Somers Stays Close in 19-6 Defeat to Clarkstown North

On Tuesday March 26, Somers opened the flag football season and helping to raise the banner on season two was visiting Clarkstown North. A one score game until the very end, Coach Katie DiChiara didn’t get ahead of herself and kept the 19-6 loss in perspective.

“Clarkstown is a really good team,” she said. “It was our first game, so we have some things to iron out. But all in all, the girls played tough.”

Starting with the ball, Cara Persico did complete a ten yard pass to Eva Mastrantoni. But an illegal procedure penalty and an incomplete pass had the Tuskers giving the ball up on downs.

Flip flopping, the Rams took over at midfield and didn’t wait to break out the weaponry. Sarah Weissman stood strong in the pocket and unleashed a perfect 20 yard strike over the middle to Grace Termine.

First down at the 15, the Tuskers dug in. They forced three straight incompletions, and without a field goal game in this sport, Clarkstown needed to get in the end zone. Just as well for the visitors, Weissman stepped up and hit Sammi Caivano in the corner of the end zone with 19:46 left in the first half

The one point conversation good, Somers took their turn. Unfortunately, a three and out followed and Clarkstown had no interest in letting their hosts get themselves into gear.

Ella Yomtov ran the punt to midfield, and the Rams got right on their horse. Weissman faked a reverse and got her team a first down at the Somers 35.

So North went to the well again. On rewind, Weissman skied over the line, and red jersey’s all around, Termine hauled in the B-line at the 22.

A sack by Olivia Weigand and a fumble did stall the drive, but Weissman’s confident posture went back at it. She spotted Emily Savedoff with a step and easily made the connection for a 13-0 lead.

14:13 left in the half, the Tusker offense still didn’t have an answer and had to kick away three downs later. But the girls didn’t let Weissman walk all over them this time. Natalia Antonecchia stepped into the passing lanes and took the interception down to Ram 35.

But Somers could not take advantage and another punt was in the air. No problem, the Tusker defense was in step - especially Weigand.

She had two sacks on the three down possession, and as a rule, the Tusker doesn’t let her sleight build slow her down. “It can be scary sometimes, because the girls are normally way bigger than me. But you have to be there for your team,” she clarified.

Disrupting the drive, her team was left sitting pretty at the 30. A nice little dance and spin move by Persico looked even better, but the seven yard gain was the drive’s only claim to fame.

Two minutes left in the half, Weigand kept the margin status quo. Sack number four stalled the drive, and into the second half, the defensive end picked up where she left off. On fourth and five, the Tusker caught the quarterback as she tried to squeeze through the collapsing pocket.

One pull of her six on the day, Weigand relishes a role that lets her take no prisoners. “It’s pretty fun,” she beamed.

Just as crucial, the offense took the cue. Taking over at the Ram 35, Julia Schmidberger was in at QB, and on the play action, the Somers soccer goalie hit Chloe Gabriele. No reason to stop, the receiver’s leaping grab had her elude the first defender, and the chase was on for the far sideline.

Gabriele got around the corner and didn’t get pulled until reaching the 20. Two runs by Persico set up a first and goal - and Schmidberger to Antonecchia - futbol was the name of this eight yard scoring play. “I threw it to my soccer teammate,” said Schmidberger.

A 13-6 game, Antonecchia worked the line of sight. “I saw Julia, and we made eye contact,” said the receiver. “We have great chemistry.”

A beautiful friendship, DiChiara is eager to see where this football start goes. “I’m looking forward to see what they can do together,” the coach exclaimed.

18:06 left in the game, the defenses mostly had their say until Clarkstown scored in the final minute. But moving forward, DiChiara is confident that her team will be ready on both sides of the ball. “We have a lot of talent on this team. So once they take a breath, and get it all together, this team is going to have a very successful year,” she concluded.