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As the October rain let up and darkness descended on Loucks Stadium at White Plains High School, the tone was ominously set for a tough, “grind-'em-out" football game between the Tigers of White Plains and the Putnam Valley Tigers. With Putnam Valley coming to town with a huge front line and a fullback to match, the boys from White Plains were a little concerned since they had lost starting linemen Johnny Pasqualini and Jordan McKee to injuries during the week.
Once again defensive coordinator Chuck Gray pulled all the right strings, and the defense, led by Reuban Villa, Caleb Gillen and Alex Sagnibene shut down Putnam Valley on drive after drive.
The rest of the half was punctuated by some big defensive stops in the Putnam Valley backfield by Sidney Moshette, Jake Petfield and Nazir Hibbert. With less than 2 minutes to play in the half and the score knotted at 0 to 0, White Plains took over at its own 19 yard line.
After two quick runs, head coach Chris Hatzilouloudes decided it was time to go to the air. On third and long quarterback Brody McGuinn hooked up with Christos Hatzilouloudes on an out pattern for 25 yards. Two plays later, McGuinn found Jayson Crilley behind the secondary, hit him in stride, and as time expired, Crilley, sprung by a big block from Hatzilouloudes, jetted into the end zone for a 52-yard TD connection.
In the second half, the Tigers lost Hatzilouloudes (broken arm) and Hibbert (ribs), but defensive backs Michael Huebner, Josiah Gilbert, Avery Turten and Sean Larkin all stepped up and were awesome. Late in the fourth quarter the Tigers threatened again. After McGuinn connected with Gillen for an 18-yard gain, and Crilley found the end zone for his second TD on the night. In the end White Plains prevailed 16-6.
The Tigers will face off against their crosstown rivals the Bernies at Parker Stadium, Highlands Campus, at 10:30 Saturday, Oct. 18. It should be a good one, so don’t miss it.
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