Think of yesterday's House football championship game as a grudge match. The contest pitted two undefeated teams--South and Quincy Houses--in a replay of the 1979 title game, in which SoHo copped its first-ever tackle football championship with a desperate last minute scoring drive.
Don't however, think of yesterday's game as deja vu. The Q-manoids took care of that by finally squelching the Auteri-to-Cheney touchdown express to grab a 12-6 victory and its own first House championship.
Trailing 6-0 at the half, Quincy took advantage of a couple of South House fumbles to blast by--or rather to throw by--their visitors from the Quad.
Q-quarterback Lon Hatamiya, a three-year House veteran, enjoyed the best game of his career, completing eight of 14 for 99 yards, with most of that yardage coming on the two Quincy scoring drives.
South House Q.B. Joe Auteri couldn't quite match those stats, mostly because of a surprising Quincy pass rush and airtight secondary. The vaunted Rebel offensive line couldn't contain the charge of Quincy's Paul Rozak, John Keane, John Garvey, and Lance Miller, particularly in the second half, and the usually potent SoHo passing attack only managed 30 yards on five completions.
SoHo took command early, mostly by becoming the first team all year to establish a running game against the Quincy defense. With the South offensive line calling the shots, Ricky Gallito and friends galloped 66 yards in ten plays--exclusively on the same inside blast--to go up 6-0.
Later in the first stanza, the Quincy defense and two timely delay-of-game penalties defused a South House threat (that's threat as in second and two at the three), to keep within striking distance.
Except for a minor last-minute scare, Quincy dominated the second half. After a key John Garvey fumble recovery on the Quincy 45, Hatamiya went to work, converting two clutch fourth and yardage situations for important first downs, before unloading a pinpoint 20-yard T.D. missile to Art "the Quincy Clipper" O'Keefe.
Just two minutes later, a Ted Glimp fumble recovery and three key Hatamiya completions, plus fullback Steve Nicholas' only eight yards of the game, gave Quincy a 12-6 lead it never relinquished. Nicholas scored his fifth touchdown of the year on a one-yard dive.
THE NOTEBOOK: The House Football Writers Association (HFWA) voted Garvey, with his fumble recovery and the game's key sack late in the game, outstanding defensive player, while Hatamiya copped the offensive honors... So what does it all mean? According to Quincy defensive back Marty "Kill the Beast" Schwimmer, "It's like the high school championship we never won."
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