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IRVINGTON, N.Y. Irvington placekicker Siggy Bereday patiently practiced kicking field goals an hour before Mondays game against Putnam Valley and when Bereday got his chance he stroked a 33-yarder that helped propel the host Bulldogs to a 17-8 victory over the Tigers.
That was my first field goal as a varsity player, said Bereday, who doubles as a lineman. I practice a lot before practices and before games. I want to be ready to make one if the coaches need me. My kicking coach Rob Buchan really helped me a lot.
Beredays field goal made the score 10-8 after Putnam Valley had scored the go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion just before halftime to take an 8-7 lead.
We dont want to give up the ball and punt if we can score points when we have the chance, whether its six, three, two or one, quarterback Shoran Tamura said. That was a big play because it gave us the lead for good. Everyone is working hard, including the bench players.
Irvington, under first-year head coach Mike Oliva, upped its record to 4-1 and positioned itself for a good seed in the postseason playoffs with a strong finish. Putnam Valley also came in at 3-1.
This was a character game and showed how these kids battle through adversity, Oliva said. We lost our starting quarterback early on, then lost a game we should have won. The kids have kept coming back, practicing hard. We have a great staff, great parents, and great support from the administration. Everything was in place to win here.
Bulldogs' receiver John Cofre scored the first touchdown of the game on a 14-yard option pass from Tamura to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Bereday added the extra point kick for a 7-0 lead.
That play was just called the first time this week, said Cofre, a fullback/lineman, who showed good speed on the flank. Its sort of a speed out route (by the quarterback) with a dump off to the left side. When we saw their defense collapse on the right side we knew it would be sure fire.
While the offense was occupied trying to score, the defense, anchored by captain Alex Bennet, Chris DiNardo, Anthony DiNardo, Cofre, Sam Kanusher, Paul Sochet and Robert Goldfarb, was determined to shut down Putnam Valley.
From the time I was moved up (to varsity), the coaches have been on me, helping me, said DiNardo, a sophomore lineman who was all over the field. You have to be ready to go after runners and not give up on plays.
We want to be the best conditioned team on the field, Bennet said. We have a motto that you dont win the game on Saturday afternoon or Monday afternoon, but on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at practice. If we get beat on one play, we want to win the next one.
Running back/linebacker Kevin Degnan had an outstanding game and Jonah Rosenblum closed out the scoring for Irvington on a 14-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Irvington next plays at Ardsley, Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
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