Coming off a tough 38-7 loss on the road to New England football behemoth Williston Northampton, Rye Country Day took out their anger on Hopkins Grammar at home October 10.
By Mitch Silver
Coming off a tough 38-7 loss on the road to New England football behemoth Williston Northampton, Rye Country Day took out their anger on Hopkins Grammar at home October 10. The Wildcats scored 27 unanswered points in the opening quarter and dominated the Hilltoppers in every facet of the game for a 41-7 victory.
With the first win of the season under their belts, Coach John Calandros’ team hit the road to take on Long Island Lutheran. They also hit the Crusaders… hard. Leading by 15-0 at the half, the Wildcats poured it on in the third period, scoring 19 points and effectively ending the contest.
The only remaining question: would they shut out their hosts on the way to evening their record at 2-2? Behind the yeoman work of junior linebacker Evander Jackson and senior defensive lineman Matt Farber, Country Day denied Lutheran the solace of even a field goal.
Jackson had a field day on both sides of the ball. After forcing a safety halfway through the opening stanza, the Wildcats rode QB Reed Conner’s right arm on a strike to Jackson, his tight end, for a 33-yard touchdown as the quarter was coming to a close.
Ryan Wolitzer took over in the second quarter, breaking through on a 58-yard run at the 5:48 mark. Jackson Shapiro’s kick added the 15th point. Wolitzer found paydirt again after the break, scoring on an 11-yard romp. He had 158 yards on the afternoon.
Two minutes later it was senior Dylan Misisco’s turn. Conner hit him for a 21-yard strike. Then, just 14 seconds later, classmate Peter Sanchez grabbed an errant pass and took it 37 yards to the house.
Though the Wildcats have suffered several injuries —fullback Hannes Boehning remained out — they seem to be back on track. They had better be, because they next host undefeated Hamden Hall, a Fairchester Athletic Association rival that’s racked up a total of 316 points in seven games, a whopping 45 a game! (By way of comparison, the Grandview Avenue squad has rung up 105, less than a third.) Hamden Hall comes off a 50-13 pasting of the King School of Stamford. Kickoff is at 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
