Section 1 football: Eastchester puts away Clarkstown South with 4th-quarter stand and score

EASTCHESTER — Three points were all the Eastchester defense allowed in a 20-3 win over Clarkstown South Friday night. The Eagles recorded four sacks and limited Clarkstown South to under 200 yards of total offense en route to victory.

Clarkstown South booted a field goal as the first half ended to cut Eastchester's lead to 7-3 and it looked like the league rivalry battle might come down to a late score.

Eastchester scored twice on short runs before sealing the win with a 13-yard touchdown run by Nick Martucci with 3:32 left in the game.

Pete Telesco came up with multiple big plays on defense for Eastchester, none bigger than a fourth-down, fourth-quarter stop.

Quarterback Robbie Maltese, who had a key late-game run that led to that final touchdown, opened the scoring for the Eagles with a first half 1-yard touchdown run.

Vin Ciafone, who had a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers in a loss to Fox Lane a week earlier, not only held on to the ball during his16 of his carries for just under 100 yards, but also made eight tackles, one resulting in a Viking fumble.

Ciafone's 18-yard gain, in which he shook off multiple tacklers, led to his 1-yard score that put Eastchester up 13-3 late in the third quarter.

Hampered by the absence of four starters out with injuries, Clarkstown South, whose offense amounted to a 25-yard Juan Garcia field goal, fell to 2-2.

With the win, Eastchester improved to 3-1.

Play of the game

Three plays proved very big for the Eagles.

Ciafone, who had a 29-yard run off a sweep early in the drive, followed that multiple plays later with his big 18-yard carry, then ran for five yards before going in from a yard out with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. That gave the Eagles their 10-point cushion at 13-3.

With Clarsktown South on the move but facing a fourth-and-four from the Eastchester 47, Telesco sniffed out an end-around for a big loss, giving Eastchester the ball at the Viking 45 with 6:42 to play.

Then after Dylan Burnbridge, who shared the Eagles quarterback spot with Maltese, got hurt on a bootleg to the Viking 28, Maltese came in and, on a third-and-eight, escaped a couple of tackles and went all the way to the Viking 17.

After a four-yard Ciafone gain, Marfucci broke free on the right side for his 13-yard score.

By the numbers

Eastchester had 173 yards on the ground and 88 through the air. Ciafone accounted for 94 of those rushing yards, while Martucci had six carries for 36 yards and Maltese had six for 32.

Burbridge, who had two sacks on defense, had only one completion but it was a big 50-yarder to Brian Mannion. He also picked up a first down on a fourth-down run.

Maltese completed one pass for 20 yards.

Telesco, off a fake field goal, had an 18-yard, first-half pass completion for a first down to Shuya Hashimoto.

Despite the loss, Clarsktown South's defense looked solid.

Joe Roasario came up with a heads-up fumble recovery, pursuing an incomplete pass that was actually a backward pass that made it a live ball.

After getting into Clarkstown South territory in the second quarter, Eastchester was forced to punt after successive strong defensive plays by the Vikings.

Alex Velazquez knocked a long pass away near the end zone before Eastchester was forced to punt from the Clarkstown South 44 when Christian Mentekidis forced an incompletion by hitting Burnbridge as he was throwing on third down.

For Clarkstown South, Kyle Sperring had 12 tackles, including two for a loss. Jake Tetel had six tackles and an interception and Jason Ardizone had 11 tackles, one for a loss.

Offensively, quarterback Thomas Ryan was 11-for-18 for 102 ,yards and rushed for 23 yards. Ryan's favorite targets were Alex Velasquez, who had four catches for 45 yards and Jake Teitel, who had three for 34 yards.

Mason Ready rushed 12 times for 58 yards.

They said it

"Once halftime came, coach (Fred DiCarlo) said we have to really lay it down," Maltese said. "We all stepped up in our own ways. ... It wasn't just one person."

Ciafone praised his offensive line. He said Clarkstown South's defense was very physical and Eastchester's O line had to respond with a "physical push" of its own, which it did.

Of the win, he said, "It shows great improvement. ...We're coming now ready to play football."

"I think he really had something to prove," DiCarlo said of the senior Ciafone, a four-year varsity player. ... "He came with purpose today and the team road on his back."

Clarkstown South coach Mike Scarpelli liked his squad's special teams play and defense but said, "We didn't get into a groove offensively."

"Our kids had a great week of practice. But we just couldn't put it together offensively and keep drives alive," he said.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy .

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Section 1 football: Eastchester puts away Clarkstown South with 4th-quarter stand and score