Tamarac junior quarterback Nick Casale looks for running room during Saturday's 13-12 victory over Watervliet. Casale passed for 274 yards and ran for 58 more as the Bengals started a season 4-0 for the first time since 1983. (Photos by Mike McMahon - The Record).

CLUMS CORNERS — Pick a hero, any hero, because plenty of players stepped up and embodied the Tamarac High School football team’s motto – find a way - Saturday afternoon for the Bengals in an historic and thrilling 13-12 Section II Class C non-division victory over the Watervliet Cannoneers.

Tamarac junior quarterback Nick Casale completed 16-of-29 passes for 274 yards, passed and ran for a touchdown and led the team in rushing with 58 yards on 13 attempts. Nick Newell caught eight of those passes for 126 yards.

Junior lineman Joe Hulsebosch blocked a Watervliet punt early in the fourth quarter that helped the Bengals win the field position battle at the end of the game.

Sophomore linebacker Sam Burden made 13 tackles and broke up a Watervliet pass attempt on the Cannoneers’ last-minute drive.

Freshman David Newell made a shoestring tackle of Watervliet’s Antonio Lind with just over one minute to play, saving what would have been the go-ahead touchdown for the Cannoneers.

Reed Meehan, who also serves as the captain of the Tamarac soccer team and whose right hand was cradled in a wrap of foam padding – he recently broke his wrist – kicked the game-winning extra point after Casale ran for the tying touchdown with 1:58 to play.

Tamarac senior Reed Meehan kicked the game-winning extra point in the fourth quarter. He also serves as a team captain on the Bengals' soccer team. (Will Montgomery vidcap - The Record).

All of that added up to lift Tamarac (3-0, 4-0) to an undefeated start through four games for the first time sine 1983, which was the last time the Bengals won a Section II title.

“Our whole mindset was play through everything, no matter what,” said Casale. “Fumbles, turnovers, penalties, anything. You have to keep your head up. We just had to play through it and that’s what we did. No matter if they scored touchdowns, we came right back and showed them who’s boss.”

Watervliet (3-0, 3-1) limited Section II’s leading receiver, Tamarac junior Tyler Larvie, to one reception for one yard. Larvie fumbled and lost the ball to Watervliet’s Sean Daley on the play. With the Cannoneers blanketing Larvie in double coverage, up stepped Nick Newell, Mark Morine and Joe Motzer in his place.

For video highlights from Saturday's game, visit www.troyrecord.com/video/sports

Morine grabbed four passes for 81 yards and Motzer, who was hung out to dry on one high pass from Casale - Watervliet's Pat Ebenhoch delivered a crushing blow - caught four balls for 76 yards.

"Tyler had been carrying the load, but they had a safety over the top and you had (Ryan) Manning on him early in the game," said Tamarac head coach Erick Roadcap. "Manning is one of the best athletes in Section II among the small schools. It wasn't happening. They took that away and that’s where we needed the other guys to step up. And I’ll tell you, they did.

"Newell, I harp on him and I’m always riding him," Roadcap continued. "I tell him, I’m ridning you because I like you. I’ll take 25 of you any day of the week"

Tamarac gained at least 100 yards rushing on the ground for the fourth straight game, doing it for the second straight game without senior captain Nick Feldmaier, who is out with what head coach Erick Roadcap called a fractured fibula. Casale ran for 58 yards and Mark Morine added 42 yards on 12 carries.

Casale took a massive hit from Watervliet's Josh Veshia late in the third quarter. Casale tried to walk off the field, but crumbled to the turf and yelled, "oh, my leg," before hobbling off to the sidelines. He missed just one play before returning to lead the Bengals to the come-from-behind victory.

"I’ve felt that ever since Feldmaier went down, I’ve had to carry this team," Casale said. "I could only come out for a play, though, I knew I had to go back in no matter how bad my leg hurt. I had to stay tough mentally and I went back in and we finished this game out strong, the whole team."

Tamarac, which closed the 2009 season on a three-game run, has won seven straight.

Tamarac's Nick Newell is tackled by Watervliet's Ryan Manning during the first quarter of Saturday's game. Newell finished with eight receptions for 126 yards in the victory.

“Tyler is leading Section II and they took him as a threat and left me open,” Newell said. “I just took advantage of it and saw beautiful passes all day. The line gave him time in the pocket and it all came together.”

Newell, in fact, was sporting a spiffy Mohawk haircut, which he got in Watervliet. His conversation with the barber led to a bet between them for Saturday's game.

"I made a bet with Jose the barber at Who’s Next in Watervliet. That’s where I got my Mohawk," he said. "I’ll be going down there to get my free Mohawk"

The team also gained inspiration from Phil Arnold prior to the game. Arnold was a feisty senior running back and linebacker on Tamarac's 2008 team, which also started the season 3-0 and finished with a 5-4 record.

