Pearl River Special Teams Shine in Victory Over Spring Valley

Pearl River senior Josh Lipane took the opening kickoff Thursday at home against Spring Valley, cut up the left sideline and raced 80 yards untouched for a touchdown.

"To start off, Josh Lipane is one of the hardest working kids I’ve met in my life," Pearl River Head Coach Jeff Michael said. "For him to bust one like that 80 yards, No. 1, it was a great way for us to start the game; but for him personally, it shows his hard work has paid off."

The score not only gave the Pirates a lead they would never lose, it highlighted a dominant performance by the Pearl River special teams that sparked the team to a 20-15 victory over Spring Valley.

Pearl River improved to 5-0 on the season, dropping Spring Valley to 0-5.

"It's a great feeling," Michael said. "When we started the season, we set our goals high and one of our goals was to go perfect in our league.

"I've been with this team since they were freshmen. I was the JV coach and they were 1-7 as freshmen. To see us now at 5-0 in the league? I can't be happier for these boys.

"It feels great," Pearl River senior Sean Wilson said. "It just feels awesome."

Pearl River took advantage of an opening in the Spring Valley extra-point coverage with a two-point run by senior Connor Madigan to push the lead to 8-0.

"It's a great way to start the game," said senior Sean Wilson. "Ten seconds off the clock and it's 8-0? It doesn't get better than that."

It nearly did. Senior kicker Connor O'Sullivan intentionally popped the ensuing kickoff into the air and Wilson caught it on the fly more than 10 yards down field, seemingly giving the ball right back to the Pirates. The officials threw a flag, initially saying that it was because the ball had not bounced first.

"My interpretation of the rule, and I have read it in the NFHA rule book, is that once that ball goes 10 yards, it is a live football," Michael said. "First touch is for anybody past 10 yards. I don’t recall anything about it having to hit the ground. They kept saying it must hit the ground. Then when they got together for their referee huddle, it ended up being catcher interference. Well, there was nobody there trying to catch the ball. Maybe they saw something I didn’t."

Pearl River had to re-kick after the penalty and Spring Valley took advantage with a seven-play, 66-yard touchdown drive to pull within one at 8-7. Senior quarterback Jordon Benoit made the big play with a 46-yard pass to Serge Benoit to the Pirates' 30 and the Tigers' running game did the rest. Alex Juste ran three consecutive plays off the left side for the final 30 yards, the last one a six-yard touchdown.

"We started out a little antsy," Wilson said. "We settled in after that. It’s sloppy, but it’s a win."

That was also the only time Spring Valley ran the ball effectively all game. Juste managed only one yard on four carries the rest of the game. The Tigers finished the game losing 19 yards rushing on 19 carries, but that includes the five times Pearl River sacked Benoit for 53 yards in losses.

"Our defensive line played exceptionally well," Michael said. "It always seemed they were able to pressure the quarterback and swarm the running game. Defensively, overall, it’s a bend-but-don’t break mentality. We ahd the same mentality with Nyack and it paid off again here."

Benoit completed 13 of 25 passes for 215 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown to Kendrick Calvaire with 36 seconds remaining, but could do little to move his team in between the two scoring drives.

That final touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion pass to Calvaire, cut Pearl River's lead to 20-15, but the Pirates recovered an on-sides kick to put the game away.

In between, O'Sullivan continued to put on a kicking show for the Pirates, making four field goals from distances of 26, 32, 41 and 47 yards.

"It felt good," O'Sullivan said. "I like it. I like every opportunity I can get."

"When the offense sputters, we know we have a kid on special teams that can help us out, that can pick us up, and he's that kid," Michael said.

The 32-yarder was actually partially blocked, and that was one of two occasions that the Tigers knocked O'Sullivan down. Michael reminded his kicker of his other sporting experience.

"You're a rugby player," Michael told O'Sullivan. "That's what rugby players do. They take hits."

O'Sullivan also delivered touchbacks, putting five of his six kickoffs out of the end zone so they could not be returned.

""Having them start with an 80-yard drive ahead of theme every time is very tough," Michael said. "Being an offensive coordinator myself, 80 yards every time is so frustrating. So it’s a great weapon. Connor O’Sullivan is a great weapon to have."

Senior Mike Brophy continued to show he can be a weapon as well, leading the Pirates with 67 yards rushing on 12 bruising carries. Pearl River had 119 yards total on the ground and quarterback John Brebbia added 106 yards passing, completing seven of his nine attempts.

The most spectacular was a 51-yarder to Wilson. Wilson went up with two defenders near the sideline and after the ball was tipped twice, he snatched it and ran deep into Spring Valley territory.

"The ball got tipped and I saw the d-back relax, so I grabbed it and just ran," Wilson said.

The play converted a second-and-17 and eventually led to the second of O'Sullivan's four field goals shortly before the half to give the Pirates the 14-7 lead they held after two quarters.

Brebbia came up with another long completion, this one a 44-yard catch-and-run by Madigan, to set up the only score of the third quarter -- O'Sullivan's 41-yard field goal.

O'Sullivan's 47-yarder was set up by the defense, which sacked Benoit back at his own 46 on a failed fourth-down attempt. The Pirates managed one first down, then brought on O'Sullivan to push the lead to 20-7. He was roughed on the play, but Michael chose to keep the points rather than take the new set of downs.

Pearl River's attention turned very quickly to the next game on the schedule, 2 p.m. Saturday Oct. 15 at home against Nanuet. The Pirates will attempt to hold onto the Little Brown Jug after breaking the Knights' 13-year winning streak against them a season ago.

"Nothing like Jug Week," Wilson said. "We beat them as sophomores when I was on JV. We beat them last year for the first time in however many years. We want to keep it here where it belongs."