North Shore Football Spoils South Side Homecoming

Despite the festive homecoming atmosphere, the South Side Cyclones varsity football team (3-3) came up short against the North Shore Vikings (3-3) on Saturday, losing by a final score of 36-28.

It was a tale of two halves for South Side, as the Cyclones fell apart in the second half after taking a 21-8 lead into the locker room at halftime.

South Side came out of the gate strong, holding North Shore to a three-and-out on the game’s opening drive. The Cyclones then proceeded to score on their first offensive possession of the game on a rushing touchdown from junior running back Kevin Rafferty.

Already staked to an early 7-0 lead, the Cyclones got the ball back quickly after an interception by junior defensive back Alex Pickett. On the ensuing drive, senior running back Eric Willie hauled in a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cole Considine on a gutsy fourth-and-10 play, giving South Side a 14-0 lead.

Following another three-and-out series from the North Shore offense, the Cyclones took over and subsequently scored on another Rafferty rushing touchdown -- his second of the day -- adding to the Cyclones lead early in the second quarter.

After scoring on their first three offensive possessions, South Side would not find the end zone again until the second half.

Late in the second quarter, South Side put together an impressive defensive stand stopping North Shore one yard shy of the goal line on fourth-and-one.

However, South Side failed to move the ball away from their own end zone, allowing North Shore to record a safety on second down, giving them their first points of the game and the ball back with just a little more than two minutes left in the half.

The Vikings' offense marched down a shortened field and junior running back John Cirella caught a touchdown pass with 1:37 left, but the PAT was no good, making it 21-8 late at the first half.

North Shore started the scoring in the second half with a rushing touchdown from senior running back Rich Hajok midway through the third quarter, as North Shore pulled closer to South Side 21-15.

South Side would put an end to North Shore’s scoring streak on the following play, as junior Matt Pandolfi would take the kickoff back for a touchdown, increasing South Side’s lead to 28-15.

Those would be the final points of the game for the Cyclones, as North Shore would go on to score three consecutive touchdowns to take the lead and eventually the game.

North Shore answered South Side’s quick score with a scoring drive capped off by a Hajok receiving touchdown, pulling the Vikings within a score late in the third quarter.

After a three-and-out by the South Side offense, the Vikings gained the lead for the first time, 29-28, on an impressive drive ending with a rushing touchdown by senior running back and captain Kenneth Daley with 10:59 left in the fourth quarter.

Turnovers spoiled the Cyclones comeback attempt, as a South Side fumble right outside of the red zone led to another North Shore rushing touchdown from Daley, making it a 36-28 lead for North Shore with 5:23 left in the game.

An interception by North Shore junior defensive back John Lennon sealed the deal for the Vikings, who took over and ran the clock out.

“You just got to go home and watch the video tape and see what we did wrong,” South Side head coach Phil Onesto said. “North Shore took it to us in the second half.”

“The tape doesn’t lie,” Onesto added. “We will see what happened and we will fix it.”

The Cyclones will look to rebound next Saturday in a home game at 2 p.m. against the Dragons of Division Avenue High School (1-5).