WPNCR Sports Daddy. October 17, 2004: Ike Nduka was Da Bomb on Saturday afternoon, and Gary Morello “Jerry Rice” catching the winning touchdown in Spring Valley in the White Plains Tigers 28-14 victory over the Ramapo High School Gryphons. WPCNR’s Sports Daddy talked with Ike about his 40 Carry, 220 yard overland performance , and the fearless tight end Gary Morello about this great victory.
IKE "Nuke" NDUKA Great Day: 40 Carries, 220 Yards, 5.5 Yard a Carry on Saturday. Photo by WPCNR Sports
WPCNR Sports Daddy with Ike Nduka: Are you tired?
Ike Nduka: Am I tired? Yes. Actually you know what, in the second half, I wasn’t tired at all. Every play was a 100%. I don’t know what it was, maybe it was just, like, such an intense game?
Sports Daddy: What happened in that second half?
Ike: After the (first) half. All the players came together. All the coaches came together. We had a talk. We said we’re coming back out here and they’re not scoring and we’re scoring. That’s what happened.
Sports Daddy: What were you doing on Defense that was cutting them down?
Ike: We were just watching the fullback. Our number one goal was stop the fullback (Morgan Hall) Once we did that we started going on (other defensive) levels. We have a good pass defense. Our whole thing was to stop the run in the second half. (Ramapo only had the ball 7 minutes in the second half.)
Sports Daddy: What plays were working best for you on the ground?
Ike: Everything was working. Everybody was blocking. Everybody was working. We go to the inside, we go to the outside, we get the same amount of yards. Every player was stepping up in the second half.
Sports Daddy: You got that big sack on the QB in the 4th Quarter (to stop the tying drive with 5 minutes to go)? What happened there?
Ike: That was something we call “The Guts.” I shoot the B Gap. So I shot the B Gap, I saw the Quarterback, hit the fullback first. Then what’s the next defensive level, I see the Quarterback trying to throw I grab him, started going for the ball, because we were trying to get him to fumble the ball, or whatever, so we could have good field position. Once we did that it became our game.
Sports Daddy: The touchdown takeaway in the first half, What happened on that one?
Ike: Oh, that one, I believe that was a ref’s mistake, you know? My knees were on the ground and I set the ball out ahead of me. But that’s my fault. Because that same thing happened last week and the week before. As a player it’s never going to happen again. That’s my goal. Once we hit the playoffs, no more fumbles, no more mistakes.
Next the Sports Daddy grabbed the G-Man, Gary Morello who caught the winning touchdown pass on 3rd and 9 from the 10.
Sports Daddy: Gary tell me what happened on that touchdown play?
Gary Morello: We were down there, and the corners (defensive backs) actually kept coming up for the run. So the coach called for the 45 Power Pass, I slipped out. I saw the kid jam, I sped up to the end zone, Kevin hit me right in my chest, and a touchdown. A great feeling. Right on the pilon. I hung on to it.
Then in the emotion of the moment, Gary talked about how the team played in the second half:
Gary: Today’s the day when our team definitely peaked. Today was our peak day. In the second half against Roosevelt last week and today we played as a family. You look at these kids and you can see we’re really starting to play together. It was a great feeling.
