Jim MacLean photos
Fox Lane quarterback John Czernyk fights his way into the end zone for a touchdown.
By JIM MACLEAN
When you are facing the defending New York state champions on the road you can’t afford to fall behind, but that was exactly the scenario for the Fox Lane varsity football team as the Foxes faced rival Somers under the lights Friday night, Sept. 27.
Somers put on a show for the home crowd as the Tuskers jumped out to a 35-0 lead at halftime. Fox Lane responded with a strong third quarter, but the Tuskers showed why they are two-time defending state champions as they closed out a 49-12 victory over the Foxes.
“Not our best first half, but I was proud of how we responded,” said Fox Lane coach Drew Giuliano. “We tried to do too much in the first half. Once we did what we do well and played our normal stuff we seemed to be able to hang in there a little more.”
Coming out at halftime, Fox Lane took the opening kickoff of the second half and took to the air to try and rally back. Quarterback John Czernyk connected on a pair of first down passes to Mac Keller and Will Rudolph to get the Foxes moving.
That set up the Foxes best play of the night as Czernyk connected with Declan Connors, who took it down the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown catch with 10 minutes left in the third quarter to make it 35-6.
The Fox Lane defense then did its job, holding Somers on three straight plays to force a punt, and the Foxes took over on their own 14-yard line.
Jim MacLean photos
Left to right, Declan Connors hauls in a touchdown pass for the Foxes against Somers. Fox Lane’s Mac Keller tries to escape a tackle after a reception. Owen Baker carries after a catch for Fox Lane at Somers.
Once again it was Czernyk taking to the air to move the Foxes down the field. Czernyk started the drive with a first down pass to Keller. A pass interference penalty gave the Foxes another first down, and then Czernyk connected with Rudolph to move the chains again. It was Czernyk to Keller for another first down, and then a pass to Rudolph moved the ball down to the Somers two-yard line. Czernyk carried it in on the keeper for the score to make it 35-12 with 3:14 left in the third quarter.
However, Somers wasted no time answering to stop any thoughts of a comeback for Fox Lane as the Tuskers returned the ensuing kick off to the Fox Lane 20-yard line and Matt Kelly scored on the next play to make it 42-12.
Fox Lane tried to respond as Czernyk completed a first down pass to Owen Baker. A run by Connors and a pass completed to Logan Mammola kept the drive going for the Foxes, but the Tuskers came up with an interception and capped off their ensuing drive with another touchdown to make the final score 49-12.
Fox Lane piled up the yards on offense as Czernyk completed 18 passes to six different receivers for a total of 240 yards and the one touchdown pass to Connors. He also ran it in for a touchdown. Keller had six catches for 85 yards, while Rudolph also finished with six catches for 47 yards. Connors had the long touchdown catch, and Baker had three catches for 36 yards.
On defense, Rudolph led the way for Fox Lane with nine tackles. Will Broghammer had eight tackles, including one for a loss. Luke Ryan made seven tackles for the Foxes.
“When you find yourself in those lopsided first half games, the only real message you can deliver the team is that we have to finish,” Giuliano explained. “What’s done is done, there is no leaving or mercy rule in football, so we took that as a life lesson to bear down and finish. Somers no doubt is solid all around; I don’t think our guys up front did a bad job, but at the skill positions we were outmatched. It is what it is, and I continue to praise our coaching staff for doing a tremendous job getting our kids prepared every week and to get everything we can out of our kids. We just need to play cleaner games against the more established teams.”
Fox Lane will face another tough test against an established team this weekend as the Foxes were set to host rival Yorktown on Saturday, Oct. 5. Yorktown comes to town with a 3-1 record, while Fox Lane stands at 1-2 overall.
コメント