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Fieldston battles back, but falters in overtime

Say this for the Fieldston Eagles, even in defeat they battle to the very end.

Following a 2015 season which saw Fieldston go winless, this year the Eagles are enjoying a bounce back season with victories in their first three games of the season. But last Saturday night the Eagles tasted defeat for the first time this season, but it took an overtime session before host Hackley could finally survive for a 34-31 win.

Fieldston was trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half and managed to tie the score with 6:00 remaining in regulation when Alexander Thorpe hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jesse Cooper-Leary to knot the game at 28-28.

Fieldston even had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation when it reached the Hackley 30-yard line with 10 seconds remaining and head coach Gus Ornstein went deep into his playbook for a last-second play.

“We had a shot. We drove it all the way down to their 30 and there were 10 seconds left and I thought we would run a trick play to see if we could catch them,” Ornstein said. “We ran a double reverse with a throw back to the quarterback and it wound up getting intercepted and then it went to overtime. I’m like a riverboat gambler. I needed to take a shot.”

In the overtime Fieldston lost the coin flip and was forced to go on offense first and ended their drive with a 28-yard field goal by Thorpe for a 31-28 Eagles lead. But Hackley scored a touchdown on third down on their first possession to come away with the win.

Four different Eagles scored in the narrow loss. Along with Thorpe there was a five-yard touchdown run by Josh Godosky, who also rushed for 117 yards on 19 carries. Patrick O’Hagan added a 15-yard TD reception and Kyron Thomas returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score. But despite the valiant effort it was a tough loss for Fieldston.

“Our kids played so hard,” Ornstein said. “Obviously it was a devastating loss because we were so close. But I’m so proud of how hard they worked and how far this team has come just in a year. They gave (Hackley) everything they had. To come back from 14 points down in the second half is pretty good.”

Fieldston will travel to Montclair Kimberley Academy on Saturday for its’ next game, one that is expected to be a challenging one for the Eagles.

“They are the best team we’re going to play this year,” Ornstein said.      

Kennedy Knights shut out Red Raiders

After a painful home loss to South Shore in Week 3, Kennedy’s Chizerum Umunakwe said he was tired of losing and that the loss to South Shore would be the final one of the season for the Knights. 

So far Umunakwe is prediction is holding up as the Knights travelled to Staten Island and came home with a shutout victory over the Red Raiders. 

Umunakwe had a 42-yard touchdown run on Kennedy’s first possession of the game to set the tone and the Knights never looked back. Quarterback P. J. Franklyn added 37-yard scoring pass to Chanse Pontillo at the end of the third quarter for a 14-0 Knights lead as the Knights cruised to the easy win and evened their season record at 2-2. 

Kennedy will be on the road again this Saturday when the Knights travel to Brooklyn to face unbeaten Erasmus Hall at noon.

 

Fieldston Eagles, Kennedy Knights, Sean Brennan

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