SOMERS, N.Y. - The first round of the playoffs rarely comes with drama for the Somers football team, and a sparse crowd seemed to reflect that expectation. That said, Cam Violante confirmed the same sentiment on the field against Clarkstown North.
“One hundred percent we were flat,” said the receiver, and a 7-0 deficit late in the second quarter said as much on Friday, Oct. 30. But his touchdown reception with 56 seconds remaining began the shift, and the locker room conversation did the rest.
“There was a lot of stuff to figure out,” he said, declining to reveal the volume of the halftime discussion, and Somers took charge with two straight touchdowns that paved the way for a hard-fought 21-14 victory.
Still, the game started business as usual. Clarkstown punted after three plays, and Somers started its evening with great field position. A screen left to Evan Maurolo went for a first down, and the engines were ready to rev. Not quite. The receiver fumbled the ball.
Tyler Ortiz scooped up the ball and set his team up 35 yards away. At 8:39, Clarkstown didn't get fancy. The visitors ran the ball seven times, including Alex Londino's 3-yard touchdown run with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter.
At 7-0 following Danny Hershfield's extra point, an anomaly it had to be. Three plays later, after Luke Balancia was tackled in the backfield for a loss, the uncertainty was not yet over.
Even so, Somers' subsequent punt pinned Clarkstown at its own 8, and just six yards gained had to mean the Tuskers were ready to explode. Starting at the 42, the offense got a break on a Tristan Iglesias pass to the sideline.
The defender's raised hands looked like a deflection. Instead, the ball squeezed through, and Violante's concentration made for a 27-yard completion to the 31.
A Balancia run and a sneak made for a fourth-and-4 at the 20, and the kicking team never moved. The quarterback went left to Violante, and Somers was set up at the 12. However, a short run and a dropped pass set up third down, and while eight yards was well within the Somers margin for error, Iglesias was sacked.
At the 21, an incompletion turned the ball over on downs, but concern wasn't yet panic. Clarkstown's punt after one first down kept everything in order, and maybe the defense had awakened the herd.
Actually, it was a pass interference penalty on second-and-9 that did the trick. Violante, with a step on the sideline, drew a yellow flag on the cornerback's hold at 1:34, and Somers moved to midfield.
Two Balancia runs later, Somers was at the 23, and on first down, Iglesias lined up in the shotgun. Rolling a little to his left, he hit Violante on the sideline. With little room to work, the senior cut inside, eluded the first defender and willed his way into the end zone with 56 seconds left in the half.
Momentum didn't erase the rest of the first-half performance, though.
“We knew we had to step it up,” said Carmelo Gioffre.
No doubt Harry Brelesky was the first to apply the message. On the opening kickoff of the second half, the junior picked up the squib kick at the 30, found a seam and, after a few broken tackles, Somers had the ball just 15 yards away.
The Tuskers didn't give Clarkstown the chance to wince, either. Iglesias dropped back, and Maurolo's cut across the middle gave the receiver a chance to redeem himself. He reached the end zone, and Somers went up 14-7 on Hershfield's extra point.
Now it was time to see if the defense got the message. It seemed to, but a roughing-the-passer penalty gave Clarkstown four more downs.
Only a blip. Two runs went nowhere, and then the Somers front line came crashing down. The Clarkstown quarterback went down with it, and the defense was far from grounded at this point.
“We were flying,” said Violante.
A short punt gave Somers the ball at midfield, and the enthusiasm left nothing up in the air. Iglesias threw a screen right to Violante for 15 yards and next went over the middle to Maurolo for 12 more. A facemask penalty added 10, and Iglesias did the rest with a quarterback sneak at 6:41.
The writing was on the wall, but Clarkstown refused to read it. Especially Ortiz, who got outside and ran 45 yards to the Somers 35. Not done, he shared duties with Londino on four more runs, including the final 10 yards to make it a 21-14 game.
With the score coming at 2:43, Clarkstown attempted an onside kick that didn't travel 10 yards. Somers started at midfield, ready to gear it up some more.
Once again, Clarkstown did not oblige. Preston Compton stepped in front of Iglesias' short pass to the right, and a clear path ahead was the immediate image.
“You can't quit when something bad happens,” said Gioffre, and the quarterback didn't hesitate to get in the way for the tackle.
The Rams started at the 32, but the rest of the Somers defense didn't stop playing, either. Three plays later, a fourth-and-2 remained. Londino got the handoff, and Cole Kennedy got into the backfield for the tackle.
The wait for the spot was still tense, but Somers got the ball back with 42 seconds left in the third quarter. A sideline pass to Violante gained nine yards, and the offense seemed to take the cue. Not so fast. Two runs for no gain forced Somers to punt, and the Rams took over at their own 42.
There, the fourth seed stayed on the ground, and the moment of truth emerged with a third-and-4 from the 31. First, George Sullivan made the tackle in the backfield, and on fourth down, Gioffre knew how big his stop was.
“That was the game right there,” he said. “We had to get a stop, and I want to give credit to the rest of the defense.”
With 3:51 to go, Somers was ready to grind out the clock until a first-down run went nowhere. So Iglesias threw right, and Maurolo pulled in the pass for a first down. Jayden Abruzese and Iglesias picked up another first down, and there was 1:49 left to kill.
Two runs for no gain and two timeouts left 50 seconds on the clock, and even though the Rams had no timeouts remaining, taking a knee would probably give Clarkstown one more play.
Sorry, the Tuskers weren't taking any chances. Iglesias hit Violante over the middle, and the receiver reveled in the coach's confidence.
“It shows he has trust in his players,” said Violante.
Even so, he didn't forget the lackluster first half.
“We know that can't happen next week,” Violante concluded.
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