Putnam Valley Wraps Up a Tough Season

PUTNAM VALLEY—The Putnam Valley High football team started this season off with a 2-0 record, but closed out the year at 3-5, the same record as last year.

Jon Warden SKIP Warden SKIP PEARLMAN “We had high expectations moving to class C,” said coach Frank Heitman. “But after starting 2-0 we faced teams that were bigger and stronger than us. We were athletic, but we couldn’t handle the bigger teams.”

Five players received post-season awards.

QB Mike Nallan, OL/DL James Ready, OL/DL Jerry Zimbaldi, WR/DB Marcus Givan and RB/LB Jon Warden brought home All-League honors. All but Warden are seniors.

Nallan lead the team in passing and rushing yards stacking up over 1,400 combined to go with his 10 TD’s.

“He was huge for us,” said Heitman. “When he played well, we played well and it showed, he was the MVP of our team. You can have a great receiver like Marcus Givan, but you need somebody to throw to him.”

Michael Nallan SKIP Givan led the team in receiving yards with 517 and nine TD’s, he also had a kick return for a TD.

Defensively, Ready lead the team in tackles with 75, and he also had two sacks. Zimbaldi lead the team in sacks with five, Kevin Christopher added three. Anthony Tyndal and Ryan Fitzgerald each had three interceptions.

The Tigers are bringing back only seven juniors, including All-League standout Warden and captain Kevin Christopher. Unfortunately they are losing 12 seniors.

“We are definitely going to miss those guys,” said Heitman. “Most of them were our bigger guys and our leaders. We are losing three captains. We are going to need the young guys to come up big.”
James Ready SKIP Ready SKIP PEARLmAN