Riverdale bounces back vs. Rye Neck

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It took Riverdale a little over three quarters to get untracked last Saturday at Rye Neck High School but it was still enough time to make the road trip to Westchester worth the ride.

Riverdale, which was coming off a 55-14 thumping at the hands of Montclair Kimberley Academy the week before, was trailing for most of the game as the Falcons offense simply could not get untracked.

“We would get the momentum but a lot like the Montclair game, we’d get things going and then have an error and shoot ourselves in the foot,” Riverdale head coach Joe Otero said.

Luckily for Otero and the rest of the Falcons, they have trusted veterans Ryan Rosenzweig and Avery Hoffman to lean on in hard times. Last Saturday both Rosenzweig and Hoffman answered the bell in fourth quarter with each scoring on touchdown runs as the Falcons rallied from a seven-point hole to post a hard-fought 14-7 victory over Rye Neck.

The win boosts Riverdale’s record to 2-1 on the season.

“It was a tough one. They were pretty desperate for a win,” Otero said. “They were 0-2 coming into the game and they were pretty scrappy. Westchester teams are usually pretty well coached, strong and have bigger guys. But we were able to hold them off for three quarters before we finally got our stuff together in the fourth quarter.”

Rye Neck was up, 7-0, at the half while Riverdale’s offense tried to work the kinks out for the first three quarters.

“We didn’t do a whole lot on offense. We turned the ball over a couple of times on offense which was inexcusable but those are things we can fix,” Otero said. “But in the fourth quarter it all came together, thank God. We put together a nice 80-yard drive to get our first touchdown and we got the two point conversion to go up, 8-7, about three minutes into the fourth quarter.”

Rosenzweig scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper to pull within, 7-6, before Hoffman added the two-point conversion run to give Riverdale its’ first lead of the game. But the Falcons weren’t quite done. On the ensuing kickoff, Otero called for an onsides kick and Riverdale pulled it off with perfection as the Falcons not only recovered the ball, but then proceeded to add another touchdown on its next possession.

“We gave them a nice dose of No. 34 on that drive,” Otero said, referring to Hoffman. “Two scores in just about four and a half minutes. It gave us a 14-7 lead and from there we were able to hold them off with our defense. They couldn’t throw the ball against us. They didn’t complete one pass against us all game. That was something we took pride in after the game. But it was a tough game. We had to grind this one out to get the win.”

Now after three straight home games, the Falcons will prepare to hit the road to take on Morristown Beard in New Jersey on Saturday and Otero expects a game similar to the Falcons’ game against Rye Neck.

“We’re going out for first road game against Morristown Beard,” Otero said. “They’re 1-3 so I expect a lot of what we just saw, a team desperate for a win. They’re coming off two losses in a row so I’m sure it will be a good game.”

Riverdale Country School, Rye Neck High School, Sean Brennan

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