Contributed column from GYFL. Here are highlights from the games on October 16, 2022.
SENIORS:
BANC OVER BULLDOGS 14-13
The BANC Raider Seniors finished out their regular season with a win against the North Mianus Bulldogs. Led by sixth year seniors, Dan Black, Charlie Bodie, Jacari Hughes and Cassidy Morales, the Raiders earned a hard fought win in a matchup that could have gone either way. Under center, Morales led the raiders offense, throwing for one touchdown to Wyatt Melnikoff, one of his five catches. He also added an interception late in the game on defense. Black ran for a 35 yard touchdown run, and on defense had key tone-setting tackles to stop the Bulldogs. Hughes continued his prowess on the line, setting key blocks and frustrating the Bulldogs offense. Teo Della Pietra came up big with a key interception at a pivotal moment to turn the tide. Running back duo of Peyton Cabanillas and Chris Pomaro kept the Raiders moving the chains on the road to victory with solid blocking from Finn O’Connor , Donovan Cooke, Anthony Cebanos and Charlie Boddie.
After a defensive battle in the 1st Quarter, Graham Geisler opened up scoring with a 75 yd TD run behind strong blocking by Grant Andrews, Gaspar Gomex, Austin Tice, Danny Insinga, and Kiel Oellrich. The Raiders tied it up 6-6 before the half and went up 14-6 at the beginning of the 4th quarter on a long run. And then the fireworks started.
After big gains on the ground by Ben Peden and Geisler, quarterback Colin Suvansri hit Garin Kopilak for a 30yd TD pass and the game sat at 14-13. The defense made some key stops to get the ball back behind the stout play of Anders Hildebrand, Bennet King, Jameson Grant, Tyler Ernst, Matthew Andrighetti, Owen Tweddle, Nathan Fajardo, Albert Chin, Derek Shah, Macklin Zulli and Rex Reeves, and that allowed the Bulldogs to make a late surge. They thought they’d gone in for the go-ahead score as time was running out, but alas there was a flag on the play and they fell just short. The Bulldogs will be looking to come out on top in the playoffs next week.
Senior Putnam Generals 26 – Glenville Mavericks 6
The Senior Putnam Generals ended the season on a high note pulling off a 26-6 victory over a strong Mavericks team. Owen Cunnion and Madsen Ehrhart combined for 3 scores on the ground. The offensive line led by Colby Loflin and Nick Vomvolakis blew open holes to run behind all game. The combination of Spencer Smith, Brett Schmidt, Marco Gabelli, Albin Zieme and Matt Michalik showed the depth of the Generals offensive line by playing well as a unit. Bobby Stanley blocked hard on the edge and TE Alex Neitzell caught a pass in traffic.
On the defensive side of the ball, Max Townsend housed an interception to fire up the team. Kellen Aslansan came down with another interception to seal the victory. Luke Perriello wreaked havoc in the backfield sacking the QB. Bash Keyes stuffed the run from the DT position.
JUNIORS
MAVERICKS GOLD 12 COS COB CRUSHERS 6 Overtime
In what was a very evenly matched tight game, Mavericks Gold put up a solid performance on both sides of the ball winning in overtime on a 5 yard TD run by second year Junior Running back Brody Rabinowitz. Cos Cob won the toss in overtime and elected to start on offense. The Mavericks defense Cos Cob on 4 plays from the 10 yard line to get the ball back with the chance to win the game in overtime.
The Mavericks were led by Griffin Hart who had a 35 yard TD catch and run from First year Quarterback Heath Early. Second year full back Jamison Flynn had several key short yardage runs as well as several key blocks to allow running backs Griffin Hart, Logan Young and Brody Rabinowitz to get into open space throughout the game. Second year Offensive Linemen Oliver Errico and JD Utzinger were outstanding on the line. Defensively the Mavericks were led by Outside Linebacker Brody Rabinowitz who had 3 Quarterback Sacks, 12 tackles and an interception. As a whole the Mavericks tackling was excellent with key tackles throughout the game from second year cornerback Logan Young, second year outside linebacker Griffin Hart and second year inside linebacker Jamison Flynn. The overtime win puts Mavericks Gold at 2-2 on the season going into the GYFL postseason.
