Zee-Nite: Football's Back

It’s time for Zee-Nite V, and the fans are sure to go wild, most especially at Friday night’s football game featuring Coach Tony DeMatteo’s well-regarded Somers team.

Zee-Nite, an annual potpourri of events and games celebrated at Tappan Zee High School, is set for Friday and Saturday, with the main event being a much-anticipated football game matching the Dutchmen against Somers at 7 p.m. on Friday night.

Tappan Zee, which won the Independent League championship a year ago, losing just one game, returned to regular Section 1 Class A competition with a resounding 43-6 victory over Walter Panas as junior standout Joe Letizia rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

Somers, coached by DeMatteo, the winngingest coach in Section 1 history with 287 victories, opened its campaign with a come-from-behind 28-20 win over Rye, sparked by senior C.J. Silva’s 117 yards and three TDs on 11 carries.

Somers, the early choice in Class A, scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to overtake Coach Dino Garr’s capable Garnets. The Tuskers relied on a running game between the tackles, using Silva and junior fullback Joe Lombardo with great success in a non-league encounter.

“We had stage fright in the first half, then got it together,” said DeMatteo who, among his many accolades, was the 2003 NFL Coach of the Year in a runoff against five nationwide finalists that included coaches from California, Florida and Texas.

No illusions

DeMatteo--who previously built a powerhouse at Roosevelt in Yonkers and had the Cross County Parkway in The Terrace City named after him and his late brother Don DeMatteo in 2000—said the Tuskers have no illusions about upstart Tappan Zee.

“We are going to have to deal, and be ready to play ball,” offered DeMatteo. “I think it’s an alumni game or something, and they will be off the wall. I don’t think for a minute that it will be an easy game. They have an offense no one sees; hard to defend. It’s a good club. They do some very interesting things. Their single-wing is really a pain in the neck. I’m very impressed.”

Letizia, who got his start on the gridiron with the Orangetown Patriots in Pop Warner, winning a state title, is well-aware of DeMatteo’s pedigree, and the challenge Somers presents.

“Of course I know him, he’s a well-known coach,” said Letizia, who also stars for Tappan Zee as a point guard in basketball. “All week we’ve been on fire in practice, like we always do, but this week is a little extra. Everybody thinks Somers will roll over us, have an easy week, but like I said, we have a lot of confidence going in, and all our coaches seem to be confident. They’re high school kids just like we are—they don’t have an “S” on their chest. We can shock the world.”

Tappan Zee, which won the Independent League bauble last year, but didn’t earn the respect it rightly deserved, opened some eyes in steamrolling Walter Panas.

“Sure it was important,” noted the Dutchmen’s sixth-year coach Andy DiDomenico. “Panas was in Class A, in the mix, it was important for our confidence (to win), but I didn’t anticipate it going that way (lopsided win).”

Another challenge

Somers, of course, is another story, and presents another stern test.

“That’s an elite program,” offers DiDomenico. “We’re looking forward to competing with them. I can’t say how it will go, but every week is a little discovery of how we are, how we stack up, and where we need to go.”

DiDomenico is well-aware of his counterpart on the opposite sideline, and takes due recognition of DeMatteo’s far-reaching success.

“He’s the gold standard in Section 1,” DiDomenico stated flatly. “It’s an honor to be on the same field. I think we all aspire to build a program like he did at Roosevelt, and Somers. From the time I was in high school I heard that name; it’s synonymous with excellence. It’s exciting, and I’m excited for the kids. It’s a great opportunity for them to showcase their ability. The reality is the kids have had a great experience over the course of the last year-and-a-half. Now it’s a new set of opponents. This will be a great test; every week is a test, this week especially.”

Letizia, a team captain, is apparently eager to take the test.

“Against Panas we had a lot to prove,” said Letizia, who was a virtual one-man gang before he cramped up early in the third quarter, and was ordered to sit by the coaching staff. “A lot of people thought the Independent League was a joke. We went into the game thinking we had to make some noise in Section 1, and we have a lot of confidence going into this week.”

DeMatteo, for one, has taken note of Letizia’s abilities.

“I think he played on a championship basketball team as a freshman. He’s shifty, tough, a winner,” DeMatteo lauded.

Letizia’s dad, Joe Sr., is as proud of his son as anyone, and would love to see Tappan Zee pull off the upset.

Fatherly pride

“I am certainly very proud of him, of course,” said Letizia the Elder, owner of Joe’s Barber Shop on Main Street in Tappan, and himself an avid squash and tennis player. Joe Sr. remembers his son exhibiting athletic prowess even as a 2-year-old.

“He’s a natural athlete,” Joe said. “I knew that from when he was little when I used to take him to my squash games, and he would watch the whole time as a 2-year-old! Between games he would go on the court, and whack the ball around. There’s something special about him.”

Letizia’s pulsating performance in the season opener, however spectacular, was not merely a one-man show. Des Djekovic scored on a six-yard scamper, James Scaccia on a 24-yard interception return, and Carlos Aponte on a 15-yard run.

Djekovic had another carry for 34 yards, while Aponte finished with 57 yards on six carries, and added a two-point conversion.

Other TD conversions for the Dutchmen were Kevin Dinnegan’s aerial to senior Billy O’Shea, a pass from Letizia to Brendan Kraemer, and an extra-point boot by Ryan Grant.

Dinnegan also picked up 26 yards to help the cause, and other contributors included Guiseppe Maddalena, Marcus Aponte, Richard Blanchett, and Dennis Carroll.

“Don’t forget our linemen; you should be interviewing them because they do all the work, ” suggested Letizia the Younger, noting that the Dutchmen often run behind the jaw-rattling blocks of seniors Brendan Donohue and Chris McGann, and junior Pat Walpole.

“We have some big boys up there,” agreed Coach DiDomenico, adding the names of junior center Andrew Tomassetti, and junior Cesar Avila.

Extra point: DeMatteo, 68, said he doesn’t see retirement in the near future. “I’m still enjoying it,” he said. “Anyone can go into a game and be excited; when going to practice becomes a job, a chore, that will be it. But right now I feel great, and still look forward to going to practice. I’m still working, in charge of discipline at the high school. This could be my last year, or I could be Joe Paterno (Penn State’s octogenarian coach).”

Z-NITE V, THE LINEUP

Friday

• Girls tennis vs. Nyack, 4 p.m.
• Volleyball vs. Nyack, 4:15 p.m.
• Football vs. Somers, 7 p.m.

Saturday

• Girls swimming vs. Pearl River, 10 a.m., at S. Orangetown Middle School
• Block party, main field at the high school: 1:30-4:30 p.m. (DJ, face painting, food, mascots, Arcade2Go, inflatables, Rockland Boulders mascot, prizes, and more)
• Pep rally, 4:30-5:30 p.m. (meet the teams’ varsity captains, and newest class of the TZ Hall of Fame)
• Boys soccer vs. Nyack, 6 p.m.
• Girls soccer vs. Nyack, 8 p.m.