Rye football’s 15-game win streak came to an end Thursday in a back-and-forth, 35-28 loss at Clarkstown South.
After carrying the Garnet offense with five rushing scores in the season-opener, senior quarterback Charlie Brady helped match the Vikings’ firepower with four touchdowns through the air.
Clarkstown South scored the go-ahead touchdown with just over five minutes remaining, breaking open a 28-28 tie, and the Garnets’ final offensive possession ended with a turnover on downs on their own 27.
The Vikings, who got four touchdowns from Landon Van Etten, were able to run out the final 1:50 after picking up a first down and forcing the Garnets to burn through their remaining timeouts.
The loss was Rye’s first since the 2024 section championship game. It was also the team’s first regular-season setback in nearly three years, a 23-game streak dating back to Sept. 22, 2023.
While the game ended with nine total touchdowns, it took nearly 10 minutes for either team to get on the scoreboard. Rye ended the Vikings’ opening possession with a stop on fourth-and-short. But two plays later, the Garnets fumbled the ball away on their own 2-yard line, setting up Clarkstown for a short touchdown and 7-0 lead.
Rye pulled even with the first of two touchdown catches by senior Luke Denvir six minutes before halftime, and then, the floodgates were opened.
Three minutes later, Van Etten restored Clarkstown’s lead to 13-7, with a missed extra point. Ninety seconds later, Rye struck again, taking its first lead at 14-13 with 1:46 left in the half. The touchdown grab by sophomore Johnny Shoemaker sent the Garnets to the locker room clinging to a one-point lead.
A couple minutes into the second half, Van Etten scored from 53 yards out, and Clarkstown added a two-point conversion to go ahead 21-14.
Rye responded to tie the score at 21-21, then evened it once more when Brady connected with Denvir for a second time to make it 28-28 with seven minutes left.
It took just two minutes for Van Etten and the Vikings to march back downfield for what ended up being the game-winning score.
Rye’s run at consecutive undefeated seasons ended in its second game, technically a Week 1 contest. Yet the Garnets’ hopes of defending its section and state titles remain very much alive in the months ahead.
Next up is a game Friday, Sept. 18, against Eastchester, a team Rye beat by 25 in the regular season and 14 in the playoffs a season ago.
