Harvey Rugby Defeats Fordham & Gears up To Take on RHS on Tuesday

Harvey’s Big Second Half Sinks Fordham in Rugby

Harvey’s boys rugby team broke open a close game Thursday in front of a big home crowd in Katonah and defeated Fordham Prep 41-18. It was the first time the Cavaliers notched a victory over the Rams.

After a late kickoff, Peter Lombardo stole a Prep scrum in the 5^th minute and senior captain Reed Feldman of John Jay High School, Cross River, made a nice feed to Ilan Gressel who bulled in to score and give Harvey an early five-point advantage.

Prep struck back four minutes later with a 40 meter penalty kick to climb closer to the lead. In the 11^th minute of play, Prep capitalized on a nice kick and bounce and found the tryzone to take a 10-5 lead over Harvey. Then, in the 19^th minute, the Rams took a 13-5 lead. “Our forwards were sluggish and late to commit to rucks and the solid Prep team capitalized on it,” said coach Phil Lazzaro.

With the Cavaliers guilty of some handling errors and mediocre play until the 26^th minute of play, flanker Kole Dojak helped Harvey turn things around when he timed his run perfectly and intercepted a ball, sprinting in for a 70 meter score to bring his team within one point of tying the match.

Following the ensuing kickoff, Jay Haendler maintained possession with a solid catch and ruck and the backs quickly capitalized as Feldman found Gressel running in space and perfectly offloaded to a racing Malcolm Koonce who rumbled into the tryzone to recapture the lead. When the halftime whistle blew, Harvey held a 19-13 lead.

A Harvey penalty early in the second half led to three more Prep points on a successful conversion, but the Cavaliers responded with ferocity. “The forwards started playing up to their capabilities and ran hard in support of our backs,” said coach Lazzaro.

Dokaj, Feldman and Dylan Vitello scored consecutive trys in the space of nine minutes to give Harvey a 20 point lead. With 14 minutes remaining, Fordham made a charge and narrowed Harvey’s advantage, but the Cavaliers answered back with a converted try a minute later to cap the scoring.

Harvey, the reigning New York State Tier 2 champion, is now 3-0 to start the season. The Cavaliers go on the road Tuesday, April 21, to battle Ridgefield High School.