Photos by Rick Waller, more inside
October 10, 2008
by Jim Nottingham
It was the best of times and the worst of times, but it wasn’t revolutionary Paris; it was a beautiful football afternoon in Chappaqua last weekend. At the conclusion of this game, the Quakers had defeated Poughkeepsie’s Our Lady of Lourdes High School 36-30 despite surprising character changes by the Greeley players. The next stop in their playoff quest is against the Brewster Bears, which takes place tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Brewster High School.
Last Saturday’s game started with total Greeley domination and a bona fide rout of the Lourdes Warriors. However, sometime in the late third quarter, the game went from a rout to genuine contest, with the G-Men barely escaping the guillotine of Lourdes’ comeback
It was an ending that was too close for comfort. Coaches and fans watched with anxiety from near the end of the third quarter through the final period of play. At that point, a wonderful read had become a compelling one. No one present could take their eyes off the pages of downs that followed. But first, let’s go back to the beginning.
Quakers rock and roll
Quakers had the Warriors completely contained from the opening kickoff. The G-Men scored at will, stopped the Lourdes’ offense cold and skillfully executed special teams play, including a blocked punt that led to a score. They were simply superb in every aspect of play. Casper Yim, Brian Kaplan and Ben Berkey led the line play that pushed Lourdes wherever they wanted to take them.
The Quakers led thanks to three fantastic touchdown runs by Mighty Joe Yeres, a touchdown by Brett Norton, a score by Ben Litwak, a successful two point conversion featuring a pass from Justin Cierro to Ben Okun on a fake point-after-touchdown kick and four extra point kicks by Andrew Lefkowitz. They had captured a five touchdown lead by the middle of the third quarter.
In last week’s Buzz I nicknamed Yeres, “Mighty Joe.” He lived up to this name with three spectacular runs through, around and past Lourdes players. Mighty Joe straight-armed, broke tackles and tiptoed the sidelines on his way to his touchdowns. What some in the stands might have missed is the way he switched and protected the ball during his runs. Coupling polished running with attitude, he refused to go down before reaching the end zone, fighting his way in with instinct, balance and bravado.
His three runs and the above mentioned play of the line and the other G-men should have been the highlight of the game, but the game’s ending became the focal point instead. The Quakers became far too complacent in the final half and let Lourdes back into a game that was all but over by the end of the first quarter.
Lourdes keeps the faith
The game was over, but someone forgot to tell the Lourdes players, who when down by five scores did not give up and did not give into defeat. With little more than a quarter left in the game, the Warriors clawed their way back to within a touchdown of a tie with less than thirty seconds left in the game. The score stood at 30–36 awaiting the obvious onside kick, when the ball was covered by the Greeley “hands” team. The offense stepped onto the field and proceeded to run out the clock.
The understandable sigh of relief from the assembled fans as the final seconds ticked off was audible. Most questioned what they had just seen. The first and the second halves were completely different and the scare of possibly losing the game had put a haze on the afternoon. It should have been the icing on the cakewalk that the prior three quarters had been.
Some think the referees had a hand in this ending, but the officials did not blow coverage, miss tackles and assignments. The officials did not extinguish the internal fire that the G-Men displayed at the game’s start. They might have called it more closely for Greeley and cut Lourdes some slack, but had the flame not gone out, the Greeley score could have been doubled.
Brilliant day with dark end
The concern of greatest importance was not the final score; it was the inability to stop Lourdes on its last drive with 1:31 left in the game. It was here that the G-Men should have dashed the aspirations of Lourdes. It was here the men in orange and blue needed to take control and send Lourdes home without their being able to make this rout into a game, but they did not do so. Lourdes scored, using almost sixty of the final seconds left.
Lest one be tempted to assess fault on the defense, the offense shut down long before those final seconds. When and where it could have run the clock out and put more points on the board, it did not do so. Instead, there was a team-wide cave-in that could have ruined the brilliant effort and play they had exhibited earlier in the day and for most of the game.
So what are the lessons?
More than anything the end pointed out some core issues the 2008 G-men must deal with as they move forward in their playoff quest. One particular issue that needs to be addressed is how to assert the team identity that puts opponents away and does not let them back into the contest. A second issue is that the Quakers needs to understand that a team cannot turn momentum on and off like a light switch.
If they can resolve these issues, they can go much further than most thought after their three-loss start. The two-win streak they are currently riding is important, as they learned to win with the first game and learned how not to lose in the second. Of course they held on for dear life as the game ended, but they did hold on to victory. An ugly win is better than a beautiful loss.
The next step in the progression is to exert the dominant personality they have shown in flashes throughout the entire season for an entire game and for the rest of the season. It is clear that Coach Bill Tribou and the entire coaching staff have done an excellent job in getting the G-Men to this place, but the future is now in the hands and minds of the players.
Coaches coach and prepare, fans watch and cheer, but the players and the players alone have to fulfill their destiny. To do this they need to engage the principal of attack, on the field, against their opponents and for the remainder of the schedule. In attack there’s no let up, there’s no taking it easy and there’s no letting an opponent climb back into a game.
This team has the character and talent to play long after the regular season; they just need to have the right character present during the remaining games. They need to attack and keep the attack on until the game is over; until the season is over.
JV football grabs its first win
The junior varsity football squad traveled two hours to vanquish the Lourdes team and capture their first win of the season. The long ride up was much shorter on the back with a happy crew. They have been close to winning a couple of games, but they finally put together the effort that put that all important “W” on the board. The score was 14–8.
Seven Bridges modified football
Seven Bridges Middle School took on the Blue Mountain Middle School at Hendrick Hudson High School field. They jumped to a 14–0 lead on scores by Teddy Grave and Scott Wymbs. However, the Blue Mountain Men made it a game by coming back with two scores in the final quarter, making the score 14–13. The Mountain Men called a timeout to setup the kick for the extra point and go for the win. In modified play, a kick after a touchdown is worth two points and the run is worth only one point. However, they were unable to locate the tee for the kick attempt, and the run was unsuccessful. Seven Bridges took the win, 14-13.
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