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Football: Spring Valley overcomes frustrating officiating to hold off Suffern, 21-14

Mike Zacchio
Rockland/Westchester Journal News

SPRING VALLEY – Friday night must have felt like the longest win of his career for Spring Valley head coach Andrew Delva — and not just because the scoreboard clock did not work for the entire game.

The Tigers overcame a bevy of unfavorable penalties and perceived missed calls against Suffern to hold off the Mounties, 21-14, in their home opener.

Delva became so frustrated with the officiating towards the end of the game that he tossed his fitted hat on the field after grabbing his head in disbelief of a call.

"You're gonna have games like that — where a call is not gonna go your way, officiating is going to be questionable and things are not going right — and we gotta learn how to bounce back from that, and we did," Delva said after the game. "I was proud of them. We handled adversity, and we didn't fold."

Spring Valley celebrates after defeating Suffern.

Spring Valley (2-0) running back and linebacker Chris White was sensational on both sides of the ball, rushing for a touchdown and and coming up with two interceptions — including one returned for a touchdown — in the win.

Suffern (1-1) struggled to get its offense going most of the game, but broke through in the second half. Mounties running back Clevmer Lubin ran for two touchdowns to tie the game and finished with just under 150 yards for the night.

Spring Valley went up for good on a seven-yard touchdown reception by Tylynn Dorenzo in the fourth quarter.

Turning point

As Suffern was making a late run to try and tie the game, Spring Valley defensive back Jacquan Chambers came up with a clutch interception with 1:40 left in regulation to seal the win.

Player of the game

Chris White, Spring Valley: The lohud Super 11 finalist showed why he was an all-state selection last year. He was spectacular on both sides of the ball, and was easily the difference for the Tigers.

"Before the game, we preach that we're always down," White said of his performance. "So that was my mentality: 'We're down. I have to score.'"

By the numbers

GETTING THE LAST LAUGH: Before his eventual game-winning touchdown grab, Dorenzo had a 69-yard touchdown run called back on a penalty earlier in the drive. "I told my coach, 'I got you,'" Dorenzo said, describing having the touchdown called back.

LUBIN HIS BEST LIFE: Spring Valley opened the season with six consecutive scoreless quarters before Clevmer Lubin began to run roughshod. The Tigers had a tough time containing the imposing back, and Lubin was the reason the Mounties were in the game down the stretch.

ANYBODY GOT THE TIME? The scoreboard clock was stuck on 12:00 all game because there was no referee to keep the official clock. Fans often did not know how much time was left in each quarter, and coaches had to regularly ask field officials for time updates.

Quotable

"Everybody will come at us now. Now we're making noise, everybody will play their hardest. We just gotta stick together, stay focused at practice and keep going — that's it." — Spring Valley's Tylynn Dorenzo, on starting the season 2-0

Follow Mike Zacchio on Twitter and Instagram at @Zacchio_LoHud.

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