"We had leaders step up," Newell said. "We had a talk with Phil Arnold right before the game and he said every inch counts. When I caught the ball for the first touchdown, that’s all I was thinking. Every inch counts. I just pounded it in there and barely got it in. Every inch counts and that’s what you have to do."

Newell scored on an 18-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter to give Tamarac the first lead. Meehan’s extra point attempt was blocked.

“He could have had a cup of tea back there and then threw the ball,” laughed Tamarac head coach Erick Roadcap. “The line did an unbelievable job.”

Watervliet responded in the third quarter as Brandon Legault, who passed for 212 yards on a 12-of-29 performance, tossed touchdown strikes to Pat Ebenhoch and Kyle Touzin as the Cannoneers claimed the lead with just over 17 minutes remaining in the game.

The Cannoneers threatened on their final possession, advancing to Tamarac’s 35-yard line with 8.8 seconds remaining. Legault dropped back and connected with Antonio Lind, who was tackled on the five-yard line as time expired.

“The big word for us is gut check and heart. Well, that’s two words,” Burden laughed. “It’s been so long and we just had to get it done today. Everybody knew what was going on.”

The Bengals were on the fence of whether to pull Burden up to the varsity squad this season, but he certainly proved his worth Saturday afternoon.

"We were on the bubble with him all year," Roadcap said. "Is it too early to bring him up? He just shut me up. He’s no longer a junior varsity player."

"We had some injures throughout the year and it kind of hurt us but we stuck together as a team and I just got my call, so I went up and played my heart out," Burden said. "That’s all I can do."

Watervliet senior running back and defensive back Ryan Manning returned to the sidelines in the second quarter of Saturday's game but he did not take the field again after injuring his shoulder on the final play of the first quarter.

Ryan Manning, Watervliet’s senior running back, injured his left shoulder on the final play of the first quarter, was carted off the field and did not return. Head coach Erick Bernard said Manning was getting an X-ray after the game and his status for the rest of the season is uncertain.

“Tamarac is back on top,” Casale said. “We’re feeling good about ourselves and we’re going to carry this through the rest of the year.”

"It feels good," Newell said. "I’d like to see this be the first of many with a winning season and just set the precedent for the younger kids and have them keep playing. The two soccer players, they don’t even want to play soccer. They want to play football."

Friday night, Tamarac will face North Division rival Greenwich (3-1, 3-1), which will be yet another test for the Bengals.

“It’s a big rivalry, the same with Hoosick Falls,” Burden said. “It’s going to be tough though. We’re going to have to play twice as hard as this game. You never know.”

Tamarac sophomore Sam Burden made 13 tackles in Saturday's game, including this one on Watervliet's Andre Williams.

TAMARAC 13, WATERVLIET 12

Watervliet (3-0, 3-1) 0 0 12 0 — 12
Tamarac (3-0, 4-0) 0 6 0 7 — 13
First Quarter
No scoring
Second Quarter
T — Nick Newell 18 pass from Nick Casale (Reed Meehan kick blocked) 5:02
Third Quarter
W — Pat Ebenhoch 15 pass from Brandon Legault (Legault kick blocked) 8:37
W — Kyle Touzin 42 pass from Legault (pass failed) 5:12
Fourth Quarter
T — Casale 2 run (Meehan kick) 1:58
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Watervliet (33-102): Williams 15-57, Manning 8-30, Brown 9-29, Ebenhoch 1-(-14). Tamarac (28-102): Casale 13-58, M.Morine 12-42, Broderick 3-2.
Passing: Watervliet: Legault 12-29-212-2-1. Tamarac: Casale 16-29-274-1-1; Larvie 1-1-10-0-0.
Receiving: Watervliet (12-212): Lind 6-83, Touzin 3-71, Ebenhoch 2-25, Williams 1-33. Tamarac (17-284): N.Newell 8-126, M.Morine 4-81, Motzer 4-76, Larvie 1-1.

--
Saturday's schedule
Class A
Northwest Division
Amsterdam 39, Glens Falls 29
Class B
West Division
Cobleskill 34, Hudson Falls 26
Reinfurt Division
Ravena 38, Cohoes 7
Albany Academy 47, Cairo 8
Non-division
Coxsackie-Athens 38, Ichabod Crane 0
Class C
South Division
Fonda-Fultonville 19, Canajoharie 0
Non-division
Tamarac 13, Watervliet 12
Class D
B.Gibbons 16, Warrensburg 12
Cambridge 49, Fort Edward 8
Rensselaer 33, Salem 0

