Ardsley football makes a statement with decisive win over Lakeland
ARDSLEY − Here comes Ardsley.
While most of the hype entering the season surrounded two-time section champ and Class B state runner-up Pleasantville, as well as all the Class A teams dropping down to Class B in a reshuffled landscape, the Panthers have quietly put together a solid season.
Well, it's not so quiet anymore. The perennial Class B contenders enjoyed a 22-6 homecoming win against Class B newcomer Lakeland.
They are now 5-0 to start the year for the first time since 2019.
"The relentlessness and the resilience they have, and the ability to step on the field with teams they've never played or teams coming down from Class A − it doesn't matter, they come out unafraid and ready to compete with whoever is in front of us," said Ardsley coach Dan DiFalco, about what's impressed him the most so far through the 5-0 start. "That's something that not a lot of teams have, and it's not taught, that's just who they are. That's what makes or breaks a team, and I think that's what's different about this team."
While there were some questions earlier on surrounding how players would take on bigger responsibilities and others would need to step into new roles, they've answered back with wins in every game so far and a united effort in all phases of the game.
"It really goes to show how much work and preparation we put into this year," Ardsley senior Michael Rende said. "For us to be 5-0 for the first time since 2019, and be compared to that (sectional championship team), it means a lot."
On Friday night, they built a 22-0 halftime lead, thanks to a pair of Michael Rende rushing touchdowns and an Anthony Chenard pick-six with 12 seconds remaining in the first half.
Lakeland didn't go away quietly, taking control of the game in the second half, but was unable to chip away at the deficit.
The Hornets had a promising long drive to open the second half, before stalling out and consuming more than seven minutes of third-quarter action. After forcing an Ardsley three-and-out, Lakeland got picked off on its next drive.
"We just love defense," Ardsley senior Anthony Chenard said, with a smile. "We drive on defense, we love tackling and making plays.
"We watched film, and we just broke down what they're running and just ran it in practice 24/7 over and over until we got it."
The Hornets did manage to keep Ardsley out of the red zone for the remainder of the game, and even got on the board with a late fourth-quarter touchdown connection from a 24-yard pass by Grady Leonard to Kyle Gallagher.
"Offensively, we started with the ball probably at the 10 and in, like five of the eight possessions in the game, and high school football or any football, you start with an average field position at the 10 or 15, you won't win a lot of games," Lakeland coach Ryan Shilling said. "(Ardsley) won the special teams today. Defensively, we allowed that one big play the whole game. They scored on a pick-six and obviously, when we gave them a short field, so obviously a lot of credit to them for creating those opportunities.
"That's a really good football team, so coming into their homecoming, we knew it was going to be a tough game. Kids played hard, but we made a lot of minor mistakes that cost us big. We played hard, I thought they're a really good football team and they played better than us tonight."
What it means
Ardsley improves to 5-0 to start the season for the first time since 2018 and 2019, when the Panthers previously won section titles. While there are no guarantees for championship hardware in a challenging Class B lineup, they will be prepared for a big test next week. Ardsley will put its unbeaten record to the test against another Class B newcomer and Section 1 power, Rye, on the road next Friday at 7 p.m.
"We're just gonna give it our all," Rende said of next week's matchup. "We're gonna go through a great week of practice, and hopefully, shock the world."
Lakeland will look to bounce back at home next Friday night at 7 p.m. when it hosts Nyack.
Game balls
Michael Rende, Ardsley: The Panther senior registered another multi-touchdown and multi-interception game, making an impact on both sides of the ball. He led Ardsley with 84 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. He also had two interceptions on defense.
Ardsley defense: The Panthers made Lakeland uncomfortable on offense. This was going to be a game that tested Ardsley's secondary and linebackers, and they answered well. The Panthers also had three interceptions as a team, and Cole Fiore recovered a fumble on an errant snap during a Lakeland punt attempt.
By the numbers
Ardsley (5-0): Aside from Rende and Fiore's recovered fumble, Anthony Chenard had a 75-yard pick-six. Ben Silverman, Ahamdy Dolcine and Cole Fiore combined for 105 rushing yards on a total of 21 carries. Trey Fiore had a sack.
Lakeland (3-3): The Hornets outgained the Panthers, 267-198, for the game. Grady Leonard completed 20 of 28 passes for 179 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. He also added 22 rushing yards on five scrambles. Robbie Policastro had 70 rushing yards on 18 carries. Sean Perry led receivers with 72 yards on eight receptions. Kyle Gallagher had two receptions, including that 24-yard touchdown grab.
They said it
"We had a lot of new guys in big spots, and we had guys that didn't have the leadership role that they have right now, and they all just stepped up," said DiFalco, about how his team has evolved over the last five weeks. "We did an unbelievable job preparing for this team in practice this week. The scout team worked hard this week, it's a good team that throws the ball all over the place and they have a lot of stuff on offense that you need to prepare for. It was a total team win, and I couldn't be more proud of them."
"We have another really tough opponent next week that we have to prepare for," Shilling said. "I thought the kids fought and won the second half, which is meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but we just got to string together a couple of halves and that's the goal. We gotta pick our heads up, obviously we should be upset, but we have a lot to look forward to still."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ardsley NY football makes statement with decisive win over Lakeland
