YORKTOWN, N.Y.—It was a big night for Yorktown’s Kaden Gonzalez and Johann Moeritz, as the duo led Yorktown to a 40-7 playoff win against visiting Eastchester on Nov. 1, in the opening round of the Section 1 Class A Tournament.
Gonzalez (14/16, 230 yards, 5 TDs, 4 carries, 55 yards, TD) broke his own Yorktown school records— single-season passing yards and single-season passing touchdowns—against the Eagles. He now has 1,750 passing yards and 24 passing touchdowns this season.
“What helped me break those records is just having trust in the team and my guys,” said Gonzalez, who has thrown 59 touchdown passes for his Husker career. “It takes one step at a time but it starts from the bottom up.”
Moeritz made three catches, all for touchdowns, totaling 72 yards while defensively grabbing an interception.
“Coming into this game, I knew it was a playoff game obviously, and I just had to lock in,” Moeritz said. “I put everything I had out there and that’s the result.”
Moeritz felt that he and Gonzalez were able to hook up for three touchdowns because of the fact that they have known each other since they were young.
“I feel like that’s the biggest thing,” Moeritz said. “We have known each other for so long. We just have a connection, ever since we were young, so that really showed itself on the field.”
Putting the time in on the field was another reason for the duo’s success.
“I feel we have that chemistry because of the work we put in the offseason,” Gonzalez said. “We just practice, working on every single route, going over the timing, that and having trust in your guys is the key.”
Gonzalez’ first touchdown went to Tyler Galante (4 receptions, 37 yards) on a 4-yard pass, giving the Huskers a 6-0 lead with 4:11 to go in the first quarter.
A 25-yard touchdown run by Gonzalez, who first went up the middle before turning to his right and getting just inside the pylon, put the Huskers up 12-0 with 8:33 to go in the second quarter.
“We were obviously passing but usually on a pass I look up and find my receivers down the field because I’m trying to find them but nothing was there so I just trusted my legs,” said Gonzalez, about the third-and-six play.
On the second play of the second quarter, Moeritz came up with an interception that led to a nine-play, 60-yard touchdown drive.
“I just saw the ball in the air, I just went up and got it,” Moeritz said. “That’s what I do.”
That touchdown drive ended with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Gonzalez to Moeritz, putting Yorktown up 19-0 with 2:08 to go in the first half.
“Again, I just saw the ball in the air and when the ball is in the air, you just have to get it, grab it down, and that’s what I did,” Moeritz said. “It felt great and it boosted me to get the rest (two other touchdowns).”
Eastchester began its next drive on its own 18. The Huskers forced a three and out, and because they had all three timeouts to use, they were able to make the Eagles punt at their own 11 with time left on the clock.
That resulted in a five-play, 35-yard drive, which culminated with a 22-yard TD pass from Gonzalez to Moeritz with 34 seconds left in the half. Yorktown took a 26-0 lead into the locker room and cruised from there.
“It’s like the offensive coaches’ dream, to score right before half and we are getting the ball in the second half,” said Yorktown coach Pantelis Ypsilantis. “So we were trying to get something in, whether it was a field goal or touchdown before the half. We practice two-minute drills all week. We practice the scenarios, crowd noise, and everything like that, so we were ready for it. It was fun to see the kids execute in that situation.”
Brady McEnroe (5 receptions, 105 yards, TD), Tyler Caricati (16 carries, 43 yards), Rocco Lore (10 tackles, 3 for a loss), Chad Bowen (2 receptions, 16 yards, 5 tackles, 2 for loss), Ryan Schluter (6 tackles), and Frankie Ofrias (4 PATs) also contributed to the win.
“It’s a real confidence booster,” Gonzalez said of the win. “It feels really good. We have a really good opponent (Rye) next week, we want to get back at. It’s back to work at practice next week.”
Preparation was a big key to the Husker victory.
“We just prepared really well, I thought we had a great week of practice,” Ypsilantis said. “The kids were really locked into what we were trying to accomplish and they were just ready to rock and roll. They got some yards early on us but we held, then we were able to score some points, it was important to get on the board first.”
Yorktown (6-3) is scheduled to travel to Rye for its semifinal contest, most likely at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 8.
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