Friday's scores
Class AA
Empire Division
Ballston Spa 35, Bethlehem 6
CBA 27, Saratoga Springs 2
Guilderland 34, Albany 26
Liberty Division
Shaker 21, Niskayuna 14
Colonie 20, La Salle7
Troy 53, Columbia 0
Non-division
Shen 35, Schenectady 21
Class A
Southeast Division
Averill Park 49, Bishop Maginn 20
Lansingburgh 21, Scotia-Glenville 0
Northwest Division
Burnt Hills 41, Gloversville 0
Queensbury 26, South Glens Falls 14
Non-division
Hudson 47, Mohonasen 31
Class B
West Division
Schalmont 56, Johnstown 0
Schuylerville 52, Broadalbin 12
Class C
South Division
Taconic Hills 23, CCHS 13
Chatham 42, Voorheesville 13
North Division
Stillwater 35, Corinth 18
Lake George 41, Hoosic Valley 0
Hoosick Falls 34, Granville 6
Greenwich 32, Mechanicville 0

Section II high school football standings, post Week Four

Class AA, League, Overall
Empire Division, W-L, W-L, PF, PA, QP
Shenendehowa, 3-0, 4-0, 117, 31, 21
Ballston Spa, 3-1, 3-1, 106, 40, 17.5
Christian Bros. Acad., 2-1, 3-1, 110, 55, 15.5
Saratoga Springs, 2-2, 2-2, 70, 60, 17
Bethlehem, 1-2, 1-3, 48, 121, 5.5
Guilderland, 1-2, 2-2, 95, 100, 7.5
Albany, 0-4, 0-4, 33, 141, 0
Liberty Division
Troy, 4-0, 4-0, 188, 0, 28
Shaker, 3-0, 4-0, 118, 49, 18
Niskayuna, 2-2, 2-2, 102, 102, 14.5
Colonie, 2-2, 2-2, 41, 95, 11.5
La Salle, 1-2, 1-3, 35, 125, 5
Columbia, 0-3, 0-4, 56, 145, 4
Schenectady, 0-3, 0-4, 70, 135, 3

Class A
Northwest Division
Amsterdam, 2-0, 4-0, 144, 53, 12
Burnt Hills, 2-0, 4-0, 156, 15, 14
Gloversville, 1-1, 1-3, 95, 147, 5.5
Queensbury, 1-1, 3-1, 97, 81, 7
Glens Falls, 0-2, 2-2, 135, 110, 2.5
South Glens Falls, 0-2, 1-3, 73, 89, 1
Southeast Division
Averill Park, 2-0, 3-1, 121, 101, 13.5
Lansingburgh, 1-0, 3-1, 129, 59, 7
Bishop Maginn, 1-1, 2-2, 111, 122, 6.5
Mohonasen, 0-1, 0-4, 69, 149, 1
Scotia-Glenville, 0-2, 0-4, 6, 105, 0

Class B
Reinfurt Division
Albany Academy, 2-0, 4-0, 204, 59, 14
Ravena, 2-0, 4-0, 152, 59, 14
Cohoes, 0-1, 0-4, 26, 183, 0
Hudson, 0-1, 2-2, 96, 102, 0
Cairo-Durham, 0-2, 0-4, 34, 179, 0
West Division
Schalmont, 2-0, 4-0, 199, 26, 14
Schuylerville, 2-0, 4-0, 169, 32, 14
Cobleskill, 1-1, 2-2, 101, 81, 5
Hudson Falls, 1-1, 1-3, 108, 122, 9
Broadalbin-Perth, 0-2, 0-4, 37, 229, 0
Johnstown, 0-2, 0-4, 20, 179, 0
Independent
Ichabod Crane, 0-0, 1-3, 72, 119, 0

Class C
North Division
Hoosick Falls, 4-0, 4-0, 144, 26, 27.5
Tamarac, 3-0, 4-0, 111, 52, 17.5
Greenwich, 3-1, 3-1, 123, 35, 21.5
Lake George, 3-1, 3-1, 115, 48, 18
Mechanicville, 1-2, 1-3, 35, 101, 7
Stillwater, 1-2, 2-2, 82, 121, 7
Granville, 1-3, 1-3, 86, 114, 10
Hoosic Valley, 0-3, 0-4, 0, 156, 0.5
Corinth, 0-4, 0-4, 63, 132, 3
South Division
Chatham, 4-0, 4-0, 147, 61, 27
Watervliet, 3-0, 3-1, 125, 32, 20.5
Fonda-Fultonville, 3-1, 3-1, 119, 71, 21.5
Coxsackie-Athens, 1-2, 2-2, 120, 86, 2
Taconic Hills, 1-2, 1-3, 62, 130, 7
Voorheesville, 1-2, 2-2, 75, 99, 5
Canajoharie, 0-3, 1-3, 48, 93, 0.5
Catholic Central, 0-3, 1-3, 55, 106, 0.5

