Big finish lifts Wildcats
Hoosick Falls, Tamarac combining on unbeaten season
Hoosick Falls/tamarac quarterback Michael Dagostino throws three touchdown passes and the Wildcats use a prolific second half to top Coxsackie-athens.
Three turnovers and a botched punt snap during the second quarter threatened to derail the Hoosick Falls/tamarac football team Friday night. The Wildcats watched Coxsackie-athens
turn the final miscue into a field goal to conclude the first half.
Instead of continuing on its downward path, the Wildcats dug deep and put together a memorable second-half showing. After having a kickoff return for a touchdown waved off by a penalty, Hoosick Falls/ Tamarac proceeded to score on its first play from scrimmage on a 77-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Dagostino
to Bryan Mackey. The final 24 minutes ultimately proved to be something Coxsackie-athens would like to forget as the Wildcats roared away for a 45-3 victory that clinched a berth in the fourteam Class C playoffs.
Operating in its first year as a merged program, the Wildcats (4-0 overall, 4-0 Class C) moved forward this season without coach Ron Jones, who died last April. The schools combined their coaching staffs and have made it work.
“It has actually been very smooth,” said Hoosick Falls/ Tamarac senior running Peyton Nealon. “I don’t see us as two schools. I see us as one family.”
The new family got tested Friday as Coxsackie-athens (2-1, 2-1), a program that won a combined two games in two years entering this Fall Season II campaign, came into the
game with a pair of shutout wins and headed to intermission trailing just 7-3 following a 23-yard field goal by Spencer Tergeoglou. The response by the Wildcats proved emphatic as they generated six touchdowns after intermission: four rushing and two more on touchdown passes from Dagostino, a sophomore making his second start since replacing Greg Mays.
“These kids are good,” Hoosick Falls/tamarac coach Erick Roadcap said. “What we are all most proud of is how they kept their heads up. When bad things happen, great teams respond to adversity. That is what we’re doing right now. The merger is brand new, but the coaches did not give up on the kids, the kids did not give up on us and they believed in it. That is tough. When things go south, you see the kids’ true colors. How are you going to respond? We got rolling and I could not be prouder.”
Roadcap, the long-time coach at Tamarac, said he met with Jones at least a dozen times in preparation for the merger. After Jones died, Hoosick Falls assistant coach Chris Fleming reached out to Roadcap and the two moved forward with the plans. Fleming is running the defense and Roadcap is handling the offense.
The play that changed the complexion of the game found Mackey wide open on a short pass from Dagostino. When the sophomore turned around in the middle of the field, there was no Coxsackie-athens defender within 15 yards of him and he dashed untouched for the touchdown.
“That was definitely very motivating,” Nealon said of the Dagostinoto-mackey touchdown connection.
Coxsackie-athens drove down the field, but missed on a field goal. After failing to move the ball on its next possession, Hoosick Falls/ Tamarac got the ball back immediately when Dylan Grogan made a leaping interception along the sideline. Four plays later, Josh Colegrove dashed 25 yards for a touchdown as the Wildcats led 19-3.
James Blake later turned a thirdand-10 reception along the sideline into a 42-yard touchdown for the Wildcats when the sophomore wide receiver broke two tackling attempts at the 35 and sprinted into the end zone.
“We came out hard and physical (in the second half ). We were able to get our stuff together,” said Nealon, who paced his team’s rushing attack with 118 yards on 21 carries.
Nealon reeled off a trio of impressive runs, the last covering 13 yards, to help extend the lead to 32-3. Colegrove added another touchdown run and Grogan contributed a 14-yard touchdown run as the Wildcats outscored Coxsackie-athens 38-0 in the second half.
“We couldn’t move the ball offensively. After a while, the defense got worn down,” Coxsackie-athens coach Fred Howard said. “We don’t have a big team and they got tired.”
The Wildcats’ defense limited Coxsackie-athens to 118 yards on 52 plays.
“Our ‘D’, wow, I could not ask for much more from our defense,” Roadcap said.
Dagostino finished with an impressive outing, completing 8 of 12 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns.
“He took some big shots and fumbled the ball once, but I love how he responded,” Roadcap said.
Regardless of its result on April 16 against Cairo-durham/catskill, Hoosick Falls will represent the South Division in the playoffs beginning
in Week 6. The Wildcats have posted two shutouts and outscored their opponents 140-11.
“There is something special here,” Roadcap said.
After the game, Howard consoled some of his players who were distraught with how the second half unfolded.
“They got punched in the mouth today. I truly believe that is a wakeup call,” Howard said. “When it means something to you, it is going to hurt.”
Coxsackie-athens can still clinch a playoff berth if it can defeat Taconic Hills in Week 5.
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