RHS Football Garnets Win Fourth Straight Section Championship; Archibald and Antico Named MVPs

RHS Football
Garnets Win Fourth Straight Section Championship; Archibald and Antico Named MVPs

– By Jim Byrne –

After spinning their wheels in the sand and coughing up the ball four times in the first half, the Garnets had to come out in the third quarter and make a statement on the first possession of the half.

With the score knotted at 7-7 in Saturday, Nov. 4’s Section 1 Class B title game against Pelham in Mahopac, it was time for Rye to act like a champion. And that they did, finishing the drive with a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead en route to a 17-7 win over the No. 5 Pelicans.

“We got our stuff together,” said running back Connor O’Grady on Rye’s second half performance. “We turned the ball over too many times in the first half, just like we did in the last game against this team. They’re a good team. They can hit and they can play.”

The decisive drive was keyed by a 41-yard duck of a pass thrown by quarterback Franny Archibald that Tyler Reisner had to come back for and catch. The play came on 2nd down with 16 yards to go, and put Rye at Pelham’s 10-yard line. Pelham’s fans, coaches and players insisted that Reisner interfered with the cornerback to get open, but there was no call and four plays later, backup quarterback Jordan Eck hit T.J. Smith for a six-yard touchdown pass.

“We just put the first half behind us,” said Eck. “It was a new game at 0-0 with one more half to go. We did not want our season to end like that and we were not going to let it happen. So, we just buckled down and did what we had to do to get the job done.”

After snuffing out Pelham’s subsequent possession, the Garnets got the ball back with the opportunity to deliver a backbreaking score. After a couple of untimely penalties, it looked as if Rye would eventually have to punt. That was not the case however, as Archibald and Zach Stearns came up big on a 30-yard pass on 3rd and 20 for a critical first down. The 13-play drive chewed up the clock, taking the game from the third to fourth quarter, and ended with a 33-yard field goal from Sebastian Saunders, making it 17-7.

Although the offensive MVP award was given to Archibald, you could make a case for O’Grady, whose hard running and embodiment of the phrase, “takes a licking, but keeps on ticking,” allowed him to pick up 105 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. His ability to absorb crushing hits and somehow stay in the game was critical to Rye’s success.

“It’s just the team, ya know?” said O’Grady of his ability to get up and get back in the game. “They help me out and I try to help them out as much as I can. The line does a great job of blocking for me. There are going to be hits – it’s football – but you gotta live with it.”

O’Grady scored the first touchdown of the game from 11 yards out, bouncing off defenders and breaking multiple tackles on an impressive run that ended in pay dirt.

Sophomore Kyle Ramahlo was also a big part of the Garnets’ Class B championship. Ramahlo ran for 62 yards – 45 of them in the second half – and was key to Rye being able to grind the clock down.

The final score could have read 24-7, but a superb scramble and throw by Archibald to a wide-open Reisner in the end zone was negated by an ineligible receiver downfield penalty on the Garnets. The Pelicans took over one more time, but Robert Rispoli intercepted a pass on 1st and 10, effectively finishing the game off.

Erik Antico was named defensive MVP for Rye after the game. The Garnets will now face Section 9’s Red Hook in the state quarterfinal. That game will take place Friday, Nov. 10, in Kingston’s Dietz Stadium.

“It was great to win the Section again for the fourth straight time, but we know what we have to do now,” said Eck. “From here on out, our focus is on reaching our goal of getting back to the State Championships. We’re going to work hard all week – not put this win behind us – but certainly focus on the next game.”

The Raiders are 8-1 this year, with their most recent victory coming Nov. 3 against Marlboro Central. They won that game, 14-12.

Rye has not lost since Nov. 26, 2004.