Mamaroneck’s flag football program might not have the history of some of the other teams from around New York State, but the Tigers are sending a message to Section 1 to let them know they won’t be overlooked.
On Friday, April 17, the Tigers nearly pulled off the biggest win in their first-year of competition, taking reigning state champion Scarsdale to the limit before ultimately falling to the Raiders in a 7-6 nail-biter. But even in defeat, head coach Anthony Vitti said he can see the tremendous progress the first year club is making.
Margret Insley broke a long play in the second quarter to put the Tigers on the board, but Scarsdale responded after halftime with a long touchdown pass as well and converted on the PAT to take a 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Although the Tigers moved the ball in the final quarter of play, they were unable to find the end zone, falling to their rivals by one.
Head coach Anthony Vitti said that he was thrilled with the way the team played, even despite the one-point loss.
“I think this was a chance to go up against a team that’s obviously very accomplished; they’re well-coached, they play the game the right way, and there are so many facets to their game,” said Vitti. “This is our first year of competition, and you can see us figuring it out as we go along, but I think this was our most complete game so far.”
Vitti has been especially pleased with the play of the defense—also a calling card of Vitti’s fall football team—this year, as the Tigers have allowed just 19 points through the first five games of the season.
“I guess defense is one thing that just kind of follows,” laughs the head coach. “But we definitely have a defensive mentality in terms of understanding opposing teams, scouting, trying to make teams left-handed. Scarsdale had one big play today, but other than that, we were really solid.”
At 2-3 on the year, the Tigers will look for a strong second half, with games coming up against Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Ossining coming up next.
“I just want to see them continue to compete, come to practice, try to get better each day, and figure out who we are, ” said Vitti. “I think we found a bit of a rhythm today, now we just need to figure out how to cash in and finish.”
