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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. September 17, 2009: The triple threats, Doug Sewitch,Daryl Schuler and Anthony Cardon sliced up Lincoln swiftly in White Plains first series Thursday evening when Sewitch took-in a 12 yard swing pass from the effortlessly smooth QB Mike Trapp  for one first down at the Tiger 43, Number 23 Daryl Schuler took a hand off  and slipped off tackle and thundered, spun and deked 13 yards to the Lancer 43. That worked so well Trapp gave the ball to Schuler again, who swept around left end to the Lincoln 32.  On the next play with 3rd and 2 at the 32, the third member of the TD team, Anthony Cardon cruised around left end down the sideline for 32 yards and 6 points. Three minutes had gone by. That’s the kind of night it was.

Daryl Schuler (23) headed to the Lincoln 32 on WP’s opening 5 play 67 yard drive to open their 41-14 win over Lincoln Thursday night. Doug Sewitch (3) escorts him.

White Plains moved the ball at will, cruising to a 41-6 lead at half-time.Two long pass plays from Lincolin’s Anthony Phynn to Keven Perez for a first down on the Tiger 35, and a 19 yarder to Brian Collado gave Lincoln a 7-6 deficit, after White Plains opening touchdown. But then the Tigers turned on the Sewitch and Schuler switch.

Doug Sewitch the Man in Black makes  an over-the-shoulder, in-full-stride catch of a 39-yard perfectly thrown pass from Mike Trapp at the Lincoln 20, setting up the Tigers fourth touchdown (lugged in by who else, his law partner, Mr. Schuler), with 8 minutes to go in the first half for a 28-6 lead.

Earlier in the first quarter Sewitch  leapt high in the air to catch a halfback option pass from Schuler, for a 36 yard completion  giving WP a first down on the Lincoln 4 and  Schuler completed the legwork for his first touchdown of the night, make it 14-6 WP at the 6 minute mark of the first quarter. 

After the Tiger second TD  in six minutes in the Opening Quarter, White Plains forced Lincoln to punt from their own goal line in the last minute of the First Quarter. A bad snap forced the Lincoln punter to bobble and drop the ball. Justin Lamply pounced on the fumble at the Lincoln 4. Mr. Schuler filed a 4 yard touchdown brief in the opening minute of the second quarter and the score was 20-6.

Schuler scored his third touchdown of the first half on a 35 yard run around right end with 4 minutes to go in the half and it was 34-6 with 4:40 left in the half. Joe Sperduto threw an 11-yard Touchdown pass to Anwar Barrett-Bell in the closing minutes of the first half. The score was 41-6 at the half.

The Tigers second team contained Lincoln in the second half and controlled the ball, holding Lincoln to 3 first downs in the second half. A pass in the final minute produced Lincoln’s final score.

Coach Skip Stevens attributed the team’s crisp play to his depth of the squad, which has produced, he said realistic practices, resulting in the almost penalty free first two games of the season, and blocking that has made Schuler and Sewitch  and Cardon look on occassion like Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis and Jim Brown. Mike Trapp has not had one mix-up on a hand-off in two games, and has poise and accuracy in getting the ball downfield.

It was a Tiger night.

WhitePlains Public Access Television Televised Thursday’s football game on tape delay for telecast on Channels 76/77 (45/46) possibly next Wednesday evening. That’s White Plains Public Access’ John Vorperian and 1995-1996 Tiger great, Jaquai Ganson at the microphone.

The Cheerleaders were airborne.

The White Plains High School Band looked positively collegiate with an elaborate half-time performance.

 

 

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. September 17, 2009 UPDATED WITH OFFICIAL STATE STATISTICS: White Plains based on present sales tax collection trends the first two months of its fiscal year,  faces a $6 Million gap in sales tax collections in the current city budget, meaning the city will finish the current year in the red unless retail sales pick up sharply in the holiday quarter coming up.

 

Westchester County and its legislators can look forward to  a $60 Million Sales Tax gap alone when they take up preparation the 2010 budget.

 

White Plains has experienced its fourth consecutive month of sales tax receipts decline. The County has experienced seven consective months of decline.

 

The figures were furnished WPCNR by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

 

 

 

 

Total  Sales Tax Receipts for the first seven months show White Plains receipts have declined 12-1/4%, falling behind the first half of 2008 in 5 of the 7 months.

 

Westchester County has failed to match 2008 cumulative sales tax collections figures in each of the last seven months, creating a $38.6 Million deficit in sales tax collections, which if the present rate of decline  continues, creates a $60 Million sales tax gap the county would have to make up.

 

Official figures from the Department of Taxation and Finance released to WPCNR show White Plains collections have declined for four consecutive months, with the first two months of the new fiscal year that began in July showing a 12.87% decline in July and an 11.6% decline in August (the back-to-school shopping month).

 

The city is off $963,951.53 in sales tax the first two months of its fiscal year. If the 12.5% decline in retail sales tax collections sustains itself, the city will face a sales tax shortfall planned in this year’s budget of $6 Million, and in planning for the 2010-11 budget, a similar $6 Million less in sales tax that they cannot budget for 2010

 

Westchester County, which has a calendar year fiscal year(January to December), is off 12-1/2% in sales tax collections the first 7 months of the year, creating a shortfall in the sales tax monies anticipated of $38.6 Million.

 

In the first seven months of 2008, Westchester County collected $307.8 Million. In the first seven months of 2009, the county has collected $269.2 Million, $38.6 Million behind the pace of last year.  

 

The county expected to receive $478.2 Million in sales tax in budget year 2009. At the present pace the county can expect a  $60 Million sales tax shortfall before taking into account mortgage tax, increased expenses, wages, pension fund contributions and other impacts on the budget, unless of course, the holiday season in October, November, December is spectacular beyond retailers’ wildest dreams.

 

First Seven Months 2009 Sales Tax Receipts

Furnished by the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance