Football: Huskies Roll Roosevelt In Season Opener

Stephen Ricciardi, Tanner Knox, James Tirella and Thomas Lovinger all scored touchdowns as the Huskies routed defending Class A Section I champion Roosevelt 37-9 Saturday afternoon in Harrison.

Roosevelt started the game with an impressive drive that left the Indians knocking on the Harrison goal line. Roosevelt Head Coach Mike Meade used quarterback Alton Ritter and running backs Klaudio Selimaj and Thomas Boddie in a wide variety of run and pass plays to march down the field.

Much like last season, the Huskies had issues against the quick-pace spread attack of the Indians. Roosevelt, however, settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. 

"They drove the ball the first time and then we kind of tightened up defensively," said Harrison Head Coach Art Troilo Jr. "We are happy, obviously, that we were able to tighten up at the end of the game."

Harrison answered on the team's first possession with an option play perfectly executed by sophomore quarterback Vincent Nicita to halfback Steven Riccardi. Nicita took the ball outside and began to run, but at the last minute pitched the ball to Ricciardi, who gained more than 20 yards.

The Huskies kept the ball on the ground, using Ricciardi and Nicita, along with Acompora and Knox before the opening drive stalled inside the Indians 20 yard-line. Harrison settled for a Roberto Bruno 36-yard field goal to tie the game late in the first quarter.

The following Indian drive set the pace for the remainder of the game, as the Huskies shut down the run and sacked Roosevelt quarterback Alton Ritter, forcing a punt.

After a personal foul for fair-catch interference, Tanner Knox burst through the Roosevelt secondary for a 44-yard run. Ricciardi finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run and the Huskies jumped to a 9-3 lead.

"We ran the triple (option) and everyone thought the fullback had it," said Ricciardi. "I just walked in."

On the first Roosevelt play following the touchdown, Ritter rolled right and threw a pass down the middle of the field into the arms of Knox for a Husky interception. Harrison would only need three plays for Knox to find the end zone on a run up the middle to extend the lead to 16-0.

The remainder of the half—and game—was all Harrison, as the Huskies dominated the aerial and ground games on both sides of the ball. Harrison's Riccardi broke for several long runs and the Huskies led 22-3 by halftime. 

"We played our hearts out," said Harrison senior Duke Alvora. 

It was more of the same in the second half as the Huskies forced several turnovers used a powerful ground attack to jump to a 37-3 lead at one point. The Huskies subbed out most of their starters by the time the Indians were able to score their first touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

The blowout was a bit of a surprise given the result of last year's game between the teams, when Roosevelt beat Harrison by double-digits en-route to the section championship.

Although Roosevelt had clearly lost some key contributors from a year ago, the win had Harrison fans going home with high hopes for the rest of the season.

"It's really a team effort and we've got some kids who stepped up," said Troilo Jr. "We've got some pretty good athletes. We've had better athletes, but we've never had as many guys who can make plays as we do now."

Harrison's next game will be under the bright lights of McGillicuddy Stadium as the Huskies welcome Sleepy Hollow on Thursday night.

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