Rams Win First Battle of the New York Border with Blind Brook

The Port Chester and Blind Brook High fans gathered at the Blind Brook football field to watch the two schools compete in the Battle of the New York Border Saturday.

It was a close one early on until the Rams pulled away en route to a 34-6 victory.

"We came, we handled our business, we did a great job," Port Chester Coach Greg Domestico told his team after they left the field.

Meanwhile, Blind Brook Coach Drew Cicoria said the Trojans could have stayed in the game, but penalties and big plays proved costly.

"I think we hung in there," he said. "We just didn't get it done early."

The Trojans started off on the right path to victory thanks to team captain and junior running back Jon Kulik's one-yard touchdown run with 9:46 left in the first quarter.

But it wouldn't be long before the Rams tied it up on senior wide receiver Anthony Ordonez's 20-yard run roughly four minutes later, balancing the score at 6-6 thanks to a 59 yard punt at 8:23.

Port Chester's momentum continued on a good extra point for a 7-6 lead.

The Trojans had a lot in the tank but came up on the losing end as they attempted to rally back, despite moving the ball and creating several first down opportunities including quarterback's Justin Ketchabaw's five-yard gain with 3:14 to go before the second quarter.

Sophomore running back Jason Ippolito's 15-yard run at 9:14 and Ryan Roman's 10 yard gain on a quarterback keeper for the first down led to the Rams pulling further ahead on senior running back Sebastian Obando's five-yard touchdown. The score was 13-6 with under eight to go before the half.

The Rams continued to keep the Trojans scoreless in the third thanks to a 50-yard punt with under seven left in the quarter, bringing the Trojans back at the 27-yard line.

Domestico said his team didn't take Blind Brook lightly.

"He's always going to have his guys ready," he said.

Sure enough they did, with a four receiver set, but the Rams were able to make the necessary adjustments late in the third to offset the change.

Minimal offensive production off short punts led to more doom for the Trojans, especially after a play ran just short of a first down at 4:27. A touchdown would have tied the game at 13-13.

Roman's pass to senior wide receiver Christian Nichols set up Andrew Sandarciero's 33-yard touchdown pass reception to put the Rams further ahead 19-6. Roman then scored on a two-point conversion for a 21-6 lead.

The Trojans continued to battle back in an attempt to trail by only a touchdown, but Ordonez's 62-yard touchdown score with under nine to go in the fourth quarter put the Rams up four touchdowns, 27-6.

The Rams regained possession of the ball after the Trojans were called for a block in the back while struggling on offense, including a deflected pass with 3:49 to play.

Ippolito finished the afternoon off strong for the Rams with a 76-yard touchdown for the 34-6 final.  

Saturday's game involved a lot of history between both schools and coaches, especially since Cicoria used to coach Domestico and now the two are coaching their own teams.

"It's a great friendly rivalry between the two towns," Domestico said. "It was a great, hard, physical game."

Both schools hope to make the Battle of the Border an annual tradition.

In the meantime, Port Chester will turn their attention to hosting Tappan Zee on Saturday at 3 p.m., the first of the team's final three regular season games.

Blind Brook hosts Pawley Friday at 6:30 p.m.