Pennington SchoolJerry Eure knew something wasn’t right when his Pennington School football squad hosted Hackley last Saturday.
By: Mike Molaro
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The veteran coach’s worst fears materialized when the visitors from Tarrytown, N.Y., came away with a 33-0 victory the first defeat for the Red Raiders after three consecutive victories.
Undefeated Hackley did it on the ground and through the air and sandwiched a 19-point second quarter around seven-point first and third quarters.
According to Eure, it was a case of Pennington never getting its engine out of first gear.
"We couldn’t get our motor started," he said. "We had poor field position in the first half. We couldn’t move the ball. They had a swarming defense and they were all over us.
"We didn’t have a good week of practice leading up to Hackley. Their quarterback is the best we’ve seen in years and they have five good receivers."
What the Red Raider coaching staff and fans saw and didn’t see on the field was magnified as each play was dissected during the post-game tape viewing.
"We watched the films and went over the mistakes," added Eure. "You don’t see the little things during the game. We made a lot of mistakes, like being out of position and too many mental errors. Hackley is a finesse team and you must be disciplined against them. We weren’t. We learned from this game."
With a bye week coming up, Pennington has a chance to heal its wounds. Senior fullback/linebacker Chris Liwosz can rest his separated shoulder and junior tailback/safety Muhammad Siddiqu has an opportunity to keep weight off his sprained ankle.
It also gives the Red Raider coaching staff an opportunity to hone the skills of a couple of rising stars.
"Chris DeRose (junior nose guard) is playing great," Eure said. "He is giving opposing centers fits. Tyler Montgomery (senior offensive lineman) is playing well and (senior) center John Moninelli is improving each week. He looks good on film and does a lot of good things that you don’t always see during the game."
After three triumphs in four games, Eure knows his guys can’t sit back and enjoy their quick start out of the gate. They have to keep moving forward and use the setback to Hackley as a building block for the future.
"Up to last Saturday, we were right where we thought we’d be," he said. "Now we’re going back to square one. We have to start over. We have a great group of kids and I think the kids will rise t the occasion. We have no superstars, so this must be a team effort."
One of Eure’s goals after their season-opening 22-6 triumph over Academy of New Church on Sept. 7 was for the Red Raiders to get tougher. That task can be checked off their "to do" list. Unfortunately, the schedule didn’t line up the opponents the way he preferred.
"We are getting more physical," Eure added. "We played very aggressively against Metuchen. We went hit for hit with them.
"I would’ve liked to have played a more physical opponent than Granville the week before Hackley. This is Granville’s first year of varsity football and they really couldn’t give us much of a game. I think we were too complacent in that game (Granville) and that complacency carried over into practice last week. You lose your quickness when you are not crisp. It showed last Saturday."
The Red Raiders are off until they host Riverdale on Oct. 13.
"Riverdale is another finesse team," said Eure. "We learned from Hackley and I am confident we will play better against Riverdale."