Yorktown, Mahopac, Lakeland Impressive in Week Zero Wins
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Meyreles, Koch, Carroll with Dominant Performances
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays
Every coach in the game loves a good Swiss Army knife, and that’s exactly what YORKTOWN Coach Pantelis Ypsilantis has in QB/RB/WR/DB Justin Meyreles, who rushed for 220 yards, including a TD, on 33 attempts in the Huskers’ 34-27 overtime triumph of host John Jay CR Friday.
“Always props to the guys up front,” Meyreles said. “It felt great to get some revenge on these guys for the way we lost to them the previous two years.
The versatile senior added a TD catch and an INT.
“Meyreles is just a great football player,” Ypsilantis said. “He can pretty much do anything on the field. We asked him to do a lot and he showed everyone what he can do. He’s had to deal with a lot of adversity in his career with COVID and the injury last year. His confidence never wavered and we know that wherever we use him be it at QB, RB, receiver, safety, corner whatever, he’s going to make impact plays.”
In his varsity debut, Husker QB Kaden Gonzalez was impressive under center, firing three TD passes and throwing for 100 yards on 11-of-20 passing, most of which went to Thomas Costello (4 catches, 100 yards, 2 TDs).
MAHOPAC’s 42-28 win over visiting Goshen was quite the home opener for the Indians, who saw their pregame fireworks run into the game when senior tailback Joey Koch (10 totes, 154 yards) scored the first of his three touchdowns, a 94-yard game-opening kick return. Indian junior signal caller DJ DeMatteo (5 carries, 46 yards), taking over at quarterback for his brother Anthony under center, threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to junior RB Danny Koch (2 carries, 22 yards) after splitting a pair of Gladiator defenders en route to paydirt for another score. In all, the Koch boys accounted for four scores and 233 yards from scrimmage.
“Yeah, I was ready to go to the opening kickoff,” Joey Koch said. “It’s my senior year now and I was so pumped to run out on that field with my brothers, most of whom I have been playing with since third grade. My line played awesome, so huge shout out to them.”
In LAKELAND’s 23-8 win over rival PANAS, Hornet QB Grady Leonard threw a TD pass to Stephen Carroll (his first receiving touchdown) and rushed for another. Behind a solid defensive effort – Carroll (13 tackles), Ian Wisker (11 tackles- forced safety), Andrew Mendel (9 tackles- 2 sacks) – the Hornets got themselves ready for this week’s battle at Nyack. Jack Nugent, DJ Brody and Brian Martins all had eight tackles. Anthony Jennings added an interception and Kyle Gallagher rounded out the scoring with pick-6 to end it.
Captain Mendel knows there’s work to do, but proud nonetheless.
“No doubt, this is just the beginning,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, but we will get better as we get more practices in. I was just glad I was able to start off my senior season with the people I love and get a W!”
BIG GAMES ON TAP: Friday; Carmel at New Ro (6pm), Byram Hills at Hen Hud (6pm), John Jay at Somers (6:30pm), Rye at Brewster (7pm)
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.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
