The parents of the Ardsley seniors escorted their sons through the pouring rain and onto the field last Saturday, October 3, before the 0-3 Panthers played their homecoming game against the Pelham Pelicans, a league opponent. Once the rain died down, the entire town of Ardsley emerged, packing the bleachers and the surrounding walkways. The fans witnessed a nail-biter, in which the Panthers controlled the ball for most of the contest but came up just a few yards short in their final drive and lost, 18-13.
The Panthers started with a bang on their first possession, as junior Jeff Scaperrotta tossed to senior Captain Skylar Griffenberg who launched a 60-yard pass to senior Max Rabuse. The connection put the Panthers inside the Pelham 30-yard line, and they continued to move the chains until Griffenberg finished things off with a three-yard touchdown run. At the end of the first quarter, the Panthers led, 7-0.
The Pelicans capitalized on two turnovers in the second to reverse the momentum. First, they blocked a punt and took over at the Ardsley 35. Following several first downs, Jonathan McGlothen scampered six yards into the endzone to pull Pelham within one, 7-6, before a missed extra point.
A few minutes later, Griffenberg was sacked as he scrambled near the Ardsley 35-yard line, losing the ball a split second before he hit the ground. The ball bounced right into the arms of Danny Morrisey, who turned around and sprinted 65 yards, untouched, past the goal line. This time, the Pelicans went for two and were stuffed at the line. Nonetheless, Pelham had scored 12 unanswered points, and at halftime the scoreboard read 12-7.
Ardsley kicked off to start the third, and the Pelicans came up with their third big play in 10 minutes, a 72-yard touchdown return by Chris Denison. The Pelicans’ offense had not moved the ball more than 35 yards in a single possession, and yet Ardsley found itself in an 18-6 hole.
The Panthers narrowed the gap with seven minutes left in the third, as Scaperrotta received a punt at around midfield and slipped through several defenders before breaking free and dashing into the endzone. A conversion attempt fell short, but now the Panthers trailed 18-13 with a quarter-and-a-half still to play.
The Pelham offense finally hit its stride on the next possession, as the Pelicans marched from their own 25 down to the Ardsley 10. The Panthers sacked quarterback Dylan Tuttle on third down, bringing up fourth and 15. Tuttle then flung a pass toward the endzone that was picked off by Ardsley senior Captain Jake Zelin, who ducked out of bounds at the 20.
Ardsley was forced to punt from its own 40-yard line as the fourth quarter began, and junior Bobby Capicchioni booted a beauty that rolled out of bounds at the Pelham 19.
The Pelham halfbacks continued to fight for first downs while the clock ran down. With 2:45 remaining, it looked like Pelham had all-but sealed victory as McGlothen ran for a first down and more. But when he reached the Ardsley 30, he lost the ball and Scaperrotta pounced on it, keeping the Panthers’ hopes alive.
From there, Griffenberg and Scaperrotta took the show. In the final drive, Griffenberg completed three passes for 40 yards, and Scaperrotta caught two of those for 28 yards while running for 24 yards. 60 yards and 1:30 later, the Panther offense was primed to take the lead at the Pelham 7-yard line.
Two running plays were unsuccessful, but the Pelicans were called for pass interference as Griffenberg threw a third-down pass intended for Rabuse in the back of the endzone. Now, Ardsley had a first down at the three, and the clock read 30 seconds.
Griffenberg was sacked for a four-yard loss on the next play, and Ardsley scrambled to get back to the line as time continued to run down. Pelham was called for offsides, and the Panthers called their last timeout to choose a final play. With three seconds left, Griffenberg dropped back to throw but was almost instantly stifled and sacked by a trio of Pelican defenders. The game was over, and Ardsley had lost in excruciating fashion, 18-13.
Griffenberg was nine-for-15 with 159 yards on the day, and Scaperrotta had 23 carries for 76 yards. Junior Stephen Franciosa caught four passes for 55 yards.
Meanwhile, Tuttle completed only one pass for 27 yards. McGlothen, Morrisey, and Joe Miller picked up a combined 157 yards on the ground.
The Panthers had 290 total yards to Pelham’s 184, and the Panthers controlled the ball for about 13 minutes longer than did the Pelicans.
“We should have won that game,” Griffenberg said. “We clearly outplayed them, but they capitalized on our mistakes.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” he continued. “We got rid of the ball quickly, we blocked who we were supposed to block, if there was a problem we made adjustments—but we need to finish our drives.”
Senior Captain and center Drew Zeyer agreed that the Panthers should have come out on top. “We flat out played better than the other team; we drove harder than their offense, and we fought for every yard we got…this game showed how hard we fight.”
The Panthers have two regular season games remaining, and they remain determined to win.
“We felt that we lost a game we deserved to win, but we always have a second chance,” Zeyer said.
Griffenberg added, “We’re always going to fight, and we’re going to win a game the way it’s supposed to be done.”
