Ponterio, Schmidberger Help Somers Beat the Hudson River

By Jonathan Martirano, Examiner Media Intern

Somers High School faced the Hudson River Trailblazers in their first game of the season and produced a 23-12 victory last week. Somers dominated in the first half and scored the game’s opening touchdown at 18:04 from sophomore Julia Schmidberger off a pass from senior QB Ella Ponterio to take a 6-0 lead. The two were just getting started.

Somers continued to play well with solid defense with multiple tackles from sophomore Becca Lippolis, but at 5:45, junior Chloe Gabriele forced a safety to add two points to make it 8-0. Somers would not stop there, and at 3:15, Schmidberger found a wide open Ponterio for her second touchdown of the day and Somer’s second of the day and the 14-0 lead. Somers would secure the extra point and ended the half leading 15-0.

“We have very athletic girls who made some incredible offensive and defensive plays and it was great to see so many girls contribute to the win. QB Ella Ponterio came out strong with some long passes for big gains. We are proud of our first win but we will be right back out on the field tomorrow to work on improving and learning.” Somers Coach Katie DiChairo said.

In the second half, it was a much different story. The Trailblazers started things off in the second half, and scored their first touchdown at 17:12 after a scramble from their QB to cut the Somers lead at 15-6. However, it didn’t take long for Somers to respond and freshman Cara Persico took one home for a 55 yard touchdown less than two minutes after Hudson River scored. Somers went up 23-6 with 15 minutes remaining. At 6:05, the Trailblazers would score their second of the half from their QB after a long run and made it a 23-12 game. After the touchdown, Somers played steady defense with clutch tackles from Beatriz Rios and others to prevent Hudson River from scoring and Somers won the game to start the season off 1-0. Somers takes on Scarsdale next on April 13.

Soto’s 3 TD’s Help Ossining Edge Tappan Zee

Ossining High School continued their strong start to the 2023 season with a narrow 26-25 victory over Tappan Zee. In the first half, it was a back and forth battle between teams to start off the game. Tappan Zee came out strong to start the game and scored at 14:22 with a touchdown and extra point to take a 7-0 lead over Ossining. Tappan Zee would continue their strong start and added to their lead at 3:15 with a touchdown to make the game 13-0. Tappan Zee would not convert on the extra point, and this defense led to a strong finish to the first half for Ossining as they scored a touchdown and extra point with 1:04 remaining after QB Lucy Roach connected with Charlotte Soto, and again from Soto as she intercepted a ball for a pick 6 on Tappan Zee’s first possession after surrendering a touchdown. The teams would be tied 13-13 heading into the second half.

The second half would be much more of the same as it was a tight battle between the two teams. At 18:10, Ossining would score first with a rushing touchdown from Anabel Reed to take the lead 20-13 with the extra point. However, this led to strong play from Tappan Zee as they scored a pair of touchdowns at 13:22 and 5:36 to take a 25-20 lead. Ossining was running out of time, and they needed to go all out to win and in the final minute, Soto scored her third touchdown of the game off a nice pass from Roach to take a 26-25 lead which would stay as the winner and gave Ossining a 2-0 record to start off the season.

“It’s Ossining’s first season playing flag football, and we are excited to be playing this season. We have a young squad, freshman Charlotte Soto is the only player with flag or football experience. This is their first time playing, so  a few of our key players are playing the sport a work in progress,” Head Coach Russel Rainey said

Ossining hosts Mahopac on April 13 in their next game.

Del Ponte’s 5 TDs Lead Lakeland to 44-6 Win over Byram Hills

Byram Hills hosted Lakeland in a lopsided 44-6 Hornet victory to help Lakeland improve to 3-0.

In the first half it was all Lakeland as every drive led to a touchdown. The Hornets scored their first touchdown at 17:45 after junior Nichole Ljuljic found freshman Samantha Del Ponte for her first of five touchdowns to take a 6-0 lead. Lakeland would then score two quick ones at 10:04 and 8:00, both from Del Ponte, and lead the game 19-0. With 2:27 remaining, Del Ponte would score her fourth TD and give Lakeland a 26-0 lead. They scored again with less than 10 seconds remaining after Ljuljic passed one to senior Deanna Lage. Lakeland would miss the extra point chance and carried a 31-0 lead going into the second half.

In the second half, Lakeland and Del Ponte would start where they left off at 20:45 with the opening touchdown in the half and her fifth of the game off a handoff. Along with the successful extra point conversion, Lakeland led 38-0. Lakeland would score their final touchdown with 7:31 with a rushing TD from Ljuljic. As the game wound down, Byram Hills didn’t give up and scored their first and only touchdown with two minutes remaining with a Parrotta connection to Quintiere, who broke numerous tackles to get into the end zone. As the final two minutes remaining ran out, Lakeland secured the 44-6 victory and improved to a 3-0 record.

Despite the loss, Byram Hills senior and co-captain Olivia Corpina said, “The game was so much fun. It was so cool to be watching football my entire life and then finally being able to play myself! It was definitely a little nerve-racking and messy, but I am so excited for the rest of the season.”

Senior Co-Captain Sophia Amenedo also had this to say: “Being able to participate in a girl’s flag football team promotes equality, teamwork, friendships, and fun. I am so happy to be a part of it and cannot wait to see what the season brings.”

Win or lose, all Section 1 players are passionate and enjoy playing the great game of football and representing their schools and themselves.

“Coach Jennie Croke was instrumental in bringing the student-driven interest into fruition of a varsity program.  The enthusiasm of our athletes are a testament to how necessary the team is to our athletic community.  We have 38 athletes learning, improving and competing every week.” -Simon Berk, Byram Hills Flag Football Coach

Lakeland travels to Panas on April 11 for their next game and Byram Hills hosts Mahopac on April 10.

Clarkstown Defeats Panas 25-12

Clarkstown defeated Panas 25-12 to earn their first win of the season. In the first half, Panas scored first at 16:33 when senior Kelsey Cregan fired a TD pass to senior Molly Muller, who hustled past defenders into the end zone for a 6-0 lead. Panas only held the lead for four minutes, as at 12:24 Clarkstown scored their first of the game to tie the game at 6. They would score again at 8:20 and 5:04 off two passing plays and convert the extra point on their third touchdown to lead 19-6 at the end of the first half.

The second half started off with solid defense play by both teams, but Panas broke through first at 16:02 with junior Cassidy Pisani taking one home after a double handoff to cut the Clarkstown lead to 19-12. However, Clarkstown would score shortly after at 14:37 from a wide open receiver to make it a 25-12 game. For the rest of the half, both teams made great defensive efforts with multiple interceptions on both sides and Clarkstown won the game 25-12. Panas takes on Lakeland in their next game on April 11.

Other Games This Week:

Brewster(1-0) over Scarsdale B(0-1) 34-13

Scarsdale(1-0) over Mahopac(1-1) 37-6

Mahopac over Scarsdale 27-7