Football: Huskies Look to Ride Defense to Kingston

With a trip to the state final four on the line, Section 1 champion Harrison (8-1) will play Section 9 champ Wallkill (10-0) at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12 at Mahopac High School in the state Class A quarterfinal.

Whichever team advances Friday will play the winner of Section 2 champ Burnt Hills and Section 10 champ Potsdam at Dietz Stadium in Kingston at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19.   If the Huskies are to make it to Kingston, they will need a defensive effort similar to the one they enjoyed in their previous contest, a 6-0 win against Horace Greeley.   

Greeley came into that contest with one of the most explosive offensive units in all of Section 1, but couldn't get on the board against a stingy Harrison defense. Harrison senior defensive tackle Michael Callari said that he and his teammates will have to be on the top of their game again if they want to stop a speedy group of Wallkill offensive players.   

"If our front seven plays as good as it did against Greeley and our secondary covers their receivers—they are going to have some fast kids—but if we do everything right like we did the last game, we should win it," Callari said.   

Wallkill runs a spread offense, primarily out of the shotgun formation. The Section 9 champs use their speedy backs and receivers to quickly move the ball to the outside and middle screens and draws to keep teams honest up the middle.  

They have a mobile quarterback in junior Eric Wellmon and a reliable running back in senior Dominick Calvanico.

Although Harrison has already faced a pass-happy offense in their playoff victory over John Jay, the Huskies will have to adjust to a somewhat different look than they are accustomed to.

"Their speed, they have a lot of speed on their team," Callari said. "They are just a very good football team. We are going to have to play at a whole new level because we have never seen something like this before, we never have played this team before so we are going to have to adjust and work hard like we have been doing all week in practice, and if we do that and we play at the level that we know we are capable of playing at and better, we should be fine."

The game will be a challenge for a Harrison defense that has really meshed during their playoff run after a tough loss to Rye in the regular season finale.    

"We are just going to have to make sure that we fill up the gaps, don't leave any room because their quarterback and running backs are going to be able to cut the ball outside, cut the ball inside," Callari said. "We have to make sure that we clear a wall at the line of scrimmage and give them nowhere to go."   

If the Huskies can advance, it would mean a lot to a senior class that has waited a long time for this moment.   

"It would mean a lot to all of us, especially since some of even the four-year starters on this team haven't even been here," Callari said. "We have been playing with each other since seventh grade and to finally be able to go this far is a great experience for us."   

An experience they have been thinking about since they were in middle school.   

"It's been amazing," Callari said. "Seventh grade and eighth grade we were undefeated when we played together. Then JV we got split up, some got pulled up to varsity and some stayed down. But all we said throughout our younger years is that we want to be state champions."