Trailing 6-0 at the half, the Crushers defense dug in their heels and ground the speedy Mavericks to a halt. With several key players missing, others stepped up to fill the voids. Mikey Dussinger made key stops in his first start as inside linebacker and Logan Connaughton helped shut down the outside at cornerback. The defensive line of Evan Kane, Phillip Simms and Braden Wallace was in the Mavs backfield all day, and Jack Babyak, Jimmy Sabia and Liam Kirsch made noise in a relief role. In the 3rd Quarter, Ryan Mora jumped on his third fumble recovery of the day.
The offense sputtered most of the day, but that changed when Cole Custar took the reins at Quarterback running inside zones and misdirection handoffs to passes to Jack Anton. After a 34 yard run, Custar punched in the Crushers first score of the game to tie it up at 6.
The defense was strong again, with Kane and Custar notching late sacks to force overtime. But after a three and out, the Mavericks punched one up the middle to take the win.
Juniors: Putnam Generals White 7 – Glenville Mavericks Black 0
The Junior Generals White Team held on for a 7-0 victory over the Glenville Mavericks Black to end the regular season 4-0. The game was a hard fought defensive battle, with a trick play right before the half being the deciding factor.
The game’s only touchdown came on the last play of the half on a double pass from John Sibley to Luke Golden, who then threw to Isaac Snedeker for an amazing 70 yard catch and run. Cristian Gabelli added the extra point with a run up the middle.
The offense ran and passed the ball well throughout the game. Leading the way on the ground were Golden, Snedeker, Gabelli and Bo Carpenteri. Sibley completed a number of passes to Gabelli, Mollett and Golden. The line played well up front led by Cole and Owen Stephens, William Thaler, Andres Gutierrez, Fran Colombo, Alex Duda, Orson Stanton and Hayden Marks.
The defense stepped up once again securing the shutout. It was a team effort keeping the Mavericks off the scoreboard. The stronghold was led by Owen and Cole Stephens, Mollett, Golden, William Ward, Hank Kilcullen, Thomas Lange, Ford Jackson, Sibley, Carpenteri, Ryan Curley, Golden, Snedeker, Colt Goodner, Gabelli and Ford Paulson.
Bulldogs over Generals Blue 18-7
After falling behind early with a quick Generals score, the Bulldogs had to dig deep.The second possession of the first half was led by big offensive plays from Evan Beilenson and Cooper Kitselman along with a huge reception by Grayson Neak. The Bulldogs put up their first points of the game through a Kitselman touchdown led by a monster block from Jack Stanley. The offensive play of Luca Liardi, Nicholas Alfaro, Nico Palermo, Felipe D’Arce, Kyle Polizzi, Finn Hildebrand and Will Iles helped continue to move the Bulldogs down field. To keep the game in check, the Bulldogs played hard nose defense led by Beilenson, Joey Dussich, Andre Vigilante, Sean Harte, Kitselman, Tommy Healy, Colin Mara, Jesse Martines, and Duke Perrucci.
The fourth quarter began with a critical Beilenson touchdown putting the Bulldogs ahead 12-7, which contributed to a complete game for Beilenson. The Bulldogs defense stood strong with big stops from Schneider, Neak, Vigilante, and a drive stopper by Kitselman. With the clock ticking down, the offense continued to click with Vigilante, Harte, Adriano Amodeo, Schneider, Polizzi, Neak, Healy, Kitselman, Beilenson, and Dussich leading the way. A critical catch by Dussich from Kitselman set up another Beilenson touchdown. This put the Bulldogs ahead 18-7. A strong pass rush by the defensive line and a clutch Dussich interception ended any chances of a Generals comeback.
