Chase Pryor hurdles a Pelham defender to pick up a key first down
Sleepy Hollow Slips Past Pelham, Lands in Three Way Tie for Third Seed
PELHAM —For the first time in a few weeks the Sleepy Hollow Horsemen played a fourth quarter that was meaningful.
After Pelham Memorial opened up scoring with a 12 ayrd touchdown pass from Ethan Peter to Major Treggs it was Sleepy Hollow who would score 14 unanswered points with scores coming via a one yard run by QB Chase Pryor and a 22 yard screen pass from Pryor to Zeke Tamm.
Sleepy Hollow held that 14-7 lead until early in the fourt quarter when Peter's one yard touchdown sneak and a bootleg keeper on the two point attempt put Pelham Memorial on top 15-14.
“In a way it was good for us.” Sleepy Hollow head coach Robert Ella said after the game. “We've had a few lopsided ones in our favor these past couple weeks so it's good to face another challenge. Iron sharpens iron they say.”
Ella's squad responded.
The Horsemen went on a 14 play drive that covered 76 yards and culminated in Chase Pryor putting Sleepy Hollow back in the lead with a 16 yard touchdown run with under a minute left to play. J.C. Popek's kick made it 21-15.
“Once we got that last score and turned things over to the defense we knew it was ballgame.” Zeke Tamm following the game.
It was, in fact, ballgame. Connor Winston burst through the Pelham offensive line and dropped Peter for a one yard loss on first down.
Jon Stokke batted down a pass on second down.
Sammy Warmack caught Pelham's Sean Hurley from behind on a sweep to bring up a fourth and long and the entire defensive line swarmed Peter on an obvious passing down, leading to an errant pass thirty yards downfield that Stokke wisely and casually batted down.
Pryor took a knee and the Horsemen celebrated.
That celebration was short-lived however as attention quickly turned to game results elsewhere in Class B as the 5-1 Horsemen waited to see where they would be seeded.
Port Jervis' game went final first, a 50-7 win over Beacon, earning them a perfect 6-0 league record and the top seed. It wasn't until late in the bus ride home that they learned of Ardsley's win over Bronxville which meant that a coin flip would determine the third through fifth seeds in the playoffs.
“We can't control that part of it.” Chase Pryor said when I spoke with him late Saturday night after all the games were finalized. “We're just going to play who they tell us to play and do our best to come away with a win and keep playing.”
The tie breaking coin flip will take place Monday afternoon. It will stream live on the NYSPHSAA website and their Facebook page.
Class B playoff games start next Saturday.
Sleepy Hollow leaned on their usually three headed monster in the backfield with Miles Cunningham's 130 yards leading the team. Pryor picked up 102 yards and a pair of scores. Zeke Tamm tallied just 28 yards on the ground but added the 22 yard catch and run touchdown on a screen pass from Pryor.
With the regular season in the books the trio's stats are as follows:
Pryor – 974 yards rushing with 12 touchdowns along with 110 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Cunningham – 629 yards rushing 4 touchdowns, 78 yards receiving with two touchdowns. He also had 257 yards and a score on kick returns.
Tamm – 414 yards rushing with 4 touchdowns, 29 yards receiving with a touchdown.
"The benefits of having those three guys back there making plays as we transitioned into this style offense can't be overstated." Coach Ella said when asked about the numbers his team was able to put up in just six games. "They certainly have made me look good."
Cunningham, Tamm and Pryor were quick to heap praise on the offensive line.
"It all starts up front." Tamm said. "Those guys are dogs and they bust their butts to make holes for us."
"Those guys up front make it easy on us, we just have to follow them to the promised land." Added Cunningham.
"Hey, look, if it wasn't for Johnny, Connor, Wyatt, Tony and Carter up there moving mountains for us this would never work. We also have guys like Khari and John that go out there at tight end and block like crazy and the receivers are the unsung heroes too. They all make this thing go."