BEEKMANTOWN — It was the case of self inflicted wounds which doomed Moriah in a Class D Regional Final, Saturday.
“We just made too many mistakes,” Moriah head coach Casey Nephew said. “The mistakes really killed us.”
Section II’s Greenwich walked away with a 34-6 victory at Beekmantown, which ended the season for the Vikings.
The Witches got the first points of the game when Joe Radovich ran in a 20 yard touchdown halfway through the first quarter.
The Vikings prepared to answer, marching steadily down the field thanks to some strong running plays and a 16 yard pass from quarterback Joe Pelkey to Cooper Allen. Greenwich tightened the clamp as Moriah inches closer to the endzone and forced an interception to get the ball moving the other way.
In just two plays, the Witches found the end zone thanks to a 39 yard passing play from Radovich to Jay’den White. The score ballooned to 12-0 with 3:43 left in the first quarter.
Moriah’s defense forced a punt after just two minutes of Greenwich possession, determined to earn a shot to shrink the lead. The team was unable to extend the success into the offense, with Greenwich grabbing another interception in the Moriah half of the field.
That drive ended with a 23 yard touchdown run from Radovich, pushing the score to 18-0 heading into halftime. In addition, Joe Pelkey went down with arm pain while playing defense on the scoring play.
He was able to continue playing in the second half, showing resilience to end his high school football career.
“Joe Pelkey has been my quarterback for four years. He’s gritty,” Nephew said. “He was in some pain in the second half, and played through it. It’s great to have kids like that.”
The second half was similar to the first, with Radovich snagging a 48 yard pick-six to open the half.
Moriah’s sole touchdown came from Jaydin Hughes, who came up huge for the Viking a couple plays prior to the touchdown by shaking several tackles along the sideline to push Moriah inches from the redzone. He was rewarded for his efforts with a 10 yard rushing touchdown.
The loss marked the end of Moriah’s season, and meant the program would be parting ways with its senior class, featuring several faces that have defined the program over the last four years.
“They’re all just real, real, just good kids to coach, and we’re gonna miss them definitely next year,” Nephew said.
Pelkey, Allen, Jake Mascerenas, Tom Green, Riley Rollins, Phoenix Sanders, Lance Snyder and Chase McGinness saw the end of their senior season in the loss.
—
Moriah;0;0;0;6;-;6
Greenwich;12;6;8;8;-;34
Scoring
1st quarter
GW Radovich 20 yard run (conv. failed) 8:07
GW White 39 yard pass (conv. failed) 3:43
2nd quarter
GW Radovich 23 yard run (conv. failed.) 1:37
3rd quarter
GW Radovich 48 yard run (Radovich run.) 11:30.
4th quarter
MCS Hughes 10 yard run (conv. failed)
GW White 8 yard run.