If defense wins championships, Eastchester’s flag football team looks to be ahead of the pack at the moment. Now, it just has to wait for its offense to start clicking.
On April 3, the Eagles hosted a tough Mahopac team in an early-season tilt, and while the Eagle’s showed little give on the defensive side of the ball, the Wolfpack’s defense was just as stout, propelling the visitors to a hard-fought 6-0 win.
Mahopac’s lone score came on a in the second half, when Fiona Kelleher hauled in a pass and eluded defenders, taking the ball 40 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles were able to move the ball down the field in the waning minutes of the game, but ultimately came up short of the end zone.
Eastchester head coach Vito DeBelis praised his defensive unit, particularly Alexa Keller who came away with an interception.
“That was a broken play they scored on but I thought the defense played really well today,” said DeBellis. “We have a lot of girls who are really aggressive and go after the ball, and that was definitely a strength for us.”
Offensively, however, the Eagles struggled to get much going, something that DeBellis noted was to be expected after the graduation of two-year starter Michelle Tiso, who led Eastchester to a Section 1 crown in 2023.
“When you lose a player like that, it becomes about how to replace her, and we have two or three girls we feel can give us what we need in order to be successful,” said DeBellis.
The Mahopac loss was the third in a row for the Eagles, who won their season-opener with a 19-6 win over Walter Panas on March 28. But the head coach said he has noticed steady improvement from the group, as evidenced by the team’s 19-7 win over Clarkstown on April 5 to bring their season record to 2-3.
“We’re young, and the girls need to learn,” said DeBellis. “They come to practice, they work hard everyday and they’re looking to get better. We need to find that killer instinct, but once they have that in them, we have the personnel. We just need to put it all together.”
After getting some time off for Spring Break, the Eagles will be back in action on April 23, when they travel to Horace Greeley High School to take on the Quakers.
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