Rye seniors Carson Miller and Henry Shoemaker entered Friday needing just 60-some yards apiece to place their names atop the Section 1 record books. The duo nearly surpassed that mark on their two scoring plays alone.
Miller threw 26- and 35-yard touchdown passes to his childhood friend and favorite receiving target in Rye’s 35-7 win against Cornwall Central on Friday. The Harvard-bound tandem connected several more times to break section records set a decade ago.
Miller entered Friday’s state semifinal with 2,962 passing yards, already a single-season Rye High School record and by far the most in the state this year. He needed just 67 yards to surpass the Section 1 record set by Our Lady of Lourdes quarterback Dean Rotger in 2015. He blew by that number, throwing three touchdowns and running in another for good measure.
Shoemaker came into the game with 1,548 receiving yards, nearly 400 more than anyone else in New York this season. He needed 64 yards to break the record set by Rotger’s receiver, Luke Timm, in 2015. His two touchdown catches Friday give him 19 for the season.
While the gaudy statistics will make Miller and Shoemaker memorable names in Rye, and the state as a whole, for years to come, the best part of Friday’s record-setting performance is that it guarantees one more opportunity to add to the totals.
The Garnets are dome-bound for the second time in Miller and Shoemaker’s high-school careers. Rye (13-0) will play the winner of Brighton (10-2) and Union-Endicott (9-2) for the Class A state championship next Friday in Syracuse’s JMA Wireless Dome.
Rye won its latest state championship in 2023 in the same location, when Miller and Shoemaker were sophomores. Now, the record-setting seniors lead undefeated Rye in the pursuit of the school’s fifth state title, and first against Class A competition. Based on the numbers the Garnets have posted to this point, they may be in a class of their own.
