Pawling 26, Dover 13

Anthony Reda runs for touchdowns of 71 yards, 40 yards, and 25 behind Clarkson, Cato and Company

Emerson, Moore and Young lead Dover in late rally that falls short

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By John M. Benson
September 26, 2007

Pawling running back Anthony Reda took a pitch from quarterback P.J. Pancio, sweeping to the right behind a convoy of Tiger blockers, made the corner and rambled 71 yards up the sideline for the Pawling touchdown on just the third play from scrimmage to give Pawling the 8-0 early in the first quarter.

Dover and Pawling fought a ferocious battle in the trenches with both offensive lines able to pound out yards up the middle, Pawling using fullback Doug Leonaggeo, and Dover using fullback Chris Rizo.

Pawling coach Carl Ferraro and Dover coach Frank Smith, friends and opponents for over 20 years, can both be proud of the effort of their teams in this renewal of the fierce rivalry between the Pawling Tigers and the Dover Dragons.

Tiger fullback Doug Leonaggeo had an outstanding game, as he and quarterback P.J. Pancio and halfbacks Anthony Reda and Bill Vitro ran behind the powerful offensive line of Cody Clarkson, Nick Cato, Doug Bauer, Nico Musella, Joe Hyatt/Don Otto, Ray Gordineer and Brendan Reinert.

Pawling is now 2-2, and with two home games remaining during the regular season, the Tigers are intent on a post-season run through the playoffs. Dover is now 1-3, with an uphill challenge to make the playoffs.

Additional Tigers who play defense and some offense include Zach Soechtig, Chris Mayes and John Petti. Special teams players include Jon Sora, Chris Johnson, Eric Gasparich, Drew Durkin, Stephan Attzs, Corey Vitro, Zachary Grover, Rob Osborne, Luke Testa, Mike Hom and Bill Maxwell.

Dragon fullback Chris Rizo gained all of his valuable up the middle, as he and quarterback Greg Emerson and halfbacks Derek Sanchez and Andrew Ferraro ran behind their massive offensive line of Kevin Moore, Dylan Young, Eric Robbins, Eddie Bouton, Bill Greenlease, Mark Arena and Joe Cook.

Additional Dragons who play on defense and some offense include Andrew Felix, Justin Campbell, Gregory Eisenhut, David Sanchez and Brandon Hamilton. The roster is filled out by Corey Celik, Nick Jaouen, Matthew Hogue, Caleb Heinrich, Deshawn Williams, Jim Brown, Brendan Hamilton, Thomas Berry, Ken Wallace, Zack Borner, Joseph Romeo, Kevin Gleason, Josh Dubrey, Andrew Frame, Anthony Tyler, John Erenberg, Lionel Bowser, Anthony Galente, Mason Mullamphy and Dale Spencer.

The clash of the offensive fronts with the equally determined defensive units was no place for the timid of heart, as the Tigers and the Dragons fought for every inch of yardage gained and yardage lost in play from the line of scrimmage.

In the first half, Dover simply had no answer for Anthony Reda, who used his speed and deception to run for the 71-yard score on the first series from the line of scrimmage, and another touchdown romp of 40 yards in the second quarter when he swept left, found himself in a traffic jam, reversed his field, and raced all the way back to the right side and into the end zone to increase the Pawling lead to 20-0 at halftime.

In between those Reda highlights, Pawling defensive end Don Otto forced a bad punt from Dover after the first Dragon possession in the first quarter to give the Tigers a short field at the Dover 35-yard line.

The Pawling offensive line asserted itself and ferried the Tiger running backs down the field to the end zone.

In quick succession, Reda gained ten yards on pitch sweep right, Reda swept left for four yards, Leonaggeo jammed it up the middle for two yards, and Pancio ran a keeper and swept left up the sideline, enough for a first down but a holding penalty brought it back for a third and 5 at the  Dover 19-yard line. Reda ran the pitch sweep again to the left for 16 yards and first and goal at the three. Leonaggo followed Clarkson, Cato, Bauer, Musella, Hyatt and company up the middle for the touchdown. When the PAT failed, Pawling led 14-0 in the first quarter.

Dover had not played badly, giving up the long run to the extremely fast Reda, and a touchdown on a short field of 35 yards, but after just two Pawling possessions and one of their own, the Dragons were looking up at a 14-point deficit before they really had a chance to get started.

On the ensuing Dover possession, Pawling defensive end Don Otto forced a fumble and recovered it himself at the Dragon 40-yard line, setting up more Reda heroics.

Reda made a truly spectacular touchdown run of 40 yards in the second quarter. Sweeping to the left, he stopped at the left sideline when he found himself cut off by the Dover defense, reversed his field, and raced all the way across the field to score on the right side of the field.

The Dragons were in a position where they could easily have felt it was over when Pawling led 20-0 at the half.

But the Dragons came back out in the second half determined to get back into the game.

Pawling returned for the second half with the same dedication, and the two teams once again staged a battle for the ages in the trenches. Young and Moore led the Dragons, while Clarkson, Cato and Bauer led the way for the Tigers. The clash of these lines could be heard well up into the fiercely dark clouds that threatened to storm down their answering thunder and lightning from the sky. If you don’t believe me, see the photo of the sky in the accompanying Photo Gallery.

But there was still nothing Dover could do about Anthony Reda.

Using its outstanding offensive line, Pawling was moving the ball with consistency on the first drive of the second half, but Dover had stiffened and forced the Tigers into a third-and-ten at the Dover 25-yard line.

Dover got good penetration on third down and broke up the handoff on the inside reverse, forcing a fumble, but Reda reached down and picked it up, broke a couple of tackles to get into the open, and raced through the secondary for the touchdown that really broke the proverbial camel’s back for Dover.

Pawling now led by a score of 26-0.

Dover continued to play hard. Late in the fourth quarter, when Brendan Hamilton found himself in traffic on the right side on what seemed to be the end of a sweep right, he took a page from Reda’s book, reversed field, and rambled 40 yards to the left side of the field to be forced out of bounds at the Pawing 1-yard line. Emerson handed the ball to Rizo, who followed center Kevin Moore into the end zone for the Dover touchdown.

When the PAT failed, Dover trailed 26-6.

Dover forced another fumble by Pawling on the next series, but this time, Dragon Derek Sanchez wrapped himself around it and secured the possession for Dover with about two minutes remaining in the game.

Dover took over with first and ten at the Pawling 20-yard line, but the Pawling defense was there again to stop the Dragons, forcing Dover into a deathly fourth down and 11 yards to go from the Pawling 21-yard line.

Pawling and Dover were both still playing in the final minutes as if the game were tied and the win still available to anyone.

Emerson took the ball on fourth down and rolled to his right, then tucked it in and raced up the sideline where he was forced out of bounds at the Pawling 1-yard line.

A false start penalty took the Dragons back to the 6-yard line, and Dover coach Frank Smith called a time out. He challenged his offensive line to show the kind of power of which it is capable, and sent them back out to get the final touchdown of the game.

On the snap of the ball, Moore, Young & Company surged forward, with Emerson following them running the improbable quarterback sneak all the way from the 6-yard line.

As the last picture in the Photo Gallery shows, Dover did score against the very proud Pawling defense, and the game ended at 26-13.