Independent League Championship Game
at Poughkeepsie, Oct. 30, 2021
HORACE GREELEY QUAKERS ARE CHAMPS!!
HG was poised for a rematch against a team that put a blemish on their 6- 1 record. HG started off with surprise onside kick but Pioneers covered; tackles by Santelia, Schoonmaker and a sack by Coku forced a punt. On HG's first play, QB1 Wohl got hit hard but QB2 Asch ably filled in and threw a 17-yd pass to WR Blakeslee. Wohl returned to the fray and threw a TD pass to Melis, who eluded two tacklers for the score. PO went three and out again with stops by Tavo and Coku, followed by a sack by Schoonmaker and assist from Samkoff, Coku and Santelia. Wohl threw an errant pass on his 6-yard line that was returned for TD. Score 6–6.
HG put together a nice series; 22-yard run and 5-yard run from Wohl followed by first down rush by Melis, then first down pass to Hessert, but HG forced to punt. HG had stops by Hessert, Samkoff and Tavo and forced another punt. On HG next drive, Wohl and Bounds ran the ball effectively; Boden ran for two first downs and Wohl ran for a touchdown around left end; Meehan scored on the two-point reception. Pioneer speedster Sam Moore came right back and rushed down sidelines for an 80-yard score and tied game at 14.
HG engineered another drive with rushing from Santelia, Wohl and Bounds with passes to Blakeslee and Hessert. Wohl capped the drive with a high arcing pass to Blakeslee in the end zone for TD. 20–14 HG.
HG received KO to start the third and pounded the ball; three rushing first downs by Wohl, one rushing first down by Melis and then the 5-yard rushing TD by Melis. HG scored on a creative two-point conversion; handoff to Melis who handed off to Hessert who threw to wide open Wohl in end zone. 28-14.
Once again, the Pioneers' Moore took the kickoff back for another TD and it was 28-20. HG almost scored another TD on a deep ball but handed the ball over on downs.
On defense Melis and Forster made tackles and Coku had one sack after another; huge sack on fourth down and Schoonmaker had another sack with assist from Forster. Key play of the game was Samkoff picking off ball in the end zone; he ripped the ball out of WR hands and secured ball for the INT. After HG punted on fourth and inches, the defense held (another Schoonmaker sack) and on fourth and 28, Melis defended the pass. The team lined up in victory formation and Wohl took the knee. Quakers won the Hudson Valley Bowl with a 7-1 record.
Game Notes: Defense won the game; Coku, Schoonmaker and Doheny applied pressure on every passing play, and the wrecking crew (linebackers and safeties) were gang tackling and playing physically. ... Coach Kearns employed a NASCAR-type no huddle offense in the second half which Pioneers couldn’t handle. ... After an ominous start, Wohl ended with 191 yards rushing and ended up with over 1,000 yards rushing /1,000 yards passing for the season. ... Melis scored two TDs and was relentless on defense at CB and freshman phenom Blakeslee delivered again. ... The offensive line gave up no sacks and the team had 310 yards rushing; very impressive. Cowbell wisdom – “better to be the hammer than the nail. "
Cheers go out to Coach Kearns, his staff, trainers, team managers – proud of the boys for TRUSTING THE PROCESS, believing in themselves and earning the valiant victory.
