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NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. Kemet McLean scored twice and the New Rochelle defense stopped a White Plains two-point conversion attempt with 40 seconds remaining in the game Thursday as the host Huguenots pulled out a 13-12 victory over the Tigers in a Class Section 1 AA quarterfinal game.
The weather was bad and we knew bouncing outside wasnt going to work against a good team with speed, McLean said. We had to go straight at them and thats what we did. And on defense we had to knuckle down and stop their running game.
New Rochelle (7-1), a No. 2 seed, advanced to Tuesday's semifinal round at top-seeded North Rockland, while the Tigers fell to 4-3 and were eliminated from the playoffs.
Most of the action occurred in the final 1:30 of the game with New Rochelle ahead 7-6 and White Plains with the ball inside its own 15-yard line. The Tigers went for a fourth-down pass that fell incomplete and gave the ball to New Rochelle. Instead of opting to run out the clock, New Rochelle gave the ball to McLean who ran in from the six-yard line for a 12-6 lead. The extra point made the score 13-6 and gave the Tigers one more chance.
White Plains used a reverse handoff on the kickoff and speedster Darrell Everett gave the Tigers good field position where quarterback Jeff Avery led a drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Khasi Coachman to make the score 13-12. White Plains opted to go for the win but Michael Scotman was stopped just short of the goal line by a band of Huguenots defender led by Anthony Caldararo and New Rochelle had its win.
The lack of time we have to get ready with the playoff schedule like this, playing three games in 11 days is tough, Caldararo said. I just wanted to make stops. We just had to stop them there. White Plains played us very tough.
White Plains opened the scoring when quarterback Jeff Avery pushed the ball over from the one-yard line midway through the second quarter and the Tigers defense held New Rochelle scoreless to take a 6-0 lead into halftime.
McLean answered with a five-yard run to tie the score at 6-6 early in the third quarter and placekicker Kevin Lynch gave the Huguenots the lead with a perfect point-after-kick for a 7-6 lead going into the fourth quarter. Neither team could sustain a drive and each team had trouble holding onto the ball with several fumbles and mishandled snaps slowing drives.
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