Lakeland’s Three Quick TDs Too Much for Foxes
The Fox Lane football team found out just how quickly a game can turn on Friday night up at Lakeland High School.
An interception by Ryan Bonifati in the first quarter set the Hornets up near the Fox goal line, and they soon capitalized with a rushing touchdown from senior fullback Anthony Kaplan. From there, Lakeland never looked back, cruising to a 35-7 win over the Foxes and delighting the large Homecoming crowd.
Coming off a heartbreaking loss to Hendrick Hudson last Friday, Hornets coach Rob Capelli figured his players had all the motivation they needed to win, but hardly anticipated the lopsided outcome against the Foxes.
“I told them to remember the bus ride home from Hen Hud,” he said. “That was our rally cry all week. Fox Lane is very well coached and they’re a good team, almost twice the size of us. I didn’t think it was going to be like this.”
The Hornets led 8-0 after the first quarter and tacked on two more touchdowns before halftime. With Lakeland starting from its own 20-yard line, junior halfback Jimmy Flaherty ran through Fox Lane’s defensive line and scampered down the right sideline all the way to the end zone for an 80-yard score.
The Foxes, who dropped to 1-3 with the loss, then turned the ball over via a fumble on their next possession. Hornet quarterback Brian Prunty made Fox Lane pay by connecting with receiver Greg Lenane on a 42-yard pass play down to the Foxes’ 16-yard line. Sophomore Anthony Capozzi took it from there, racing past the Fox defense for another Hornet touchdown.
Fox Lane was able to put together a drive of its own before the half came to an end, getting on the scoreboard on a quarterback keeper by Jake Cohen. Coach Steve Quinn liked what he saw on the Foxes’ lone scoring drive, but knew his team would need much more than that if it wanted to challenge the Hornets.
“We played hard, but there were times we didn’t play hard enough,” he said. “We made too many mistakes early on. They came out on fire, we didn’t and that was the difference.”
Ahead 22-7 at intermission, Lakeland put the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. After a 59-yard carry from Flaherty, Capozzi ran for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Hornets a 28-7 lead. Greg Martin picked off Cohen on the Foxes’ ensuing possession, and Kaplan ran for his second touchdown to give the Hornets their final score.
The Foxes have now lost their last two games since defeating Greeley the second week of the season. But they figure to get back on the winning track on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Yonkers to face Riverside.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.