Tigers Lose to Patriots, 27-20, for Fourth Straight Loss Without a Win

White Plains Head Football Coach Michael “Skip” Stevens sat with his coaching staff in the Field House at White Plains High School, trying to assess what went amiss, on Saturday.

More importantly, Stevens with assistant coaches Jim Avery and Mark Santa-Donato were evaluating what to do about the Tigers losing to John Jay High School East Fishkill, 27-20, without yet winning a game this season. “We are just going to keep fighting and get better every single day and every single game,” stated Stevens.

As the Tigers and Patriots readied for play, the sound testing for the free Lenny Kravitz concert for select customers of the new Microsoft Store in The Westchester Mall, could be heard in the background. The concert was originally scheduled for Eastview Middle School. But the venue was changed to grounds above the football field at WPHS.

It was really not an issue, as both the Tigers and Patriots defenses rose to the occasion in the first quarter of play as neither team scored. However, the Tigers made crucial mistakes in the first quarter that negated opportunities for them to score and gave the Patriots the chance to capitalize early in the second quarter.

Midway through the first quarter Tigers defensive lineman Elijah Young and defensive back/running back Brandon Williams sacked Patriots quarterback Kyle Contreras on the White Plains 48-yard line.

On the very next play on third down, Contreras fumbled on a bad snap from center and he recovered on his own 37-yard line. Therefore John Jay had to punt from deep in their own territory, which left the Tigers a perfect opportunity for good field position.

Nevertheless, Williams back to receive the punt let the ball drop without calling for a fair catch or catching the ball and running it back, while he surely had space to receive the punt and run. Hence, the Tigers began their offensive drive back on their own 13-yard line and punted four plays later.

Patriots Dale White ran the punt back 43 yards to the Tigers 17-yard line. But the Tigers defense held tough, which forced the Patriots to attempt a field goal instead of a touchdown.

Then the Tigers negated their impressive defensive stance and gave away seven points instead of three points. A Tigers roughing the kicker penalty on the field goal attempt resulted in the Patriots having a first down and goal on the 10-yard line of the Tigers.

But the Tigers defense stood strong again, while stopping Patriots’ running back Robert Haughton on the one yard line, as the first quarter ended. Patriots quarterback Contreras decided to take matters into his own hands and on the first play of the second quarter snuck the ball across the goal line.

Consequently, while finding everyway to make it tougher to get their first win, the Tigers roughed the kicker again on the extra point, which was accessed on the kickoff.

“We were snake bitten in the first half. We made two crucial penalties when we roughed the kicker and instead of them (John Jay) getting a field goal, we gave up seven points and then roughed the kicker again,” stated Stevens.

“Snake bitten” was a very relative choice of words by Stevens, while describing the first half play of his team. Especially considering that the first half ended on what should have been a field goal for the Tigers, but rather transcended into a touchdown for the Patriots.

After Tigers senior quarterback Cameron Crabbe hit Williams for an 18 yard pass play to the seven yard line of John Jay. Crabbe was sacked twice by Patriots Shawn Casey which prompted the Tigers to settle for a field goal.

However, as the Tigers luck has been so far this season, senior Murilo Rosendo’s 31-yard field goal attempt was blocked. More devastating to the Tigers was that Patriots cornerback Sean Jennings recovered the blocked kick and ran 88 yards for a touchdown with 2.5 seconds remaining in the first half.  The Tigers went to the locker room losing 13-0.

At halftime White Plains High School honored the Class of 1962. The Class of ‘62 was the initial class that made the transition from Highlands School to White Plains High School, on North Avenue. “It is my honor to welcome the Class of 1962,” proclaimed White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, who gathered on the field with the Honorees.

In the third quarter the Tigers defense demonstrated efficiency once again and their offense got into the act. The Tigers defense shutout the Patriots in the third quarter, while their offense scored twice to tie the game.

Tigers’ running back Ari Shamery scored on a one yard run and Crabbe hit junior tight-end Lukas Repetti with a 12-yard touchdown pass, while Rosendo tied the game with the extra point, 13-13.

After floating his passes in the first half, Crabbe began throwing the ball with authority in the second half. He ended the game completing 7 of 15 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. “We made some adjustments at halftime. We wanted to score as quickly as possible, so we ran the ball and kept pounding it and then I hit Lukas (Repetti),” explained Crabbe.

However, the Patriots never stopped capitalizing on Tigers mistakes. The Tigers had momentum mid-fourth quarter with the Patriots leading 19-13. Crabbe hit wide receiver Thomas Bertram with a screen pass on the Patriots 44-yard line. Then the “snake bit” the Tigers again, as Bertram fumbled and John Jay recovered the ball. The Patriots Haughton scored a minute later on a 28-yard run.

The game became very interesting after Bertram made up for his fumble by catching a Crabbe 35-yard touchdown pass to make the score 27-20, with 3:07 remaining in the game.

Despite the fact that the Patriots were anticipating the onside kick. They did not expect a high floating onside kick that Tigers lineman Robby Lorden recovered in John Jay territory. “I was just running to the ball to see what would happen, the play was not designed for me to be in position to recover the ball,” depicted Lorden.

Nonetheless, with the Tigers facing a fourth down and two yards for a first down, on the John Jay 13-yard line, the Tigers opted to pass which was incomplete and game over, 27-20 Patriots.

The Tigers played well enough to win the game. But mistakes put their objective out of reach. “We just have to just stay together,” replied Team Captain Lorden, after the game. “This is not going to be one of the best games that we play this year, when we win that will be our best game.”