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OSSINING, N.Y. For one quarter, it seemed as though the Ossining High School football team was going to give undefeated Somers a fight.
Somers jumped out to a 19-0 lead Friday, but Ossining scored 16 unanswered points in the second quarter to cut the lead to three going into halftime.
Then the Tuskers answered with a touchdown early in the third quarter that made it 27-16, and they clamped down on the Pride the rest of the way to earn a 33-22 win and drop Ossining to 2-3 on the season. Ossining quarterback Justin Davidov managed a late touchdown pass with less than three minutes remaining to cut the lead to 11, but it was not enough.
Ossining head coach Dan Ricci said a few key mistakes doomed his team.
Penalties killed us, Ricci said. I thought our kids played really hard. Our kids will never quit. But I think penalties hurt us today. ... We gave the best team in Section 1 all they could handle.
Somers is now 5-0 this season, and the latest win gave head coach Tony Dematteo his 297th career victory as a head coach.
Somers looked out of sorts in the second quarter and for parts of the second half, as Ossinings defense stifled the Tuskers on a few series and came up with a couple of takeaways. But Somers did enough to walk away with the win, particularly on a few big plays.
Somers senior running back Stefano Bicknese again rushed for more than 100 yards, including a 70-yard score in the first quarter.
Bicknese on that counter, hes explosive on that play, Ricci said. We were looking for it. We knew it was coming. We still couldnt stop it.
Ossining now faces a grueling final two games against Poughkeepsie and Sleepy Hollow. But Ricci has confidence that his team can get the job done.
Were the best 2-3 team youre ever going to see, Ricci said. Were not a losing football team. Were going to get it back.
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