South Shore’s football team has built a season on down-to-the-wire victories and dramatic comebacks, but the Vikings couldn’t stage that final rally on Oct. 21, falling 19–8 to Tottenville.
The team was — once again — in the matchup until the very end, but flags and late-game miscues made it impossible for the squad to settle into a rhythm. It was South Shore’s (5–2) first loss since week one of the season.
“It felt like we were on the wrong side of the stick tonight,” said South Shore coach Matt Ciquera. “Any time we got some momentum, it seemed to get called back [by flags].”
Ciquera was disappointed by the officiating, but did point out that his defense kept South Shore in the game until the very end. Senior Giovanni Denard led the charge, recording six tackles — including a sack and tackle for a loss — and helped the Vikings snuff out a handful of Tottenville drives early in the first half.
“As a unit, we just tried to contain their quarterback and running back,” Denard said. “Honestly, I was just trying to stop them no matter what.”
While the Vikings defense did its best to slow down Tottenville, South Shore’s offense struggled to find any momentum. The squad was shut out in the first three quarters and, by the final whistle, South Shore recorded just 28 total passing yards.
Senior quarterback Jason Martin hit his stride in the second half, however, leading the Vikings ground game with a game-high 175 yards rushing on 16 carries. Martin got South Shore on the board with 10:05 left to play, rushing into the end zone on a four-yard carry, but it wasn’t quite enough to spark the Vikings.
“[Jason] played pretty well tonight,” Ciquera said. “His receivers let him down a few times, but the game plan going into tonight was to run the ball and control the clock, and I feel like we controlled possession well, but in the end we had opportunities to get the ball in the end zone, and could not convert.”
Tottenville padded its lead in the final minutes of regulation — converting a fourth-and-five with 3:30 on the clock before notching the final touchdown of the night less than a minute later.
It was a tough loss to accept for South Shore — particularly after so many close victories this season — but the squad is determined to put this game behind it. After all, there are still two more weeks left in the regular season, and the Vikings are determined to win both of them — no matter how close the final score is.
“We just have to win these two games,” Denard said. “Every game is a playoff game for us now.”
