, including a bad snap on 4th and 3 deep in Ravena’s territory (its 35), with 2:00 left in the third, which was preceded by Ravena’s Anthony Sanchez INT with 7:05 left in the third. Pleasantville followed that up with a fourth down stop just 51 seconds into the fourth quarter. Panther Emmet McDermott recorded an interception in the final minute to preserve the win.
Panther QB Aidan Picart hit on a tidy 13-of-19 for 149 yards and a TD. Coleman gashed his way to 73 yards on just three carries while McDermott snagged five passes for 51 yards and added an INT on defense. Pleasantville RB/WR Daniel Picart, the All-NYS junior, was held out of the end zone for the first time in many moons.
“We had a chance, a couple times at least, to build our lead,” Coach B said. “Yeah, it’s very frustrating. We definitely dodged a bullet and, even though it’s the last game coming up next week, we’re still at a point where we need to clean things up. It would’ve been nice if we got the field goal to get a little bit of a cushion, but in the same position we’re gonna trust Joe Sokich (soph kicker) again because he’s got the foot to do it.”
The coach is counting on the experience of playing at the dome last year to have an impact this weekend against Section 4 champ Maine-Endwell in a rematch of the 2021 NYSPHSAA Class B final at noon Sunday, Dec. 4, at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse. In last year’s title game, the Spartans erased a 12-point deficit and scored 21-straight points during a 21-12 win.
“It was a brand new group that went up there last year,” Becerra said. “So this year we have some veterans who have been there and hopefully they’ll treat it more like a business trip than starry-eyed.”
ANDY JACOBS contributed to this story
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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