By Steve Siniski
Gagliano did a great job, coach John Boyle said. Down the stretch we were trying to pick up first downs to keep the clock
going. It was a simple trap, nothing special.
The Bulldogs didn-t go quietly, however, driving all the way down to the Rams 10-yard line with one final chance to get a game-tying score. Sophomore Chris Guy was able to break up the last-gasp pass attempt on fourth-down with less than four seconds to play. We have 43 [players] on the team and he-s surfaced, Boyle said of Guy. He has big-play capability. He-s not a big kid but he always seems to be around the ball.
What may be the most impressive development to come out of the win was the work of an offensive line missing two starters because of injury. Backup tight end Matt Shannon stepped in at tackle, and helped spring the offense to three touchdowns of 25 yards or more despite just three days of work in practice. Mark Sniffen opened the scoring for the Rams with a 25-yard run in the second quarter, and receiver Chris Gould reeled in a 56-yard scoring pass later in the frame from quarterback Mickey Rogers.
We-re not there yet but I think this is the kind of team that each week will get better, Boyle said. They work hard as a group and want to get better and succeed.
Clarke opened the year with a 28-8 victory over Great Neck North on Sept. 16, behind three scores from Gagliano. He ripped off touchdown runs of 1 and 13 yards, and also had a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown. Riding a wave of early season success, No. 10 - seeded Clarke takes on winless but dangerous West Hempstead (0-2) this Saturday. Seeded No. 2 in Conference IV, the West Hempstead Rams have allowed 52 points. They-re a good team that-s 0-2, Boyle said. They-re [going to be] our toughest test so far. We still need to improve a lot more. To beat West Hempstead we-re going to have to raise our level of play.
After starting last season 0-2, a first in the 18 years under Boyle, Clarke is back on the winning side and continues to develop
offensively in the return to the Wing -T. We still have the big play but we can run more sustained drives, Boyle said. We still have some spread offense that we like using but we went back to our roots. It-s nice to go back to your roots and be successful
with it.
