There were fireworks at the Rye-Sleepy Hollow football game on September 14, but they didn’t come from quarterback Andrew Livingston and the rest of the Garnet offense. Fireworks exploding above Playland were visible from the stands at Nugent Stadium, and were the cause of one of the loudest cheers from Rye’s home fans all night.

 

 

 

 

 

By Michael Gilbert

 

There were fireworks at the Rye-Sleepy Hollow football game on September 14, but they didn’t come from quarterback Andrew Livingston and the rest of the Garnet offense.

 

Fireworks exploding above Playland were visible from the stands at Nugent Stadium, and were the cause of one of the loudest cheers from Rye’s home fans all night.

 

The Garnets came out flat from the start, letting the Headless Horsemen dictate the game on both sides of the ball.

After a scoreless first half on both sides, Head Coach Dino Garr told the players to “finish the way we know we could.”

 

In the second half, Rye regrouped when senior Jack Hasselmann intercepted a pass with 8:55 to go in the third quarter. Livingston proceeded to throw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the middle of the third quarter, but the touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty.

 

The defense picked up Livingston and gave the offense the ball back, but Livingston misread the defense and gift-wrapped it back by throwing a pick with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter. This time, the defense gave up a huge chunk of yardage but recovered and stopped the Horsemen on fourth down at Rye’s seven-yard line.

 

“We were happy with the way the defense played, with the exception of a few mistakes,” said senior Greg Hale.

 

The Garnet defense kept giving Livingston opportunities, and adjusted well to Sleepy Hollow’s option offense, but Rye’s offense continued to make mistakes. Livingston threw another interception late in the third quarter that Sleepy Hollow took to the house, making it 7-0.

 

When Rye returned to the field, the offense looked completely disoriented. Livingston hit Tim Degraw for a four-yard gain, but the play was called back because of a holding penalty. The line did not do a good job giving Livingston time to make his reads, as he had almost no time before he had to improvise and avoid incoming pass rushers.

 

Sleepy Hollow put the nail in the coffin with a fourth-quarter touchdown throw from Devin Lopez to make it 14-0. Degraw had a late interception, but the deficit was too much and Rye fell to 1-1 on the season. (The Garnets defeated Pearl River in their away opener.) Sleepy Hollow improved its record to 2-0.

 

Rye’s defense played well, keeping the offense in the game. But the offense — particularly the offensive line — played poorly. They had no momentum, and the line did not give Livingston a fair chance to make good throws. Much needs to be improved upon if Rye wants to get a win at Eastchester this Saturday.

 

Photos by Daniel Macaulay