Hackley vs Briarcliff/Hamilton -- 9/16/2013

Written by Jim Garvey: Lightning struck last Thursday evening, but it wasn’t Hackley’s vaunted offense. Rather a violent storm forced the postponement of the scheduled night game at SUNY Purchase just prior to kickoff, so the players were forced to wait until Monday afternoon, with the venue changed to Hackley’s Pickert Field.

The Hornets were unsure what to expect of this opponent, given this year’s merger of the Briarcliff and Hamilton’s football teams. After winning the toss, and electing to receive the kick, the Briarcliff team was able to take the ball inside Hackley territory to the 38 yard line. However, Omar Momani took over with a quarterback sack and a strong tackle on a short screen pass, forcing Briarcliff to punt. It did not take long for lightening to strike again, as on its fourth offensive play, quarterback Joe McDermott hit Mustafa Dais for a 49 yard touchdown making the score 7-0. Following the kickoff, and after Briarcliff went three and out, its punt to Elijah Ngbokoli was taken 50 yards for Hackley’s second touchdown and, just like that, it was 14-0.

Briarcliff’s offense again took over and was able to grind out two first downs, one on a pass interference penalty and another on a fourth down pass completion. However, three running plays got them nowhere, and they were again forced to punt. Hackley then embarked on what could only be described as a sloppy drive, gaining three first downs despite several incompletions and a fumble that they recovered. However, strong running by McDermott and with some timely completions, Hackley had the ball on Briarcliff’s 42 yard line, only to be intercepted. The defense once again came through, and on Briarcliff’s second play, Ngbokoli intercepted a pass on the 46 yard line and took it to the house making the score 21-0.

Briarcliff was again able to get two first downs on strong running, but on fourth down chose to go for it. Strong defense by the secondary and pressure from the line forced an incompletion and a loss on downs. Hackley’s offense took over again, moving to Briarcliff’s 13 yard line on several running plays and a pass completion to Dylan Garvey, when McDermott found Dais streaming across the field for his second touchdown of the game, making the score 28-0. Before the half, Briarcliff was able to march the ball down to Hackley’s 33 yard line, only to be intercepted by Garvey as the half ended.

The Hornets received the ball to open the third quarter, going three and out, but got a break when it recovered a fumble on the ensuing punt. From there, the running game flourished, with Ngbokoli, Gressel, and McDermott marching 75 yards on seven plays for the touchdown, highlighted by Gressel’s massive block on McDermott’s touchdown run.

The Hornets’ defense continued to shine, with Omani, Clifford Joseph, Milo Lempert, Zach Reeber, and Gressel all involved in stopping Briarcliff’s running game. While Briarcliff was able to complete several passes, only modest yardage was achieved against Hackley’s strong secondary composed of Winston Britton, Anthony Roderick, and Jack Hogan. Nick Gutfleish had an interception and touchdown on the return that was unfortunately called back due to a dubious penalty. Also, Harry Lieblich was able to record two sacks during one Briarcliff drive, and Momani as always made his presence felt. Once again, the Hackley defense completely shut down the opponent.

It was a strong effort by the offensive line that helped the running game gain more yards than in the passing game for the second game of the season. The o-line of Rosenzweig, O’Keefe, DiFalco, Lempert, and Reeber were key in this effort. Final score was Hackley 35, Briarcliff 0.

Next up is rival Riverdale, on Saturday September 28 at Pickert Field at 3:00 PM for Alumni homecoming day.