Football: Defending state champ Carmel opens with win at New Rochelle – The Journal News
NEW ROCHELLE – As the greatest Carmel football team ever built towards last year’s state championship, Tristen Werlau played running back on the freshman team. He was confident his time would arrive, but the jump for Werlau and other non-varsity players to starring for the defending champs was a big one.
Right?
The Rams and their new running back looked every bit like the Rams of old. They were as sound as they were powerful, and smashed New Rochelle on its own turf, winning 41-14 in front of a sprawling crowd at Flowers Park.
“We have kids who played on that state championship team. We just try and take it like we don’t care where we play, it’s just a business trip, week in and week out,” Carmel coach Todd Cayea said. “Let’s get in there and take care of business. I think that was the approach. This didn’t seem to phase them one bit. A lot of guys on this team played in much bigger spotlights than this and I think a lot of that experience helped.”
More:See complete results from Week 1’s Section 1 high school football games
But that experience was only so valuable for a Rams team that graduated 23 seniors. They stared seven juniors on defense, debuted a new starting quarterback and largely turned the offense over to a sophomore on Friday night. Nonetheless, Carmel never turned the ball over or even punted after its first possession, scoring six straight times on offense.
“It’s not the same group as last year. We had a lot of good seniors last year, good friends of mine, but we have a bunch of juniors coming up. They did a great job preparing and they played amazing, but we’re going to keep on working,” said senior Owen Boland, one of just two returning starters up front. “There’s still a lot of improvements we can make.”
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New Rochelle:Huguenots opening with strong win over defending Section 9 champ
What it means
Carmel certainly played like a team that could be a serious contender again. Remember, New Rochelle beat Section 9’s defending champ Newburgh (which played Carmel last year in the state semifinals) just last week, but it was the Rams who dominated this game, which was their 17th straight win.
Player of the game
Tristen Werlau, Carmel. The sophomore started at running back in place of the injured Thomas Keating and showed he could handle a heavy workload. Werlau carried 22 times for 133 yards and scored two touchdowns in his varsity debut.
“I expect good things from myself,” Werlau said. “I knew this was my biggest game. I just had to come out here and play.”
By the numbers
Carmel (1-0) ‒ Junior Damian Santiago had a sack and had two long receptions from Matt Gay that totaled 77 yards. … Gay went 3 for 4 for 97 yards in his first start at quarterback. Nick Rosaforte, the Rams’ lone returning all-section player, rushed for three touchdowns.
New Rochelle (1-1) ‒ Austin Luzzi finished 12 of 19 for 174 yards, including five completions for 82 yards to Corey Dawson. Dawson and Reyden Davis each rushed for a touchdown.
They said it
“Our expectations are at least the section, but that’s in the future,” Boland said. “We’re focusing more on the day to day. Section is our vision, but we’re just focusing one day at a time.”
“The first thing I said to them is you’re the 2022 Carmel team. You’re not the state champions. That’s 2021. We’re 2022, so let’s work hard,” Cayea said. “We have some talent here. Let’s make our own legacy. Now, the standard’s the standard here. We’re going to play one way and everyone jumps on board.”
Up next
Carmel is scheduled to visit the Yonkers Force at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Roosevelt High School. New Rochelle will travel to the Yonkers Brave at Saunders High School on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
Josh Thomson is the Sports Editor for The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Middletown Times Herald-Record. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.