TICONDEROGA — The stands were full as friends gathered together from both Moriah and Ti to witness and revisit an old rivalry.
The clash of pads happened as the Vikings shut out the Sentinels, 41-0 at Sentinel Field, Friday.
“It’s amazing,” Moriah senior Cooper Allen said. “I mean, the last time we played them was at home, two years ago.
“Even then, a rivalry has gone back so many years, and it’s just like we mark our day every year, the day we get to play these guys. I mean, it’s a battle every year. No matter the records. It doesn’t matter. When we go into this game and we just come out, we play hard.”
Allen was the recipient of three touchdown passes from quarterback Joe Pelkey.
Pelkey finished the night with four touchdown passes on 8-10 passing for 107 yards. Allen caught five of those for 98 yards.
“We definitely utilized what we had open,” Allen said. “If it works at first, we keep doing it.
“I think that shows the versatility of our offense. I mean, we can pass the ball and we can run the ball. The line stepped up huge today. The past two weeks, we’ve improved tremendously on the line. It’s really going to help us come sectionals and in the playoffs.”
Running back Jacob Mascarenas led the way on the ground with 11 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. He did have one touchdown pass on a fake punt to Allen for 41 yards in the second quarter.
“We have improved every week, and you just have to keep showing up to practice and wanting to get better every single week,” he said. “No matter what the score is in the game, if you’re getting better when sectionals come and you’re playing your best football, it’s all you can ask for.
“Hopefully we can continue on this run and keep winning.”
The Vikings got going early as Pelkey and Allen connected from 16 yards out. They followed it up on the next drive with Mascarenas scoring from a two yard plunge.
The second quarter was more of the same as Allen caught back-to-back touchdowns, one a six yard pass from Pelkey, followed by the fourth down pass day.
The third quarter saw Moriah pick up where they left off.
Isaac White scored on a 35 yard run to push the score to 35-0.
Pelkey would find Chase McGuinness for a two yard connection on the next series to close out the scoring.
Even with the Vikings pulling away, it didn’t cause any shine to wear off on the rivalry between the two schools that share familial connections. Parents went to one school, while their kid ended up at the other and vice versa.
The communities are closely entwined, which builds on a deep rivalry between the schools.
“These kids all know each other,” Moriah head coach Casey Nephew said. “They played little league together. It’s just, it’s an interesting dynamic coming here and it almost feels like a home away from home, because it’s something that we’ve done forever.”
With the history between the two schools, Mascarenas was quick to label it as the best rivalry in Section VII.
“Whenever you get to play a team like that, you know you want to come to play and practice all week,” he said. “It’s a big game, and you want to practice hard and come to play.
“All the fans know that as well and they’ve been watching games like this for years, so they know the rivalry.”
Moriah (3-3, 2-3 CVAC) now turns its attention to Peru, who pays a visit to Linney Field, Friday.
Allen said there’s a big chip on their shoulder for how the game unfolded last year. Not only will the seniors be celebrating their senior night, but they’ll also be playing for the ones who graduated last year.
“Last year on our senior night and homecoming, they came in and they walked all over us,” he said. “And I mean, that team played their hearts out the whole game, it just didn’t go our way.
And I think this year we need to avenge that team. I mean, that was their senior night. We didn’t win, we didn’t win that game. We have our senior night that night, and I think we just need to come back, regroup, get the game plan ready and get our revenge last year.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
—
Moriah 41, Ticonderoga 0
MCS 14 14 13 0 – 41
TCS 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
M- Allen 16 pass from Pelkey (kick missed), 5:29.
M- Mascarenas 2 run (Mascarenas run), 0:47.
Second quarter
M- Allen 6 pass from Pelkey (kick missed), 6:24.
M- Allen 41 pass from Mascarenas (McGinness pass from Pelkey), 2:07.
Third quarter
M- White 35 run (Riemersma kick), 9:29.
M- McGinness 2 pass from Pelkey (kick missed), 4:29.
Individual statistics
Rushing
M- Mascarenas 11-75, TD; White 5-61, TD; Feeley 4-54; Whitman 1-11; Bobbie 2-8; Green 2-4; Sargent 2-21; Harris 2-3; Collins 3-(-3); Kazlo 2-17; Snyder 1-4. Totals: 35-255, 2TD.
T- Frasier 12-29; Dorsett 2-(-5); Crossman 5-17; Team 3-(-23). Totals: 22-18.
Passing
M- Pelkey 8-10-0-107, 3TD; Mascarenas 1-1-0-41, TD. Totals: 9-11-0-148, 4TD.
T- Dorsett 8-21-1-57; Team 0-1-0-0. Totals: 8-22-1-57.
Receiving
M- Allen 5-98, 3TD; Feeley 1-11; White 1-30; McGinness 2-9, TD.
T- Crossman 2-(-4); Hilder 3-19; Frasier 1-(-2); Bechtold 1-32; Davis 1-12.
Interceptions
M- Pelkey.