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Tigers Tamed in Opening-Round Playoff Loss
No.3 Put Valley breaks down in 25-7 loss to No.6 Westlake
By Ray Gallagher
A little birdie told me on Sunday that some members of the Putnam Valley High football team may (notice emphasis on may & some) have been looking ahead to Rye and the potential Section 1 Class B semifinal matchup between the third-seeded Tigers and the second-seeded Garnets. Not the coaches… I'm sure about that!
Well, let that be a lesson for y'all, if true: Never, ever look past an opponent, particularly when recent history suggests you have no business doing so, what with this being the first football playoff game in school history.
If the Tigers (5-2) did indeed look past No.6 Westlake (5-2) last Saturday night during a 25- 7 home drubbing at the hands of the Wildcats, that might explain part of the problem, but, truth be told, the Tigers broke down all over the field. The offensive line failed to open holes or protect the quarterback, something it had done all season for HB Hugh O'Gorman, who was held to 52 yards on 16 totes.
The defense, which allowed just 41 points over the first six games, got shoved around. Special teams allowed a backbreaking 56-yard punt return for a score. On several occasions, the coaches were forced to call timeouts to get the right players on and off the field.
You name it, it went wrong. And so, the largest crowd to ever attend a Put Valley football game saw a somewhat inferior product, one that could not stop Wildcat RB Jesse Debiase, who rushed for 125 yards and two rushing touchdowns, in addition to the punt he took to the house. The Wildcats will play at No. 2 Rye, the four-time defending sectional champions, Friday at 7pm while the Tigers will host Briarcliff (Saturday at 7pm) in the hopes of winning and qualifying for a Class B bowl game the following weekend for the second time in three years.
The normally-reliant Tiger defense, which yielded an average of one touchdown per game this season, hoped it could turn the game on a dime at the start of the second half when senior LB Antonio Soto, who finished with 11 tackles, sacked Ryan Murphy from the blind side to cause a fumble. Senior DE Pat Considine scooped up the loose ball and returned it 40 yards to paydirt, making for a 19-7 score.
But that was it, The Tigers could not sustain the momentum and soon enough Debiase broke loose along the far sideline, returning a punt that broke the Tigers' spirit.
"That play hurt," Tiger LB Rick Kilmer said of the Debiase return. "We didn't get it done."
Kilmer admitted that a lack of focus "on Westlake" may have kept the Tigers from bringing their A-game, something Coach Frank Heitman never expected, though he stopped short of admitting the Tigers had looked past anybody.
"We knew they were a very good football team based on how tough they played Pleasantville (a 9-0 loss) last week," Heitman said. "But they were better than we thought they were. When your kids don't execute and you get outcoached, that's not a winning combination.
"I don't think we were looking past them to Rye," he added, "at least I hope not. Who looks ahead to Rye… with four straight championships and wins over teams like Harrison? I think Westlake just came out and ran the ball down the field and scored on that first drive, and we hung our heads and never came back from that adversity. We totally shut down emotionally. This was a collective effort, one we hope to have learned from. From defense, to offense, to special teams and coaching… we didn't get it done. We had a shot after our defense scored for us, but that punt return closed the door again."
Still, doors were opened this season, as the Tigers made the playoffs and won a league title for the first time in school history. It's just a shame they couldn't have broken out the popcorn and put on a show for the home crowd last Saturday.
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