Class D
Cambridge, 3-0, 3-0, 110, 23, 18
Rensselaer, 3-0, 3-0, 94, 29, 19
Whitehall, 2-1, 2-1, 73, 61, 14.5
Fort Edward, 2-2, 2-2, 128, 111, 13.5
Bishop Gibbons, 1-2, 1-2, 35, 62, 8
Warrensburg, 1-3, 1-3, 52, 111, 9
Salem, 0-4, 0-4, 35, 130, 1.5

--
Saturday's local roundup:

WATERFORD -- Badreddine Talbi headed the ball from a Wayne Russell corner kick past Waterford-Halfmoon goalkeeper Joe Hilton to lift Troy High School to a 1-0 boys soccer non-league victory Saturday afternoon.
The Flying Horses (5-0, 6-0) spoiled the Fordians’ (4-0, 5-2) homecoming and stayed unbeaten in a non league tilt.
Bobby Strang made two saves to record the shutout for Troy High.
Hilton finished with three saves for the Fordians (4-0, 5-2).
Colonie 3, Shaker 0: Tommy Osipitan tallied two goals to halt Colonie’s two game losing streak at Shaker. Edin Hadjimuratovic added a goal and an assist for the Red Raiders in a Suburban Council match.
Bethlehem 3, Burnt Hills 2: The Eagles rallied from two goals down for a comeback win in a Suburban game. Zack Rockmore provided all the offense for the Eagles, netting three goals. Thomas Nocito and Sean Kenny scored a goal each for the Spartans.
Voorheesville 3, Mechanicville 1: Chris Dimmitt and Evan Campana tallied a goal each for the Blackbirds in a Colonial Council match. Chris McNall scored the Red Raiders lone goal and Caleb Foard finished with 14 saves.
Girls Soccer
Bethlehem 2, Burnt Hills 0: Kristina Maksuti registered a goal and an assist for the Eagles in a Suburban victory. Marjana Maksuti added Bethlehem’s second goal. Florie Comley recorded 15 saves in net for Burnt Hills.
Saratoga Springs 2, Averill Park 0: The Blue Streaks blanked the Warriors in Suburban Council action.
Lake George 3, Waterford-Halfmoon 0: Emma Underwood scored a pair of goals for the Warriors (5-1-1) in a non-league victory over the Lady Fordians (1-4-0, 1-5-0).
Shannon Hastings made 11 saves for Waterford.
Schuylerville 5, Troy 0: The Black Horses (6-0) received two goals apiece from Nicole Senecal and Courtney Pierce in a non-league victory over the Flying Horses (5-4).
Football
Class A
Amsterdam 39, Glens Falls 29: The Rugged Rams improved to 2-0 in the Northwest division and remained undefeated overall (4-0) with a victory over the Indians (0-2, 2-2).
Class B
Ravena 38, Cohoes 7: The Indians (2-0, 4-0) remained undefeated, topping the Tigers (0-1, 0-4) in a Reinfurt Division game on Alumni Field.
Albany Academy 47, Cairo-Durham 8: The Cadets (2-0, 4-0) kept pace in the Reinfurt Division with a big win over the Mustangs (0-2, 0-4).
Senior running back Zay Richardson had his worst game of the season so far, but he still piled up 240 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns. He has run for 1,106 yards and 19 touchdowns through four games.
Cobleskill-Richmondville 34, Hudson Falls 26: The Bulldogs (1-1, 2-2) posted their first West Division victory of the season over the Tigers (1-1, 1-3).
Coxsackie-Athens 38, Ichabod Crane 0: The Indians (1-2, 2-2) posted a non-division victory over the Riders (0-0, 1-3).
Class C
Fonda-Fultonville 19, Canajoharie 0: The Braves (3-1, 3-1) bounced back from last week’s loss at Chatham with a South Division victory over the Cougars (0-3, 1-3).
Class D
Rensselaer 33, Salem 0: The Rams (3-0, 3-0) will be rolling into next week’s game against Cambridge, having blanked the Generals (0-4, 0-4) on the road Saturday afternoon.
Cambridge 49, Fort Edward 8: The Indians (3-0, 3-0) posted a big victory over the Flying Forts (2-2, 2-2).
Bishop Gibbons 16, Warrensburg 12: The Golden Knights (1-2, 1-2) picked up their first victory of the season over the Burghers (1-3, 1-3).
From Friday
Girls Volleyball
CCHS 3, Albany 0: The Crusaders (4-1, 5-2) recorded a Big 10 win by scores of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-16. Ashley Creigton registered two aces, nine digs, five assists and two kills to pace CCHS. Hannah Kutny added five aces, seven digs, two assists and nine kills. The Falcons were led by Emily Thorton’s 17 digs.

Follow OTR: Twitter
Facebook
YouTube Channel
RSS feed for links to blog posts as soon as they are published
Send an email to OTR
High school football central on www.troyrecord.com