Reporter: Alex Campbell
On a cool September night, the Mamaroneck Tigers traveled to Lagrangeville, New York, to take on the Arlington Admirals in their second league game. While the Tigers manhandled John Jay EF last week, that would not be the same tonight. The Admirals took command of this game as it went on and made sure they would defend their home turf. Arlington ran the ball well and kept the opposing offense from getting into a rhythm. This paid off in the end with a huge 34-7 win for Arlington.
The first quarter was a bit of a slugfest, with neither team getting on the scoreboard. Mamaroneck looked to be in control, but penalties and overthrows held the offense back. Arlington struggled in the first quarter with a three-and-out but found a bit of life at the end of the quarter with a 20-yard run from the running back. When they swapped ends, the Arlington quarterback found his wide receiver in the end zone to put the Admirals up 7-0, but Mamaroneck responded quickly with a kickoff return on the next play to even the game 7-7. This would be the last time the Tigers would score.
Arlington’s defense was starting to heat up and made Mamaroneck QB James Fitzgerald’s job much harder. Arlington found their pass rush, and the pressure started to build on the Tigers. Sacks, TFLs, and penalties by the offense kept Mamaroneck in a rut. Arlington hit a long bomb for 62 yards to go ahead 13-7 before halftime set in. This is where the game came the Admirals’ way.
After the half, Arlington’s run game started to thrive, with consistent runs that continued to eat away at the clock. The offense was efficient and more productive than in the first half, getting yards and moving the sticks. They marched down and got another touchdown on a four-minute drive, carried by the run game. A couple of sacks got the ball back to the Admirals, and they returned to their bread and butter. Because they were running efficiently, that allowed them to get a 30-yard gain on a play-action pass in the third quarter, leading to another score with :16 left on the clock and making it 27-7.
Mamaroneck showed some life in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to net a score. They could not contain the run in the second half, and that contributed to their loss. They didn’t let up too many long plays, but the short run game kept Arlington on the field. The story for the Tigers was one of penalties, inaccurate passes on the boundary, and a failure to stop the pass rush.
The Tigers return home this Friday and take on Scarsdale, who have jumped up to second in the league, and they need to buckle down if they want to return to the playoffs.
