MAHOPAC, N.Y.— At halftime last Friday night at Mahopac, it was shaping up to be a miserable Homecoming night for the Wolf Pac.
The Pac, which had hoped to dominate the Bears (Brewster was 0-5 vs. Mahopac since head coach Dominick DeMatteo arrived), had to watch as Brewster put two touchdowns on the board in the first half for a 13-0 lead, while the Bears defense pitched a shutout as well.
But all that changed after halftime, as Pac sophomore QB Ethan Dedvukaj twice managed to connect with junior wideout Lorenzo Echandy for touchdowns—midway through the third, and with 1:54 in the fourth. Coupled with a blocked PAT on Brewster’s second score, and a fourth-quarter safety (both compliments of senior tackle Landon Varley), Mahopac squeezed out just enough points to sour Brewster’s upset hopes, 14-13.
The win lifted Mahopac to 3-1, the best start to a season since DeMatteo arrived eight years ago.
“The kids may have thought they were going to mow Brewster down,” DeMatteo said. “When they didn’t go up the way they expected, a little panic may have set in. Because we made some mistakes that allowed them to get points.”
Varley, a team captain, said Mahopac didn’t underestimate Brewster.
“We were prepared,” he said. “We knew they were a good team. We just weren’t locked in. We made some bad mistakes, that wasn’t our best football.
“I told the guys at halftime that we can’t give up like we did against Somers,” Varley went on. “We’re the better team, and if we play like us, we win. There was some frustration, but we were calm because we know how we can play. We went into the second half confident and ready to play our kind of football.”
DeMatteo said the talk was just what the doctor ordered.
“Landon really stepped up as a captain at halftime,” he said. “He calmed the guys down. And I never doubted for a second that we could come back.”
Dedvukaj found Echandy with a 31-yard touchdown strike with 7:29 left in the third, but the PAT sailed wide, leaving the Pac down 13-6,
After pinning the Bears deep in their own end early in the fourth, Varley sacked Bears QB KJ Dillon in the end zone for a safety and a 13-8 score, setting the stage for Dedvukaj again. And with 1:54 remaining he found Echandy, this time for a 55-yard score and the lead. Senior Mike Trinchitella’s clutch interception on Brewster’s last possession sealed the deal.
“I saw a better sense of focus in the second half, which translated into execution,” DeMatteo said. “We went 7-of-11 on third downs, and Ethan hit two big ones. Ethan is getting better and better every week. He’s more efficient, and we really could’ve had four scores. We got two TDs, but could have had more.
“Echandy is becoming a dynamic player, and Jack Clifford gave us some good runs in the second half,” he added. “Our O line performed well. Matt Reilly had a good game for us. That block on their second TD was huge, it showed they were resilient, not feeling sorry for themselves. The safety was big. Then we got a big play from Matt Dugan and backed ’em up.”
“We stopped the run and pass in the second half,” Varley said. “And we moved the ball on every drive.”
And undoubtedly, 3-1 feels a lot different from the 2-2 mark that was staring the Pac in the face.
“That was huge,” Varley said. “It’s the first time we’ve been 3-1 with coach DeMatteo, and for it to be after we were down two touchdowns, and to stay unbeaten vs. Brewster, felt really good.”
The win keeps Mahopac’s hopes for a home playoff game alive. The team needs to win out for that to happen.
“We feel really good about our playoff hopes right now,” Varley said. “We feel like we can hang with just about anyone, and we believe we have what it takes to make a run.”
NOTES: Mahopac lost junior captain and standout RB/LB Nate Mascoll 30 seconds into the second quarter with a knee injury. DeMatteo said Mascoll is dealing with an LCL sprain and is hoping to return by the playoffs… Dedvukaj completed 11-of-20 attempts for 155 yards, two TD’s and one int... Clifford had 16 carries for 57 yards… Echandy finished with three catches for 93 yards and two TDs… Nick Tardio had two for 24, and Ronan Hunter had two for 22… Varley and Reilly each had one sack… Trinchitella had one int, and he and Varley led Mahopac in tackles with five each.
Mahopac hits the road this week to take on Lakeland on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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