Clarkstown North Needs Two Overtimes to Win Season Opener Against North Rockland

About a week and a half before the football season started, Clarkstown North coaches moved junior Billy DeLay from the secondary to linebacker.

In the season opener on Saturday, DeLay made his coaches look rather brilliant as he recorded three sacks, all coming on North Rockland third downs in the Rams 17-10 win against the Red Raiders in double overtime.

“It was tough making the transition from the secondary to linebacker,” DeLay said. “Luckily, we have great coaches who made sure I was prepared and helped me line up where I needed to be.”

After the Red Raiders (0-1) scored late in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead into the half, they had a chance to increase their lead on the first drive of the third quarter. A seven-yard completion from North Rockland quarterback Devin Bovino to receiver Taylor Vippolis set up a third-and-three, but when Bovino dropped back he was almost immediately sacked by DeLay, forcing the Raiders to punt.

On North Rockland’s next drive, the Raiders steadily moved the ball downfield all the way to North’s six-yard line. On third-and-goal, a bad snap sent Bovino running into his own backfield to retrieve the ball, and as soon as he did, he was once again brought down by DeLay, setting up a 37-yard field goal attempt that the Rams blocked to keep the score 7-0 in favor of North Rockland.

DeLay’s last sack just about sealed the game. With North leading 17-10 in the second overtime, North Rockland appeared as though it was easily going to pound the ball into the endzone thanks to running back Rashon Johnson continually bursting through the defensive line.

The Raiders had a third-and-goal from the two-yard line, but a false state pushed them back to the seven. On the ensuing play, DeLay once again found himself in the backfield for a sack and 13-yard loss. On fourth down, Bovino completed a pass to Tom Ginty, who was tackled by DeLay to officially end the game.

“[DeLay] played a heck of a game for us today,” Rams coach Joe Trongone said. “He’s a two-way player for us, he doesn’t ever leave the field, and he was really big for us.”

For the Rams (1-0), it’s their second consecutive win against North Rockland after beating the Red Raiders 14-6 last season. Prior to last year, North Rockland had defeated Clarkstown North 31 straight times, dating back to 1979.

“When we beat them last year, our guys started to believe that we can play with them year in and year out,” Trongone said.

DeLay knew it would be a big game with the stands packed with people, and how important it was for the Rams to start the season off positively.

“We wanted to show people last year wasn’t a fluke, and that we’re here to make some noise this year and get to the playoffs,” he said. “North Rockland has a great program, and they’re good every year. We want to show people that Clarkstown North football isn’t going to let anyone walk all over it.”

While DeLay came up big defensively, his teammate Marco Cavaliere made huge plays all over the field, especially once regulation ended.

In the first overtime, North Rockland started out with the ball, and faced a third-and-nine from the 19-yard line. Bovino dropped back and unloaded a pass toward the endzone for Leonard Gjeloshi. Before the ball could get to the senior receiver, Cavaliere slipped in front of him and swatted away the ball, forcing North Rockland to settle for a field, which put the Raiders up 10-7.

Since high school football follows college overtime rules, both teams get at least one drive with the ball starting from the defense’s 20-yard line, opposed to a sudden death format. On the Rams ensuing possession, it looked like they were about to lose the game, facing a fourth-and-16 from the 26-yard line. Rams quarterback Travis Samuels dropped back and then took off to the right side, cut back toward the middle of the field to avoid a defender and narrowly got the first down.

“We called for a pass, but gave him the option to run for it if he thought he had it. We put the ball in his hands,” Trongone said, adding initially when Samuels took off, he didn’t think his senior quarterback would get the first down.

After extending the drive, the Rams couldn’t move the ball much more, setting up a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line. Right before North snapped the ball and Cavaliere kicked it through the uprights, North Rockland called a timeout. After the short break, once again Cavaliere lined up to kick, and once again hit it, tying the game and forcing a second overtime.

In the second extra period, North started off with the ball, and was facing a third-and-two from the 13-yard line. Samuels faked a handoff, ran left and made an off-balanced throw to the left side of the endzone, where Cavaliere managed to catch the ball while keeping his feet in bounds to give North the 17-10 lead, and eventually the game.

The Rams punched in their first score with just 6:17 to go in the game, when Samuels scored on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. Samuels scored on a delay, first faking the handoff to DeLay and then waiting behind his offensive line for a split second before thrusting the ball over the plane.

The Red Raiders kicked off the scoring on an impressive 42-yard strike from Bovino Jarrett Hilton, who beat a North defender down the sideline to haul in the pass. North Rockland will look to even out its record on Friday when it travels to White Plains at 7 p.m.

The Rams will host their home opener Friday against Lincoln at 7 p.m.