Four Section 1 teams went into last night’s state quarterfinals. Only two survived.
It’s not all that surprising, either. I knew Bronxville and Nanuet would continue to cruise, and I felt Eldred was slightly better than Tuckahoe. And had I known before the game what I found out about Roosevelt after it, I probably wouldn’t have picked them to win that one.
With New Rochelle-Monroe-Woodbury less than four hours away, here’s a look back at Friday’s action:
Class A: Cornwall 31, Roosevelt 21
Disappointing doesn’t even begin to describe this one.
Roosevelt turned the ball over six times (four on careless fumbles and two on downs), had two fumbled snaps on punt attempts that gift-wrapped 10 points, and were sloppy on tackles all night.
The Indians looked like anything but the superior athletic and ultimately determined team that marched through the Class A tournament in Section 1, the one with incredible mental toughness and resolve. And they blamed nobody other than themselves. The post-game comments say it all:
“We were not prepared for this game. I think we underestimated them. I think there was a hangover from last week. There was just no fire on our guys tonight. I could sense it early.” – Coach Mike Meade
“I didn’t sense any fire in our team tonight. Everybody thought we were going to come out and just roll over this team. This is what happens when you do that. That’s how you lose.” – Roosevelt senior Donovan Walker
“We slept on them all week.” – Indians defensive end Kevin Outlaw
Those are pretty strong words. And they were universal up and down the Roosevelt sideline.
Roosevelt was admittedly overconfident after rallying from nine points down to beat Poughkeepsie in the Section 1 final. When a team that never gets here go this far, that tends to happen. They rarely win a close game.
Cornwall was a very good team, one that I’m sure could have played better. But I wasn’t overly impressed. Some have eluded to it on the blog since last night and I’ll come right out and say it:
Poughkeepsie, Somers, Nyack, Ossining, Fox Lane, Lakeland and maybe even Eastchester would have put up a better fight against Cornwall last night.
And Rye would have beaten them. No doubt about it.
Roosevelt could have beaten Cornwall, too, just not the way it played last night. Too many penalties in bad spots and the lack of execution and, on a few plays, hustle, was startling. Cornwall didn’t do anything to surprise Roosevelt — they practiced for that fake punt and the “no huddle” the Dragons used was for only two drives, both of which resulted in interceptions.
Cornwall just played harder and deserves to win because of it.
Class D: Eldred 21, Tuckahoe 14
For a while it looked like the Tigers were going to find a way to pull this one out. They led 7-0 at the half but, in the opening minute of the third quarter, their first real mistake led to the end of their season.
A fumble on the opening play of the half led to the tying touchdown and Tuckahoe’s offense never recovered. Eldred soon went to the Wildcat with halfback Ian Halloran and scored two touchdowns to go up 21-7 late. Tuckahoe got back within seven on a late touchdown but couldn’t get closer.
The Tigers end the year 5-3. The good news is that they return almost their entire team next year, including Jarett Sommer, who rushed for 103 yards on 13 carries. Getting to the Dome next year is not out of the question for Tuckahoe, and Sommer could become the school’s all-time leading rusher if he stays healthy.
Class C: Bronxville 34, Ellenville 6
The amazing thing about this game was that, in some respects, Bronxville didn’t play all that great.
At least not from an offensive standpoint. The Broncos scored on their opening drive but had to — gasp — punt on their second. They moved the ball throughout the first half but didn’t seem to have nearly the intensity they had against Croton-Harmon in the Section 1 final. Still, it was 28-0 at the half and the starters were out on defense midway through the third.
The Bronxville kids are smart and they knew Ellenville posed no threat to really score on them. I give Ellenville credit. It had a tough bunch of kids who weren’t at all afraid of the staggering size discrepency. A few of their guys took some shots but never stopped fighting.
John Shkreli, Bronxville’s middle linebacker, was awesome all game. He and Hart Mechlin were all over the field. With those two guys as good as they are, the Broncos can put six guys on the line and them control the middle of the field. It makes it incredible difficult to run on them. Shkreli had 12 tackles and I’d estimate Mechlin had 8 or 9.
The Broncos move on to the state semifinals against either Section 2’s Hoosick Falls or Section 10’s Ogdensburg. The mission to the Dome continues.
Class B: Nanuet 35, O’Neill 0
Here’s another team on a mission.
Nanuet showed zero signs of letdown in this game as it methodically picked apart O’Neill for another blowout victory. Gabe Ostrow ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns, and Tom Hanney ran for 94 yards and a score and threw another.
This was a game of gradual domination. Nanuet led 7-0 at the end of the first and 14-0 at the half before wearing down an overmatched O’Neill team in the third quarter.
It’s funny, but of the five teams from Section 1 entering the weekend, the one I was most confident about from a confidence and maturity standpoint was Nanuet. Bronxville has a special group of talent. Nanuet has a team of great poise and determination. If the Golden Knights do lose in the next two weeks, it will not be because of turnovers or silly mistakes. They don’t make them. The team that beats these guys will simply have to be just far more talented.
The Golden Knights move on to the semifinals where they’ll play Section 2’s Schalmont.
I’ll post information on Schalmont and the Ogendsburg-Hoosick Falls winner some time on Sunday. Remember to check back later to follow the New Rochelle game.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
| Post a Comment »
