It hasn’t been an easy start to the year for the Rye Neck football team, as wins—and points—have been hard to come by. On Sept. 25, the Panthers dropped their third straight game of the season in a 27-6 loss to Blind Brook, but first year head coach Darien Bica said that he’s seen enough improvement in the last few weeks to be encouraged about the future of the program.
Uneven play early on proved the difference-maker on Saturday, as the Trojans were able to capitalize on Rye Neck miscues and establish a 20-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. An interception returned for a touchdown and a muffed punt that gave Blind Brook the ball deep in Panther territory doomed the home team early on.
“We came out and put ourselves in a couple of bad situations; a pick-six, a punt that went zero yards, and teams are going to score,” said Bica. “But we came out and did what we had to do, we played our game, and that’s what we saw in the second half.”
After those early stumbles, the Panthers began to find their footing as the game went on, eventually orchestrating a scoring drive in the fourth quarter that culminated in a touchdown scamper by quarterback Hunter Merkel. Bica attributed the drive to a renewed push by the Panther line and some tough inside running by halfback Demetri Hylton.
“Early on we just weren’t executing our blocks, but we started to do that in the second half,” Bica said. “And Demetri is an incredible running back and we decided that since we were down, we had to give our workhorse the ball and he took care of it for us.”
Merkel’s touchdown run was the Panthers’ first score of the season, as the team had failed to reach the end zone in its first two games against Haldane and Dobbs Ferry.
But even in those shutout losses—and especially in Saturday’s game against Blind Brook—Bica said that there has been plenty of promising signs from this sophomore-heavy team.
“Whether it’s 56-0 or 27-6, we are seeing improvement,” said Bica. “These kids go from the first quarter to the fourth quarter fully working their hardest. We see what we can be at full capability, and we’ll make the necessary changes for next time.”
The Panthers will be back in action on Oct. 2, when they look to secure their first victory of the year against a similarly winless Woodlands team. The Falcons (0-3) are coming off a 40-0 loss to Valhalla.
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