2008 Mount Football Recap
by: Mario Scipioni '09
As summer came to a close and the school year was approaching, Mount students started to think about a big part of life at the school, football season. After two straight seasons with trips to the championship, expectations were high for the Mountaineers. With a great amount of returning talent and new key additions, the team was confident that this would be the year that Mount takes home the Michael A. Cunnion Trophy. However, looks became deceiving this year as the team experienced one of the toughest seasons in the history of Mount Football.
The Mountaineers opened up the season at home against Kellenberg. Everything looked promising on the opening drive. Mount moved down the field with ease and Max Otano ran into the endzone for the first six points of the season. Throughout the game, the defense played hard and physical, but the offense struggled doing its part. Mount would end up falling to Kellenberg 14-6.
In Week 2, Mount visited Long Island to take on the Flyers of Chaminade, who were ranked second in the league prior to the season. Once again, the defense soared, but the offense made many costly errors and had several mishaps that hurt them. At the end, Mount lost 14-7 and saw themselves at 0-2 with league play starting the very next week.
For the opening week of league play, Mount hosted Fordham. No one gave the Mountaineers a chance and said they wouldn't come close to victory. The press was proven wrong. In four quarters, the Mountaineers held the Rams to just two field goals and scored a touchdown in the second quarter. The game went into overtime, and Mount had possession first. On the very first play of overtime, Mount would lose 5 yards on a false start, but right after that, Max Otano found Danny Padilla for 15 yard TD pass. Randy Samuels's extra point gave the Mount a 13-6 lead. On the very first play of Fordham's possession in overtime, they made it into the endzone on a pass. Instead of trying to tie the game up, Fordham went for the win. Fordham's quarterback tossed the ball to the halfback who then passed the ball back to the quarterback. He dropped the pass, and just like that, Mount had earned its first win of the season.
Week 4's matchup had Mount facing Monsignor Farrell. The offense stepped it up, but the defense took a step backward. Mount went into halftime trailing, but hustled to regain the lead. In the last minute, Farrell had the ball in great field position in Mount territory. The defense managed to hold on, and the Mountaineers earned a 19-13 victory. Their two wins appeared to be a turnaround for the team, but looks were deceiving.
The next three weeks were not great for Mount. The Mountaineers lost three consecutive games. They held a strong 15-14 lead on Holy Trinity heading into the fourth quarter saw the game slip away as they fell to the Titans 28-15. The second game in the three week slump was a special game for Mount Football as the team honored Coach Valentini for his 25 years as Mount's head coach. Unfortunately, it wasn't as great of a day as they hoped for. They were down and out at halftime, but came back and nearly won the game as Holy Cross defeated the Mountaineers 16-14. The last week of this slump was a game that, without a doubt, no one from Mount wants to remember. The team suffered one of the program's worst losses ever, a 34-0 massacre from Xaverian. The Mountaineers, known for their strong running game, finished the game with -12 rushing yards. The three losses started to cause fear as the team realized that they might be sent down to the AA Division for the playoffs.
In Week 8, Mount took a trip to Nassau County in Long Island to take on St. Francis Prep from Queens. From the first second of the game, the defense came firing out at St. Francis's offense and succeeded. The offense got back up from over a whole game without a touchdown to put up 20 points in a 20-6 victory. With that win, Mount saw themselves with a chance to stay in the AAA Division. However, they knew the very next week would not be easy.
In the final week of the regular season, Mount made its fourth trip to Long Island in the season to face the Friars of St. Anthony's. The game was more of an offensive clinic with both teams scoring on nearly every drive. The offense put up its best performance of the year, but the defense struggled to stop the Friars' offense. The Mountaineers fought hard but fell short in a 42-27 loss. With that loss, Mount finished the regular season with a 3-6 record and had the bad feeling they would be spending the playoffs in the AA Division. The following Monday, they heard the news that they earned the final spot in the AAA playoffs and hope had grown.
In round one of the playoffs, Mount took on undefeated Iona Prep. On Iona's first two possessions, Mount's defense was able to stop their running game and force the Gaels to pass all day. They were down 14-0 at halftime but came back as a new team. However, all efforts were not enough. Just like that, the run for the championship was over. Mount fell just short 21-12, giving Iona the biggest run for their money all year.
Even though the team is eliminated from the playoffs, they will be playing one more game before the Turkey Bowl. This Saturday, the Mountaineers will play St. Joseph by the Sea in a AAA bowl game. Even though they are trying to rebound from a tough loss, Mount should be able to put up a tough fight and walk out with a victory. Good luck to the Mountaineers in their final two games. Most importantly: Beat Hayes!
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