Football: Tappan Zee Rolls Over Peekskill

When playing in the northeast, it pays to have a solid running game.

Fortunately for Tappan Zee, it has a great rushing attack. Tappan Zee (2-0) displayed that attack by rushing for 253 yards on 26 carries in the Dutchmen's 31-6 victory at Peekskill on Thursday, Sept. 16.

The bulk of that yardage came from the talented trio of quarterback James McWilliams (111 yards on eight carries), running back Joe Letizia (75 yards on nine carries) and running back Tahj Vines (64 yards on seven carries).

Tappan Zee coach Andy DiDomenico was pleased with the efforts of those three but added he's got even more guys that can run effectively with the football if need be.

"Obviously, that is our bread and butter," DiDomenico said. "We have besides those three, Kevin Dinnegan, Billy Bodner, James Scaccia, guys who can run the ball. They are athletic kids so we like to spread the ball around. If a team tries to key on one of them, someone else will be able to have some opportunities."

Tappan Zee's first opportunity came from a great defensive effort by Bodner, whose interception early in the first quarter gave the Dutchmen the ball at their own 32-yard line.

"This group of kids, they fly to the ball," DiDomenico said. "They play fast, they play hard and they bring it. That's a credit to our defensive coordinator, Rob Gallagher and a credit to our kids."

Two plays after Bodner's pick, McWilliams ran 55 yards for a touchdown to put his squad up 6-0 with 8:33 to go in the opening quarter.

"He's gifted but he has worked his tail off the last couple of years," DiDomenico said. "He really hit the weights hard in the offseason. He's dedicated himself to football and you can see the results."

The results weren't as good the next time around when Tappan Zee got to the Peekskill 7-yard line. That's where, on fourth-down on the last play of the opening quarter, it fumbled in its own backfield and Peekskill recovered.

"We are working out of a shotgun basically 99 percent of the time and sometimes you are going to have those," DiDomenico said. "We try to practice it every day but it happens everyone now and then."

Tappan Zee got right back in the scoring column though as with 8:02 to go in the second quarter, McWilliams connected with Dinnegan on a 20-yard touchdown pass.

"We were running the ball with some success, their defense was creeping up, creeping up and it gave us an opportunity to go over the top," DiDomenico said.

Tappan Zee continued to add to its lead when it recovered the kick-off at the Red Devils 17-yard line. That's where Letizia capped off a four-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run that gave the Dutchmen an 18-0 lead they would not relinquish.

"Football is an emotional game," DiDomenico said. "When you get a turnover and you have some momentum, you really need to build on it. Our kids fed off the turnover and they executed. Toward the end of the second quarter, we had some trouble and Peekskill did a nice job defensively and stymied us on some possessions at the end of the half. That's a credit to them. We came out in the second half and refocused."

Scoring in the second half was Vines, on a 5-yard run in the third quarter and Brendan Kraemer, who scored on a 33-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. A 6-yard touchdown run by Peekskill's Kevin Calabro finished the game's scoring.

"Being 2-0, it feels good, I am not going to lie," DiDomenico said. "We still have a lot of work to do though. We have a lot of kinks that we can iron out but it's a nice start."