Football: Pleasantville builds early lead but can't sustain it in state championship defeat
SYRACUSE - For a team playing as an underdog, Pleasantville could not have started Saturday's game any better.
Pleasantville opened with a seven-play, 71-yard scoring drive, the pass-happy game plan had clicked, and the team's star had opportunities with the ball in space.
The defense had also done its part, of course, keeping high-powered Maine-Endwell off the scoreboard.
"We really love the underdog title," said sophomore Daniel Picart, who scored twice in the first half. "This group knows how to come out and fight. Even though in recent games we haven't had the best first halves, today we really showed up. But we had to keep it going the whole game and we didn't."
Instead, Maine-Endwell took control in the second half. The six-time state champs scored 21 straight points overall and beat the Panthers 21-12 in the Class B state championship game at the Carrier Dome.
Pleasantville wasn't able to sustain its early level of play, which resulted in a 12-0 lead in the first quarter.
"We knew that we didn't have enough," senior quarterback Michael LaCapria said of his team's start. "We needed to put up more points and it didn't happen."
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Pleasantville built its 12-7 halftime lead behind strong defense and the two touchdowns from Picart. The defense held Maine-Endwell, which entered the game having scored 482 points, scoreless, with the Spartans scoring their only touchdown on Mike Mancini's kickoff return.
The Panthers struck first, scoring on a 42-yard LaCapria pass to Picart on a drive that saw LaCapria complete all five pass attempts.
"He played amazing today," Picart said of his quarterback. "Every ball was on target."
Then, after the defense forced a punt, Maine-Endwell kicked to the dangerous Picart, who found a gap and darted up the Pleasantville sideline for a 78-yard touchdown.
The return gave the Panthers a brief 12-0 lead just 6:30 into the game, but Mancini brought back the ensuing kickoff back 90 yards to answer.
"We came out throwing the ball, anticipating that we could hit some soft spots and we did," Pleasantville coach Tony Becerra said. ."We were taking what they were giving us. The two big plays put us on top, but their big play took the wind out of our sails. That was a momentum breaker."
The teams traded possessions for the remainder of the half. Pleasantville reached the 21 on one drive but came a yard short of a first down. The offense then got back into Maine-Endwell territory in the final seconds of the half but ran out of time after a completion from LaCapria to Picart.
The momentum shifted in the third quarter when the Spartans controlled possession. They took their first lead of the game when Mancini, on a fourth-and-6 play, rolled right and shed three tackles en route to a 33-yard touchdown with 7:21 to go in the quarter.
Maine-Endwell continued to chew clock in the fourth quarter, opening with a 49-yard scoring drive of over seven minutes that gave the Section 4 champ a two-score advantage, 21-12. Mancini converted a key fourth and 2 on the drive, which was then capped by his 18-yard touchdown pass to Aidan McHugh.
"We weren't able to sustain drives," Becerra said. "Our defense needed a break and we didn't give it to them."
The loss left a team that relied heavily on sophomores and juniors in tears, but the run to the state final wasn't lost on Becerra.
"There is definitely a lot to look forward to," he said. "They've made this program proud, they've made this school proud and the town proud. They don't realize it yet what they did."
"Nobody really expected much out of this group, but since camp started I knew we could be great," Picart said. "I just hate that it ended this way."
Player of the game
Mike Mancini, Maine-Endwell. The senior — a star on the town's 2016 Little League World Series championship team — took over the game, particularly in the second half. He not only returned the kickoff for the Spartans' first score, his third and fourth-down running and accurate passing kept the chains moving and allowed his team to take control of the game.
Mancini finished with 13 carries for a team-high 92 yards, went 3 of 7 for 39 yards and had 123 return yards and the touchdown.
By the numbers
Maine-Endwell (13-1) — Ethan Sadler had 15 carries for 79 yards for the Spartans, who ran for 209 yards as a team. The defense shut down Pleasantville's running attack, holding the Panthers to just 10 yards on the ground. ... Logan Ciganek led the defense with 10 tackles.
Pleasantville (12-1) — LaCapria finished 26 of 39 for 242 yards and a touchdown. ... Picart caught 12 passes for 152 yards and fellow sophomore Emmet McDermott and Erik Coleman caught six passes apiece. ... Owen Mooney led the defense with eight tackles. Kieran Cotter had four tackles and an interception. ... Maine-Endwell blocked John McCarthy's extra point on the first touchdown. McCarthy had been a perfect 31 for 31 on the season.
Josh Thomson is the Sports Editor for The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Pleasantville football loses Class B state title to Maine-Endwell
