Football: Neese's touchdown lifts Red Hook over New Paltz after 'scary' injury to teammate

NEW PALTZ - A pall was cast over the crowd, the sidelines too, as an audience became silent for several minutes as Aidan O'Brien lie still on the football field.

What was a rollicking atmosphere seconds earlier, as New Paltz was driving for a go-ahead score, became hushed after the Red Hook defensive player was hurt attempting a tackle. O'Brien eventually was taken by ambulance to an area hospital.

The injury wasn't initially believed to be severe, coach Scott Ricketson said afterward. The facemask of a helmet jammed into O'Brien's neck and he had difficulty breathing. But, the sophomore was alert and seemed otherwise unharmed, the coach said, so there is optimism.

"You expect everyone to get up after a play and be fine, so when it doesn't happen, it's scary," said quarterback Landon Ramsey, who was among the teammates who promised to check on O'Brien later on Friday. "It's not easy and you're thinking about him, but while the game is going, we have to get our focus back on that."

The result of that was the Raiders celebrating their most exciting win thus far, a 35-30 victory, scoring late while shorthanded and somewhat distracted.

Seconds after the ambulance left its school compound, New Paltz went up by a point in the fourth quarter. That set the stage for Red Hook, which answered with a methodical and time-consuming drive, before Ramsey hit Jack Neese for the winning 25-yard touchdown with 36 seconds remaining.

"I glimpsed Jack open right as I was about to get hit, so I chucked it down there," Ramsey said. "I was on the ground by the time he caught it, so I was just hoping he made a play."

The receiver made a leaping catch between defenders at the 1, then turned into the end zone for his first touchdown, which "will be a memorable one," he said.

What it means

Red Hook, after winning its first three games, dropped two straight and needed desperately to rebound. The team lost Liam Leggett, one of its best linemen, to a wrist injury before the game and, Ricketson said, "we had to be in rally mode the whole day."

New Paltz, conversely, had won three in a row after losing its first two games and hoped to make a statement against last season's Section 9 Class B runner-up. Red Hook recovered four onside kicks and played keep-away early, hoping to protect its undermanned defense. But the Huguenots rallied from down 23-8 in the second quarter, eventually taking a 30-29 lead on Tony Drewnowski's 36-yard touchdown pass to Ben Gabriels.

"With what was at stake, and with everything going against us, this was a really important game to win," Neese said. "We were trying to keep the energy up and we used our (injured) teammates as inspiration. We were saying that we have to do it for them."

Player of the Game

Neese began playing organized football this year, but the junior already has developed an array of skills, which were on display Friday. The placekicker successfully squibbed four onside kicks, booted a 29-yard field goal and, of course, caught the winning touchdown on a fade route.

"His speed is great, his IQ is amazing, and he has a lot of different talents," Ramsey said. "He stepped up and put his name out there. Everyone is gonna know who he is now."

By the numbers

New Paltz (3-3) ― Drewnowski threw two touchdowns, ran for two others, and had an interception. Justin Coiteaux rushed for 126 yards and touchdown, Dalton Veeder had a touchdown reception, and Aidan Reynolds had a sack. Defensive lineman Logan Ormond made 11 tackles. The Huguenots lost lineman Roy Wilms to an ankle injury in the second quarter and the senior was taken by his parents to a hospital.

Red Hook (4-2) ― Ramsey ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns and threw another. Nick Benasutti rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

Up next

New Paltz visits Chester at 7 p.m. Friday. Red Hook hosts Port Jervis at 1 p.m. Saturday in a rematch of the section final last fall.

They said it

"We saw it last year with Zac (McGee) and he bounced back really well," Ramsey said of his former teammate who suffered a frightening head injury during a game last season, but eventually returned to the lineup and helped them surge in the playoffs. "You have that in the back of your mind and hope this can be a similar situation, where Aidan will be okay."

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Section 9 football: Late TD sees Red Hook past New Paltz