Edgemont Defeats Nanuet in Season Opener 13-12

The Nanuet Knights lost at home against Edgemont High School. It was a close season opener until the last minute of the game when Edgemont intercepted a pass sealing their 13-12 victory.

“We’re a young team. We did a lot of things well, but we made some mistakes that young teams make and that’s what cost us the game,” said Nanuet Head Coach Phil Carbone. “I think really the difference was in the beginning, our offensive and defensive lines. We knew we were going to be evenly matched.”

And he was right. the two teams were “evenly matched” throughout most of the game.

In the first quarter, Edgemont’s Jake Barnes scored a touchdown, but missed their extra point. In their first kickoff to Nanuet, Dan Breit ran the ball all the way down to the 4-yard line and a Golden Knight touchdown came soon after. However, Nanuet also missed their extra point too.

With no progress in the second, the score was 6-6 going into halftime. Nanuet’s Ricky Sok scored a touchdown in the third, but again, the extra point was missed.

“We didn’t play a great third quarter,” said Edgemont Head Coach Matt Bernstein. “We knew it was going to be a physical game.”

“Edgemont played hard,” said Carbone. “They have a lot of experience upfront.”

It was 12-6 Nanuet going into the last quarter and although Nanuet fought hard, Edgemont’s Mike Rothstein managed to get a touchdown and their extra point putting them up 13-12.

“We knew it was going to come down to the end,” said Bernstein. And it did come down to the end. Nanuet struggled to come back and gain some points to win, but an interception by Edgemont’s Ben Levy with 56 seconds to go seemed to seal their victory.

“I was extremely excited (about the interception),” said Bernstein. “We had been doing a lot of the racket back and forth. Out of nowhere we came up with this play and it worked. He was wide open and he did a fantastic job. Jake Barnes threw a pass perfectly. There’s not much you can say when the guys execute what they’re supposed to do. It’s nice to watch”

Tonight was also Rich Conklin’s first time to be in the bleachers for the first time in 40 years. The former Nanuet head coach stood at the top of the bleachers watching the game. This was Carbone’s first game as head coach since Conklin announced his retirement last season.

“I’ve been coaching for 40 years, 35 as head coach,” he said. “It’s a lot of mixed emotions having been down there (on the field) for so long.”

Conklin had coached all the Nanuet players on the field, most of the coaching staff and even Carbone himself.

“A lot of these kids were on my team last year so it’s good to see them all be successful,” he said. “I think he (Carbone) will do a great job. He worked with me for 23 years as an assistant. He obviously has pride in his school. He played here. I think as time goes on and as some of these kids come up through the system, he’ll do fine.

You’ve got to take it one step at a time. It’s a young team, a lot of young players just trying to get a little better each week.”

Although Nanuet lost, everyone is already looking forward to preparing for their next game next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Pleasantville High School at home.

“We’re going to go back to work. We’re going to try to work to limit mistakes, which is all a young team can do,” said Carbone. “I think we played hard, which is a good thing.”

“These kids really push themselves above and beyond even my expectations," said Bernstein. "They won the fourth quarter. Every coach is proud of their guys when they play a complete game. “