Football: Ossining Looks To Bounce Back

After losing a 44-41 heartbreaker at Pelham, Ossining (1-1) will look to get back over the .500 mark when it plays its first home game of the year against Rye at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23.

Ossining coach Dan Ricci and his players are very excited to be able to play in front of its own fans after playing its first two games on the road.

Ricci acknowledged the importance of having the opportunity to play on its own campus.

“Yes, our home-field crowd is always a huge lift and a great place to play,” Ricci said.

Ossining will be playing a Rye team hungry for a win as it has lost its first two games, a rare occurrence for a usually powerful Garnets squad. Ricci realizes beating that squad, especially one that is desperate for a win, will be a challenge.

“Stopping them will be a tough task, they are big and strong up front,” Ricci said.

For Ossining, the game against Pelham was a continuation of what has been an exciting beginning of the season on the road. In the Pride’s opening game of the season, it rallied to win at John Jay 28-21.

“In the first game we battled back from a 21-6 halftime deficit and showed some real guts to pull out an exciting win,” Ricci said. “Our defense shut down one of the most explosive offenses in the section and we won with our back up 10th-grade quarterback (Justin Davidov) playing the whole second half.”

Against Pelham, the offense continued to shine but the defense just couldn’t contain the high-voltage Pelham attack.

“The second game we were outstanding offensively but could not stop them at all which was very frustrating,” Ricci said.

Ricci feels that the reason why his offense has been so great is that it is well-balanced.

“We have several weapons in the skill positions and two good quarterbacks with totally different strengths,” Ricci said.

One of those quarterbacks is senior Brian Connolly, who will be playing at Bucknell University in Lewsiburg, P.A. next year.

“Brian missed the whole second half in the first game (against John Jay) and played OK in the first half,” Ricci said. “He was terrific in the game vs. Pelham, throwing close to 200 yards and no interceptions.”

Running the ball successfully for the Pride has been Stephen Candelaria, who has rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Through the air, he has 87 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Sebastian Montenegro also has enjoyed success at the running-back position. He has rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown. He also has 76 receiving yards.

Leading the team in receiving yards is split end Rashawn Armstrong, with 132 yards.

Defensively, Ricci says that he knows his team has to bounce back after the Pelham game in order to earn a win against Rye.

“We have to tackle better,” Ricci said. “For the most part we had kids in the right position but they did not wrap up and make tackles.”