Eagles claw People’s Wolfpack

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The Fieldston Eagles’ 2015 season was filled with more than its share of anger and disappointment. In an 0-8 campaign last season, Fieldston did not have many opportunities to feel excitement and satisfaction.

But the 2016 season has been the complete opposite. It has been one in which the Eagles have constantly felt excitement and have yet to feel the disappointment they became so accustomed to during their winless 2015. This year, however, the Eagles have yet to lose a game and their defeat of the People’s Prep Wolfpack, 34-12, last Saturday, gave them a 3-0 record to start the season.

“This is my 12th year, and we’ve had some pretty good football seasons around here, so we’re trying to drill into these guys that 3-0 is where we expect to be,” head football coach Gus Ornstein said. “The 0-8 last year was the aberration... It’s certainly nice to be back and playing football the way we always expect to play football.”

Nevertheless, the turnaround was a long time coming. In fact, it had been nearly a year since Fieldston had won its last home game on Oct. 25, 2014.

“It’s been great,” Josh Godosky, Fieldston’s running back and captain said of the team’s start. “We’re playing really well together. Everyone is excited to hit and excited to play football.”

Godosky has been a major reason why Fieldston has been able to put last year aside and start the season off flawlessly. The junior has been at the head of Fieldston’s vaunted running game, which also features Tyler Kemp and Nick Gibson. Against People’s Prep, the trio combined for all five of Fieldston’s touchdowns.

“We’ve got Josh back there, who is such a good back and can do so many things because he can be a receiver out of the backfield, too,” Ornstein said. “Tyler’s been awesome. Tyler’s been such a difference maker for us this year. He’s been such a good corner for us his first couple of years, and now he’s kind of coming into his own as a running back, and that one-two punch has been great for us. That running game has really opened up our passing game.”

Godosky scored three touchdowns against People’s Prep, two of which came on pass receptions. The running back and linebacker displayed his versatility, catching passes out of the backfield, running the ball and tackling opponents on the defensive end.

 “We kind of mix it up,” Godosky said of Fieldston’s running backs. “I’m kind of everywhere. I love blocking, I love scoring, so it’s kind of they throw me around all over the field.”

Godosky put Fieldston on the scoreboard first, catching a screen pass from quarterback Jesse Cooper-Leary and then running for a 10-yard score. In the second quarter, Godosky was in the end zone once again, scoring on a one-yard touchdown run.

Fieldston’s running game allowed Cooper-Leary to settle in after fumbling on Fieldston’s first drive of the game. With an early 14-point lead, Cooper-Leary kept his passes short and simple.  

“It’s kind of a security blanket,” Cooper-Leary said of Fieldston’s running game. “I don’t feel like the entire weight of the offense is on my shoulders.”

With 2:11 to play in the second quarter, Gibson scored on a pitch from Cooper-Leary, to extend the lead to 21-0. The Eagles carried that lead into halftime, as the defense dominated People’s Prep and kept the Wolfpack off balance.

The second half was more of the same for Fieldston. Kemp made the game 27-0 on a two-yard touchdown run halfway through the third quarter. Then after People’s Prep got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter with a quarterback sneak from the goal line, Godosky scored his third touchdown of the game on a 15-yard screen pass.

For Godosky, the three-touchdown performance reminded him of how exciting football can be.

“Last year, every game we went in we were not that excited to play because we were like. ‘Damn, we’re not really doing well lately,’” Godosky said. “But this year it’s a new energy. We’re all playing hard. It’s fun.”

People’s Prep scored another touchdown at the end of the fourth, but it was far too little and much too late as the Eagles rolled to their lopsided win.

 “I thought we played well,” Ornstein said. “I thought we did everything we talked about. We talked about coming out and really trying to do our job individually. Not trying to do more than what we’re asking you to do. I thought we just flew around, we played fast, we played with energy, we played enthusiastically.”

For Cooper-Leary, his first season as the starting quarterback has gone flawlessly. “It’s a really, really great start,” Cooper-Leary said. “It helps that you have a lot of people on offense, not just myself, that have been playing very well. Josh is a monster. We have Tyler in the backfield too. After going 0-8 last year, it was a really humbling experience for me because I had never been in that situation, and then to come out here, to get three wins, it’s amazing.”

 Through three games, the Eagles have outscored opponents 95-30. 

“There’s no ceiling,” Godosky said. “We can keep going.”

Fieldston Eagles, People's Prep Wolfpack, Daniel Ynante

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