Fox Lane flag footballers head to postseason with 11 wins

Siena Palmer holds on for a touchdown catch against Panas. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN

In just its second year as a varsity program, the Fox Lane flag football team is heading into the playoffs on a roll.

Last year was the inaugural season for the Fox Lane varsity flag football team and the Foxes finished with four wins overall. What a difference a year can make as Fox Lane finished with a pair of victories at home over Walter Panas and Eastchester to wrap up the regular season with an 11-4-1 overall record. The Foxes earned a home playoff game as the number six seed in the Section 1 Class B tournament on May 13, hosting number 11-seed Carmel.

“We’re still only in our second year, and since last year, since we are so new, our message has been to just keep improving, getting better, having the right work effort and we don’t really talk about our record,” Fox Lane coach Rylan Borror said. “That message seems to be working, we went from four wins to 11, and it’s a credit to them. They work hard every day and they are easy to coach and that has allowed us to have some level of success.”

To reach this point, Fox Lane had to finish strong in the final week for playoff position and the Foxes responded with a pair of victories at home in the last two games.

Against Walter Panas on Saturday, Fox Lane dominated and built a 32-0 lead at the half on its way to a 38-10 victory over the Panthers.

Once again it was senior quarterback Riley New leading the way as she threw for three touchdown passes and ran for another, and she only played in the first half. This is her first season playing flag football, stepping in as the starting quarterback. New will be playing basketball next year at the collegiate level at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, but before she graduates she is enjoying her one season of flag football with a lot of her basketball teammates on the roster for Fox Lane.

Riley New threw for three touchdown passes and ran for another.

On the season, New has thrown for over 1,000 yards passing and she is about to break the 1,000-yard rushing mark, and she has combined for 28 touchdowns for the Foxes.

“I’ve known Riley since she was in middle school and never coached her, and she’s the type of athlete every coach wants to coach,” Borror said of New. “She has such a calm demeanor, so even-keeled, and that combined with her athletic ability she makes it look easy. She’s playing the most difficult position, but she shows up every day, works hard, gathers information, and her approach has allowed her to pick it up very fast.”

In the win against Panas, senior Amanda Mazzuca ran for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass. Siena Palmer caught two touchdown passes, including one at the buzzer on the final play of the first half for the Foxes.

Against Eastchester the day before on May 8, the Foxes got off to a slow start as the visiting Eagles scored first and took a 6-0 lead.

However, Fox Lane answered right back and then pulled ahead and held on for a 14-6 victory.

“Felt like we were going through the motions early on instead of being aggressive and attacking,” Borror said of his team. “After the first quarter we started to turn it around and the second half we played much cleaner and got the job done on defense.”

While New and Mazzuca have been leading the way on offense, Bryhanna Madrunero-Lozano has been getting the job done on defense. She leads the team with more than 140 flag pulls on the season.

“The girls are playing really well, a lot of them are in their first year on the team and with their athletic ability they have been able to have success,” Rorror added. “Amanda Mazzuca is another one like Riley and she is having a great year. Siena Palmer is in her first year and she has six touchdowns. Lily Rosenthal has 10 touchdowns and like eight interceptions on defense and she just keeps battling. Bryhanna seems to pull all the flags, she’s smart and reads the play and she’s had a great year.”