Riverdale knocks off Tuckahoe

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A few weeks ago, following a loss to Morristown Beard, Riverdale coach Joe Otero saw his team sitting with a 2-2 record and an offense that was inconsistent at best.

That’s not a problem for the Falcons anymore as senior running back Avery Hoffman rushed for four touchdowns, junior quarterback Ryan Rosenzweig added two more scores and Max Feld returned an interception for a touchdown as Riverdale posted 48 points for a second straight week in the Falcons 48-20 win at Tuckahoe.

The win upped the Falcons season mark to 4-2.

“We finally got our act together,” Otero said of his resurgent offense. “And our defense really played well, too.”

Things started out a little on the shaky side for the Falcons as they dropped a pair of sure touchdown passes in the end zone on their first drive. Tuckahoe took an early 8-0 lead in the game following that Riverdale possession.

“We dropped those two touchdown passes on the first drive but then it was all us the rest of the way,” Otero said. 

That included Hoffman, who set a career mark by rushing for 400 yards against Tuckahoe in last season’s meeting. This time around Hoffman’s four touchdown runs more than did the trick for the Falcons, who led 26-8 at the half and never looked back.

“I think with these last two wins we’ve got the momentum we needed,” said Otero, whose team also knocked off People’s Prep of New Jersey, 48-32 two weeks ago. “Scoring 48 points in two straight games is really, really good and I think we’re going to try and keep this momentum going into Homecoming with Hackley coming into town.”

The Hackley matchup this Saturday at Riverdale will be a stiff test for the Falcons as the Hornets come in into the game toting a 5-0 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the Metropolitan Independent Football League.

“Hackley is a very, very good team,” Otero said. “They were challenged by Fieldston and beat them in overtime [on Oct. 1] and I’m hoping for the same kind of game this Saturday with us coming out on top.”

Riverdale was in such control throughout the game in the victory over Tuckahoe that Otero thinks the Falcons could have lit up the scoreboard even more if he hadn’t decided to pull back a bit on the reins in the second half.

“We controlled the clock and just ran the ball at will, we just kept scoring until we slowed it down a little bit,” Otero said. “I really think we could have scored over 50 or 60 points if we really wanted to.”

Riverdale Falcons, Sean Breannan

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