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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. ? Croton football is a perfect 3-0 so far this fall, but perfection has not come easily, and the Tigers face their toughest test yet Friday at 7 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes.
Croton opened with a tough 21-6 win over Pleasantville, struggled offensively in a 14-6 win over border rival Hendrick Hudson, and topped Irvington 29-22 last Saturday in another close game.
"I'm glad we won, but I'm not satisfied with it," Tigers tri-captain Matt Gennarelli said of the victory over Irvington. "We still need to put everything together. Special teams played great. I thought we did a pretty good job offensively. Strangely enough, our defense was the problem."
Alex Starr's 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter snapped a 22-22 tie and gave the Tigers the victory.
The Tigers also scored on defense when Peter Miller recovered a fumbled Irvington punt.
Ben Gelfand scored on an 60-yard run and Trevor Wolstencroft had a short touchdown run for the offense. The defense kept the game close in the second half.
"We had a lot of miscues in the secondary, which allowed them to stick around," Gennarelli said. "Luckily, our coaches made some great adjustments at halftime."
The Croton-Lourdes matchup in Poughkeepsie is a replay of last year's Section 1 Class B championship game. The Tigers topped the Warriors 21-7 to take the Section 1 title and went on to the state title game before losing.
Lourdes has beaten Westlake, Nanuet and Ardsley behind a strong offense that averages 41 points a game while allowing nearly 20.
The Tigers defense will be key to a fourth straight victory. Lourdes has a potent offense that will test Croton.
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