By STEVE SINISKI
³We never had breathing room until five minutes were left in the game,² Clarke coach John Boyle said. ³In a game like this we had to get to 47 [points]. It was a close game.²
The Rams advance to the semifinals at Hofstra this Friday to take on top-seeded Bethpage. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Despite a 5-2 mark during the regular season, the Rams entered the playoffs as the No. 7 seed and promptly became the lowest seed to ever earn a victory. To Boyle, the upset speaks volumes about the level of competition in Conference III. ³I think the whole league is good,² he said. ³All eight teams deserved to be in the playoffs and all eight are good teams.²
Clarke found itself in a 7-0 deficit just 22 second into the game. A fumble on the opening kickoff gave the Knights possession at the Rams 10-yard line, and they took full advantage. Pierre Dieudonne punched in the game¹s first touchdown on a 3-yard run, but it didn¹t take the Rams long to respond. Mickey Rogers and Jason Reniris hooked up on an 82-yard scoring play on Clarke¹s second snap from scrimmage to tie the game. It was the first of three unanswered touchdowns. ³The fact that we were able to answer their score was big,² Boyle said.
Reniris began the year as one of several players hoping to see time in the passing game and has recently become a favorite target of Rogers. He finished with three receptions for 128 yards. ³He¹s
emerged over the last two weeks,² Boyle said.
Last Friday was also the first time all season the entire starting offensive line was on the field together. Injuries throughout the campaign made for a revolving door of players at several of the positions. ³They gave Rogers time to throw and opened up holes,² Boyle said.
Mixing up the offense from the first meeting, Clarke¹s collection of runners, including Anthony DeFilippi, Jordan Spriou and Mark Sniffen combined for five touchdowns on the ground, and even Rogers ran one in from three yards out. ³They were concerned with the outside threat in our running game,² Boyle said. ³We were still able to get outside but also had running room inside [the line].²
A 33-14 half-time advantage was a still-uncomfortable 40-28 edge entering the fourth quarter before Spriou iced it with a 14-yard scoring run. ³A couple of guys stepped up and gave us their best game of the season,² Boyle said.
Bethpage (7-1) escaped with a 28-26 win over No. 8 Island Trees last Saturday, and dropped its only game of the regular season to Floral Park.
