Riverdale scoring barrage stuns rival Horace Mann

The first quarter still had almost three minutes remaining to be played, and there was Horace Mann already holding a two-touchdown lead on host Riverdale in the season-opening game for both teams. So, how big a deal was this for the Lions? Well, as far as sports rivalries go, the Riverdale-Horace Mann clash might not rank up there with the Yankees-Red Sox or the Giants-Cowboys or even Packers-Bears, but to the players on both sides of this game it means everything.

So, when Horace Mann coach Matt Russo was walking the sidelines, urging his team not to let up, telling them “lots of teams have been up by 14 points and lost. We don’t want to be that team,” his young Lions should have listened. 

Riverdale shook off its sluggish start and proceeded to pile up 46 points over the next three quarters, as the Falcons knocked off Horace Mann for a second straight season with a 46-28 victory at Frank Bertino Memorial Field on the campus of Riverdale Country School.

“I have a lot of young kids, and Riverdale is one of the better teams we play, and I have a lot of respect for what they do over there,” Russo said. “They are a good team and they have good athletes. So I think our guys are so new that they kind of got caught up like, ‘We’re up 14-0 against a really good team.’”

The trio

Some of those good athletes Russo alluded to are what Riverdale coach Joe Otero likes to call simply “The Trio.” The Trio consists of junior quarterback Ryan Rosenzweig, junior wide receiver Ernie Robertson and senior running back Avery Hoffman, and together The Trio was more than Horace Mann could handle, as Rosenzweig and Robertson teamed up for a pair of touchdowns and Hoffman added a pair of his own on runs covering 49 and four yards, as the Falcons outscored the Lions, 46-14 after the first quarter.

“I didn’t think I was going to get this many carries in the first game,” said Hoffman, who finished with 25 carries for 130 yards and those two scores. “I got hurt in preseason and it definitely took me and the team a couple of quarters to get into it. But once we got rolling, we were unstoppable.”

That they were. After Horace Mann took an initial 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of touchdowns by Ethan Matt,  one coming on a one-yard run and the other on a 13-yard TD toss from Horace Mann quarterback Marc Murphy, the Falcons got rolling in a big way.

On Riverdale’s fourth possession of the game Rosenzweig hooked up with Robertson for a 68-yard touchdown toss down the left sideline to pull the Falcons within 14-8 with 5:29 remaining before halftime. 

But Riverdale was just getting started. After Horace Mann was forced to punt on its next possession, the Falcons took the lead after Rosenzweig found Robertson again — this time on a 50-yard toss down the right sideline as he split two Horace Mann defenders and sprinted the rest of the way for a touchdown and a 16-14 Riverdale lead.

From there, the Falcons would never trail again.

Riverdale increased its lead to 24-14 when Julian Garcia-Sanabria blocked a Horace Mann punt and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Davis Holzman for a touchdown. 

The Lions tried to claw their way back into the game and pulled within, 24-21, after Murphy scampered 11 yards for a score with 2:14 left in the third quarter. But Riverdale responded with back-to-back touchdowns on its next two possessions with Hoffman adding his two touchdown runs for a 38-21 lead and Horace Mann could never get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.    

“I think a big part of this game is being mentally tough and we learn that in practice,” Hoffman said. “We have a couple of nice plays and then we have to go sprint, and that builds you up mentally.”

Rosenzweig, the triggerman for the Falcons high-octane offense, said life is good when you have Robertson to throw to and Hoffman to hand off to. 

“It makes it easy for me definitely,” said Rosenzweig. “Ernie’s like a security blanket. I know I can chuck it up to him and it’s definitely not going to be a pick. He’s either going to knock it down or he’s catching it. He’s shaking off the defender and he’s going for a touchdown. And with Avery we have a huge run threat.”

The two schools are located so close to each other that when Horace Mann is the visiting team, as it was Monday afternoon, the Lions have traditionally walked to the game as a team. This past week was the first time in a while they chose to use buses, and that tells you all you need to know about how important a victory in this rivalry is.

“It’s humongous. It goes throughout the entire year,” Robertson said. “Until we play them next, we get to hold our heads high knowing that we beat them. And we’re prepared to beat them again next year.”

King of the hill

It also gives the Falcons a leg up on winning a second straight “King of the Hill” title among the so-called three “hill” schools — Riverdale, Horace Mann and Fieldston. The Falcons can win their second consecutive King of the Hill title if they defeat Fieldson in the regular-season finale on November 5 at Fieldston.

“We got the King of the Hill last year and this is the perfect start for the King of the Hill this year,” Rosenzweig said. “But this game against Horace Mann, they’re a down-the-street rival. They have the same colors. We all know each other and we’re all buddies outside of the football field, so it’s a huge win for us.”

Even Otero admits to the little extra thrill a win in this rivalry brings to the victor.

“It’s absolutely a great win,” Otero said. “For Riverdale this a big win, of course. The whole King of the Hill things starts so it’s something the kids enjoy and I enjoy as well. Now we’re halfway there.”

Because the game was moved to this past Monday afternoon from last Saturday due to the oppressive heat, Riverdale has precious little time to savor its win. The Falcons now will turn their attention to a strong Montclair Kimberly Academy team from New Jersey whom the Falcons will face Saturday at 2 p.m.

“They are a very good team. They won our league last year so we’ll have our work cut out for us in a short week,” Otero said. “But these kids are a lot better-conditioned this year and in a lot better shape.”

Robertson, too, said the Falcons will enjoy their victory over Horace Mann, but only until their first practice in preparation for Montclair Kimberly.

“It’s one of our league games and a big deal for us. We really want to get that win,” Robertson said. “These bragging rights can last forever, but the next win is just as important.”

Russo thinks his young Lions will learn from Monday’s defeat and be ready to bounce back for Saturday’s home game against Dwight Englewood.

“They competed all four quarters and that’s kind of what we do. We don’t put an emphasis on wins and losses, we just put it on competing,” Russo said. “We feel if we compete and our approach is the right way, then wins will come. I think we made some big mistakes obviously, having 10 guys on the punt team and getting the punt blocked is probably the biggest one. But I feel we’re in a position that we have to tip our cap to Riverdale. They came back and did a nice job and made some plays when they needed to.”