There was no doubt heading into Saturday’s tilt between Harrison and Eastchester that the game that would unfold would inevitably be a hard-fought, physical contest that would test both teams as they near the midway point of the season. 

In the end, the showdown between the Huskies and Eagles more than lived up to the advanced billing, as visiting Harrison was able to withstand the best efforts of their hosts, coming away with a 28-22 victory.

Harrison came into Saturday’s matchup riding high off a Week 2 win over Yorktown, but an injury sustained by quarterback Jack Badner during the practice week made for some uncertainty into exactly what the Huskies’ offensive gameplan would look like against the Eagles. But Badner refused to let the injury slow him down, suiting up for the game and leading his squad to another win. 

Badner was limited but made the most of his opportunities, throwing for 69 yards and two scores—both to Matt McCoy—in the win. Harrison head coach Jay Ciraco credited the signal-caller for his toughness, noting that that the senior left it all out on the field on Saturday afternoon. 

“Once he got going, I think his adrenaline took over; he’s not going to feel great tonight, but he’s a senior and he knows that this team relies on him to be out there and be at his best,” said Ciraco. “I thought he came in and did a really nice job.”

Harrison was also buoyed by a balanced ground attack led by the tough running of Marco Marisi (73 yards, 1 TD) and Jason Crupi (60 yards, 1 TD), as well as a concerted effort up front from an offensive line unit that is beginning to find its footing. 

“We knew with Jack not at 100 percent, we were going to need other people to step up, and we got that,” said Ciraco. “We’ve got a young line in front of him and we asked them to do some things they haven’t done, and they were able to execute.”

The Eagles were led by a solid day from Dylan Burbridge, as the two-way star threw for 171 yards and a touchdown, added another score on the ground, and recorded eight tackles on the defense end. Nick Martucci had 192 yards from scrimmage and accounted for two touchdowns on the afternoon.

“Eastchester is a senior-heavy team, a well-coached team, and they had a number of big plays; thank God they didn’t have one more, otherwise this would’ve been a different story,” said Ciraco. “But our guys are resilient, they get a ton of reps, everyone goes both ways, and those are the kind of things we expect from them.” 

Eastchester (1-2) will look to get back on track this week when they take on a Fox Lane team that is coming off a 35-7 loss to Rye.  Harrison (2-1) will travel to Nyack on Saturday week, to take on the Red Hawks. 

“We know they’re going to give us their best game; we know how athletic and dynamic they are, and that plays at any level,” said Ciraco. “We need to make sure we take some good angles, tackle the right way, take care of the ball and make some plays.”