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November 20, 2009

Moriah defense rises to occasion

By RYAN HAYNER



KINGSTON — It was as if the ball was hanging in the air forever.

Ralph Schofield glued his eyes on the football as his head coach yelled over from the sideline.

"Step up and pick it off!" Don Tesar shouted.

The senior cornerback finally did, stepping in front of an Eldred receiver to pluck the ball from the air. He took off down the sideline before being tackled as Moriah fans erupted. The Vikings were up 22-13 with a minute left in the game. Moriah was going back to the Carrier Dome.

The Vikings defense, backing up a strong running performance from Ron Schofield, made sure of that.

Facing a number of offensive formations, the Vikings defense turned in a stalwart effort, notching five sacks and two interceptions while making necessary halftime adjustments to limit a high-scoring Yellow Jacket team to just 13 points. Eldred's touchdowns came on a short field and a blown assignment that led to a huge gain.

The Yellow Jackets tried the Wildcat, as they did for the first time all season against Tuckahoe last week in the quarterfinals. Against Tuckahoe, the formation that directly snaps the ball to the running back led to a touchdown in a 21-14 win.

Moriah wasn't fooled. The Vikings had seen the Wildcat at different points throughout the year, most recently against Rensselaer in the quarterfinals. When the Yellow Jackets tried it the first time, the Vikings stuffed two straight runs and knocked down a third-down pass attempt from a halfback.

The second time the Yellow Jackets attempted the Wildcat, they tried another halfback throw and Mike Speshock intercepted it.

"The second time, the kids were back and ready for it," Tesar said.

In the second half, Eldred threw out a new twist on offense. Before the snap, the Yellow Jackets spread out to the sidelines, four on each side, leaving only the center on the line with the quarterback and halfback behind him.

Moriah quickly called a timeout. The Vikings' coaching staff wanted to set the players in the right positions to counter, but Eldred went back to the basics on the next play.

The Yellow Jackets returned to the strange formation on their final drive in the fourth quarter when they were down by nine. Eldred tried a screen to the left side. Willy Burbank sniffed that out and tackled the receiver for an 8-yard loss. Ralph Schofield's interception came on the next play.

"We took a timeout (the first time) so we could set guys where we wanted to put them," Tesar said. "We weren't going to be caught off guard if they came out with it again."

Moriah's defense also thwarted a prime Eldred scoring opportunity in the first half while holding a 7-0 lead. Facing a fourth and goal from the 3-yard line, the Vikings defense stuffed Halloran inches from the end zone.

"We could have been down at halftime," Tesar said. "That goal-line stand down there was huge."

The only real defensive negatives came via a short field and a blown assignment. A fumble on a punt return in the second quarter put the Yellow Jackets on the Vikings' 21-yard line. In the fourth quarter, Henry found a wide-open Matt Balcom, who was finally brought down at the Vikings 1-yard line. Halloran scored on the following play both times.

But after rushing for 105 yards in the first half, Halloran wasn't able to generate the same success in the second. Tesar said the defense was confused on what formation to run, but the Vikings went with five down-lineman and three linebackers.

Halloran gained only six yards on three carries in the second half. After generating 147 yards of offense in the first half, the Yellow Jackets managed just 77 in the second half, with 73 coming on the blown assignment that resulted in Balcom's 73-yard catch.

"They were even stronger than we thought," Eldred coach Frank Kean said.

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