BANTAMS:
BANC Raiders over Bulldogs 20-0
The Bantam Banc Raiders bounced back from their first defeat with a 20-0 victory against the North Mianus Bulldogs. Banc scored on their first offensive play with a 50 yard sweep to Tommy Nalepka who eluded defenders for his first touchdown of the season. That score gave the Raiders a 6-0 lead. Banc’s defense took the field and forced a 3 and out which gave the Raiders the ball back. With momentum on their side, the Banc offense scored their 2nd touchdown, as Jake Nalepka took a handoff up the middle and bounced outside to the endzone for his 6th touchdown on the season. A key block made by Dylan Mootabar led to the 40 yard touchdown run. Colin Brilliant added a 3rd touchdown for the Banc Raiders with a Quarterback keeper that put the game away. Banc won the war upfront for most of the day. Blocking by Ryan Robison, William Berbit and Bryson Boddie allowed running backs Luke Gianetti and Hunter Esterkin to pick up crucial first downs.
Banc’s defense obtained their first shutout of the season. The Raider defense led by Austin Jozwiak at inside linebacker created havoc all day for the Bulldogs. The Nalepka brothers also forced turnovers on the day. Tommy with an interception and Jake caused and recovered a fumble in the 4th quarter. Charlie Curreri also came up big in the final minutes deflecting a pass play that would have surely been a first down for the Bulldogs. The Banc Raiders finish the regular season with a 3-1 record and enter the playoffs as the #1 seed.
The Bantam Bulldogs once again found themselves chasing points early, but overcoming the daunting Raiders D proved to be a tough task. The offensive line did their best to control the line of scrimmage with some hard-nosed blocking by Andrew Baxendale, Niels Oellrich, Gardner Williams, Adrian Nassa and Dylan Coffey. The swarming Raider linebackers made it difficult for RB’s Crosby Cuneo and Dylan Marra to find much daylight despite tough running all game long. QB’s James Stahl and Griffin Trager tried to spread the ball around through both the air and the ground with runs of their own along with throws to WR’s Emerson Matsko and Jack Zapata. Trager, with help from a strong push up the middle by the line, got the Bulldogs their sole first down of the day.
On the other side of the ball, ceding two early scores for a second straight week proved to be the wake up call the D needed to come alive and shut out the Raiders for the last three quarters. Up the gut, Spencer Summerton, Blake Harriss, and Levin Steinbeck clogged up the middle while defensive ends Ryan Steffens and Adam Beilenson fought to contain the edges leading to a pivotal fumble recovery by Beilenson. The linebacking corps of Mason Lawrence, Brody Kitselman, and Ashton Swire were consistently in the backfield making it difficult for the Raiders to find daylight. The defensive backfield was busy all day making sure the Raiders didn’t break off any long runs and were led by veteran safety Ford Gearhart along with promising first-year players Ryan Elrod and Adrian Dedvukaj. Late in the game Dedvukaj came up with a touchdown saving tackle to keep the Bulldogs in the hunt. After a strong finish to this game, the Bulldogs will try to carry their late-game momentum into the playoffs next week.
Putnam Generals 8 – Glenville Mavericks 14
The Maverick Bantams picked up a big win against the Generals in an epic showdown to improve to 2-2 on the season. The Mavericks were led on offense by quarterback Finn Ritman who tossed two touchdown passes to Dane Early for the go-ahead scores. Defensively the Mavericks were led by their linebacking core, who accounted for nearly every tackle and stepped up big when needed. R.C Harvey, Kennedy Gallagher, Brooks Keels, and John Morell were relentless.
The Generals offense was led by Liam Corsano at QB and Brayden Imbrogno, Owen Hadley, Kyle Fusezi and Luka Kostovic at running backs. Fuzesi had a phenomenal 40 yard run to put the points on the board for the Generals in the first half.
The Generals defense put up a solid front stopping the Mavericks running game for the majority of the day. Corsano led the defense in tackles followed by Grayson Updike, Elliott Marks and Holden Lynes all penetrating the Mavericks offensive line to put pressure on their backfield. The Generals outside linebackers Lawson Caffray and Ivica Kursurin contained the Mavericks outside runs. Greg Klein and Luke Bible both had great games at cornerback assisting the Generals safety’s Willett Carpenteri and Aaron Senter.
See also:
PHOTOS: Greenwich Youth Football League Roundup, Oct 9, 2022
PHOTOS: Greenwich Youth Football League Roundup, Oct 2, 2022