From moment one of its season-opening home game against the Alvirne High Broncos of Hudson last Friday night, Sept. 5 the Pinkerton Academy football squad had the possibility of bagging a blowout staring it full in the face.
On the opening kickoff, sophomore returner Nick Coombs returned the football 94 yards to the opposite end zone to give his teammates and many of the estimated 2,000 fans gathered at the contest reasons to fly into celebration mode.
By the end of the first quarter the hosts grasped a 28-0 advantage, and there never wound up being any reason to look back over their shoulders at the Broncos scuffling about in the dirt of the PA field as the Astros drove to a 63-20 win.
The hosts led by a 35-6 margin at halftime, and by a 50-6 tally after holding the Broncos scoreless in the third period while adding another 15 points of their own.
Just minutes after his stunning, game-opening heroics, Coombs set up his side with a superb scoring opportunity when he returned a punt some 51 yards. Running back T.J. Urbanik covered 27 yards on a scoring sprint soon thereafter to make it a 14-0 game.
Before the first quarter had finished, quarterback Jack Hanaway ran to a 38-yard score of his own and Jason Hansen contributed a 25-yard scoring run as the hosts kept sprinting away from their stunned guests.
Before the wildly-productive evening was over, the academy side received a 4-yard scoring run from Brett Dattillo, a 30-yard interception return from Urbanik for points, a 41-yard run for points from Urbanik, and scoring runs of 48 yards from Nico Buccieri and 60 yards from Matt Newman.
The victors finished the successful night with 404 rushing yards on 32 carries, with Urbanik leading the charge statistically with 118 yards on a mere six runs.
Urbanik and the PA defense held Alvirne to 257 offensive yards (169 rushing, 88 passing) on an evening during and after which the Hudson side was left hunting for positives.
Kicker Kyle Cantalupo was successful on all seven extra-point boots he was asked to contribute to the PA cause.
