By Tony Bellissimo
"The kids played their hearts out and we're all disappointed, but we have nothing to be ashamed about," Coach Walter Denton said. "It was a phenomenal season and the result of a lot of hard work and great senior leadership. We lost twice to a very strong club and beat everyone else."
With 3:46 left, South Side (6-2) appeared poised to make a late run in front of the home crowd. The Cyclones, starting from their own 46-yard line after a short punt, went to the air and on the second play of the drive sophomore quarterback Dominick Piselli connected with Mackenzie Krush for an 18-yard gain that nearly went for a lot more. But a hit by MacArthur defensive back Brett Tom jarred the ball out of Krush's grasp and Paul Tom, Brett's older brother, fell on it to end the Cyclones' final threat. "They were able to run out the clock after that," Denton said.
The Generals, who allowed the fewest points of any team in Conference II through six weeks and blanked the Cyclones 16-0 back on Oct. 14, put aside a dismal defensive performance in a 28-26 loss to Hewlett in the regular-season finale to force four turnovers, including one that set up the game's lone score.
"You can't put the ball on the carpet four times and expect to win," Denton said. "It was an excellent football game aside from the turnovers on our part. Our defense did a fine job."
MacArthur's Rob Forgione recovered a fumble at the South Side 11 with 10:02 left in the third quarter. Then, on the next play, quarterback Kevin Ryan hit tight end Ray Zdrodowski for a touchdown pass.
The Generals also turned aside South Side with a goal-line stand in the first quarter, stopping Piselli's sneak up the middle on fourth-and-goal at the 1. "We couldn't get six inches," Denton said. "It was nothing we did wrong. They came up and stuffed the play."
The Cyclones were ranked 12th in the 14-team conference at the beginning of the season and finished fourth. That alone speaks volumes. "One of the goals of the program this year was to regain respect," Denton said. "I don't think there's any doubt we accomplished it."
