67°
CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Croton Tigers will defend their Section 1 Class B football title beginning Saturday at 7 p.m. with a visit to Poughkeepsie to face top-seeded Our Lady of Lourdes in a playoff semifinal matchup.
The Tigers, 4-3 and seeded fourth in the four-team playoff, defeated Lourdes 21-7 in the Class A final last year but are the underdog this time around. This game is a replay of a regular season game won by Lourdes 27-0, so the Tigers know the opposition.
Croton won the Section 1 Class B championship last year with a come-from-behind victory over Lourdes, but the upstate parochial school is unbeaten since that loss and has outscored opponents 264-84.
Croton has had some injury problems in its offensive and defensive lines, but will need to hold the ball with a good running attack to keep Lourdes from running up the score.
Quarterback Ben Gelfand leads running backs Trevor Wolstencroft, Brian Soares and Nick Grous in a run-oriented offense and Matt Gennarelli helps key the defense that also features Grous and Soares.
This game will be a tough test for Croton. Lourdes is rolling and has last year's playoff loss still in its memory.
Comments