Things were looking good—until they weren't.
On the road at Lakeland, Mahopac had a strong first half and took a 13-7 lead into the break—only to see the wheels come off the wagon in the second. Mahopac’s 27-13 league loss on Oct. 3 all but eliminated the Wolf Pac (1-4 overall, 1-3 vs. Section 1) from Section 1 Class A playoff contention.
The second half was a Mahopac disaster: shoddy tackling, poor blocking up front, two questionable unsportsmanlike penalties, drops, interceptions — when it rained it poured — and the Wolf Pac were at the mercy of a second-half Lakeland deluge.
“Now it’s a war and we didn’t respond,” Wolf Pac coach Dominick DeMatteo admitted of the second-half collapse. “I thought we were in control of the game in the first half, up 13-7 and we had a 4th-and-1 at midfield with less than a minute to go. We ran QB wedge and gained seven yards when (QB) Ethan (Dedvukaj) broke through without his forward progress ever being stopped. It was whistled dead. Then, their player ripped Ethan’s helmet off and there was no penalty called. As a result, Ethan had to come out of the game and we could not take a shot that should have been from their 35-yard line.”
After building that six-point lead on touchdown passes from Dedvukaj — first to junior WR Sullivan Hunter (35-yard catch and run), then to senior WR Nick Lucia (75-yard catch and run) — Mahopac received the ensuing kickoff to begin the third.
But then instead of building its advantage, the Wolf Pac delivered a seemingly nonstop series of miscues.
“We opened the second half with a return that hit the 37-yard line,” DeMatteo said. “We were moving the ball then on 3rd-and-6 we went offsides. Now it’s 3rd & 11. We drop a 12-yard completion. We pin them with a punt inside their 10. Then, they proceed to run the ball at us. Their backs are very good and we struggled to tackle them.”
Lakeland’s skill players are a committee as good as the Hornets (4-1) have had in a decade or more. QB Dan Horowitz (2 passing TDs, 126 yards), Michael Zumatto (19 rushes, 92 yards, 71-yard TD catch), Aidan Leonard (22-yard TD catch), Gio LaPeruta (2 rushing TDs, 17 carries, 125 yards, 54 yards receiving) and Anthony Ray (4 catches, 96 yards, 3 rushes, 26 yards) all had their way against the Wolf Pac defense in the second half.
Mahopac’s mettle and fortitude will be tested when Yorktown (2-3) visits at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, with the Wolf Pac clinging to slim hopes of a playoff berth.
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