Pine Plains/Rhinebeck football battles Onteora, honors seniors at homecoming game

PINE PLAINS — While the game itself was far from their best performance, the Pine Plains/Rhinebeck varsity football team managed to secure a victory against Onteora High School in their annual homecoming game on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Right from the game’s kickoff at 6 p.m., the teams and their fans had ideal fall weather for the game set on the field behind Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School. Even from a distance, fans could see the outline of the action taking place on the field, hear the cheerleading squad and the game announcements from Pine Plains Superintendent of Schools Martin Handler, and smell the food the Bombers Booster Club was cooking. Once the sunset had faded into darkness, field lights came on to spotlight the competition.

Beyond the arch of white and blue balloons, the colors of the Pine Plains school district, the bleachers were decorated with homemade signs created as a tribute to senior players on the Pine Plains/Rhinebeck team, including Kyle Stracher, Luke Imperato, Caleb McCaul, Adam Eshel, Tristan Riccobono, Anthony Thompson, Adam Hess, Zach Zeko, Paige Tegtmeier, Dylan Parks and Joe Krimmer. Looking up into the stands, the metal bleachers were packed on both sides with students, families and football fanatics, all of whom were screaming, cheering and stomping their feet.

As one of the three captains for the Pine Plains/Rhinebeck team, Stracher rushed for 206 yards on 15 carries and scored three touchdowns on the 15, 24 and 53 yards, respectively. He also made six tackles. As another captain for Pine Plains/Rhinebeck, McCaul added 65 yards on 12 carries and threw a 45-yard touchdown pass. Along with scoring five 2-point conversions, McCaul returned an interception 40 yards for another score.

Sebastian Burmester scored on a 45-yard touchdown reception from McCaul and had 85 yards receiving that night. Leading the defense for Pine Plains/Rhinebeck, Burmester, Imperato and Stracher each made six tackles while Andrew Speedling and Dalton Burns made five tackles each. Speedling, Burmester and Riccobono each had a sack.

With less than four minutes left of the second quarter, Pine Plains/Rhinebeck was in the lead with 22-6, increasing their score to 24-6 a minute later.

“This was a tough game tonight,” said Pine Plains Head Football Coach Rob Scott. “The Onteora Eagles are a really good football team. They are well coached and young and they came to play tonight.”

“We did not play our best game of the year,” Scott said. “We turned the ball over four times tonight, gave up a few long pass plays and a kickoff return for a touchdown. This was a short week for both teams and Onteora responded better than we did to the short week.”

Yet in spite of the team’s errors, Pine Plains/Rhinebeck left the field as victors with a final score of 40-24.