By STEVE SINISK
The Rams (6-3 overall) went for an on-sides kick and caught the Golden Eagles off-guard, but the kick sailed out of bounds giving Bethpage a short field to work with. A dozen plays later, the Golden Eagles punched in the fourth of their six touchdowns in a 41-13 win, advancing to the finals against No. 3 Lynbrook this Friday.
³That on-sides kick would have been huge for us,² Clarke coach John Boyle said. ³We needed to score and needed to stop them.²
Stopping the hard-charging Golden Eagles was a difficult task once they caught their stride in the second quarter. Behind the play of quarterback John Crotty, who led the offense to three touchdowns in a span of 6:27 and also bulldozed his way to runs of 11, 12 and 19, Bethpage controlled the tempo. And even when it did look like Clarke¹s defense would be able to force a punt to regain possession, the Golden Eagles were able to convert on third down.
Rhythm and flow may seem like a combination best suited for a music class or a rap video, but that¹s exactly the duo Clarke lacked. Unable to gain any consistent momentum in the first half, the Rams fell behind by three touchdowns with one final possession before halftime.
Mickey Rogers connected with Mark Sniffen on a 44-yard scoring strike with in the final minute of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 21-7, and it seemed as if the offense may have finally gotten in sync. Sniffen blew by a Bethpage defender on an out-and-up route, made an outstanding over-the-shoulder grab and raced into the end zone untouched. The quick strike drive lasted just six plays but covered 66 yards in only 1:15 and included a 15-yard reception by Jason Renieris and a 7-yard run by Jordan Spirou.
³A lot of it was our offense not being able to establish [a rhythm],² Boyle said of the struggles.
Among the Rams five first-half possessions, none lasted more than seven plays and aside from the 66-yard scoring drive, Clarke managed just 32 yards of total offense before halftime. On their first possession of the third quarter, Rogers led the scoring unit from its own 30 to the Bethpage 28 in just six plays, completing a 9-yard pass to Renieris and a 10-yard strike to Sniffen. Rogers added an 8-yard run, while Sniffen totaled 15 yards rushing on two carries. On the seventh play of the drive, Rogers looked downfield for Renieris and Clarke¹s worst enemy, Crotty, was on the scene. He intercepted the ball at the Golden Eagles 2, and then proceeded to eliminate any hopes of a comeback.
Crotty hit Geno Romanelli for a 30-yard pass on the next play, quickly followed up by Greg Zalewski¹s 68-yard touchdown run for a 35-7 lead.
Rogers, who finished the afternoon 9-for-18 through the air for 100 yards and added 24 yards rushing, capped the scoring by running in from six yards out with two minutes remaining. His touchdown run followed three consecutive runs by Chris Guy for 25 yards and ended a 12-play, 62-yard drive.
³We had a great year and this is one of the teams I¹ll always remember,² Boyle said. ³They fought back from the loss of their best player in Week three and never gave up.²
