MAHOPAC – One year ago, the Garnet football team licked their wounds after a fourth-quarter collapse that allowed Somers to capture yet another section title. Revenge has been on their minds ever since.
In a game that was quite literally 365 days in the making, Rye emerged victorious in a 40-17 statement win over the Tuskers that reverberated across the county and Rye community. The Tuskers won the past three state championships, and no team had beaten Somers in a section title game since 2019. That changed on Friday.
“I can’t put into words how proud I am of this team’s resolve, character, tenacity, Garnet pride, and everything they did tonight,” coach Dino Garr said following the win. “We took a shot in the face, they came at us, but we showed them why we are the best.”
The Tuskers took a 10-0 lead to put Rye’s undefeated season in doubt, but the Garnets pulled ahead shortly after halftime, and after a back-and-forth third quarter, scored the game’s final 27 points.
Senior quarterback Carson Miller threw two touchdown passes to fellow Harvard commit Henry Shoemaker and ran in three more scores to account for five of Rye’s six total touchdowns.
Rye has now won 31 of its past 32 games entering the Class A state quarterfinals, which will be played next Friday at Arlington. The lone loss came against Somers in last year’s section title game.
In recent years, Rye simply couldn’t get past Somers, losing four straight matchups, including three in the section title game, entering this season. The streak was snapped with a 17-7 victory in September, but the regular-season win would have been rendered meaningless if the Garnets couldn’t repeat the feat in the playoffs.
For Miller, winning his final matchup against the Tuskers was personal.
“Getting this win meant the world to me and my teammates,” he said after hoisting the golden Section 1 trophy. “Last year, they sent us home and that was a terrible sight, to see all of your best friends crying as if they would never play again … That memory was etched into all our brains and we knew we had to avenge them. It’s the best feeling in the world getting it done and getting the opportunity to go on a state championship run.”
As if beating the three-time defending state champions wasn’t enough, the Garnets put up 40 on the Tuskers, something that hasn’t been done since Brewster scored 48 in 2015. Rye also became the first team to beat Somers twice in a season since John Jay back in 2018.
Friday’s game started with a touchdown by Somers senior tight end Bret Kennedy, and Rye’s running game struggled early on. A Gavin Kelly field goal pushed the lead to 10, matching the largest deficit the Garnets faced all season.
The score remained 10-0 late in the second quarter, and with Somers starting the second half with the ball, things quickly started to feel bleak. Then Miller and Shoemaker connected on an immaculate two-minute drill before halftime, first with a 26-yard pass completion, then a 36-yard touchdown to cut it to 10-6.
Somers was almost able to counter before halftime, making its way down the field after a great return from senior Dean Palazzolo, but Kelly’s 32-yard kick in the final seconds of the quarter missed.
Rye’s focus at the half? Find out what works, stay motivated, and make adjustments. That seemed to work, as the third quarter measured up to a great title fight between Ali and Frazier, with the teams matching each other blow for blow.
Somers went three-and-out on its opening second-half possession, and Rye promptly fired back with its most resilient drive of the night. On third-and-30, after a slew of penalties sent Rye backward, Miller found Shoemaker on a 40-yard strike that set up a Miller run into the end zone for Rye’s first lead.
Somers fired back quickly and caught a few breaks along the way. A dropped pass that could have easily been ruled a fumble led to an unsportsmanlike conduct call against the Garnets. Somers capitalized to reclaim a 17-13 lead.
At that point, Miller rediscovered his groove, hitting Shoemaker and Charlie Brady in stride before running in a four-yard score to put Rye back ahead 20-17 with a few minutes remaining in the third.
Somers got stopped on a fourth-and-2, and Miller threw a 29-yard touchdown to Shoemaker for a 26-17 lead.
As Rye learned last year in this very matchup, when the game starts to feel like it’s getting out of hand, mistakes can happen in a matter of seconds. That’s exactly what the Tuskers felt on their opening fourth-quarter drive. In their own territory, Rye junior Luke Denvir delivered a big hit to knock a pass out of the hands of senior Luca Gambardella. Miller (now on defense) recovered the ball and let out a lionesque roar that could be heard from the other sidelines, as the fat lady began to warm up her voice.
Four plays later, Miller’s third rushing score gave the Garnets a 16-point lead with nine minutes left. Somers’ comeback hopes died with several failed fourth-down attempts.
Senior running back Charlie Garnett added one final score for Rye, and Brady intercepted the Tuskers in the end zone to complete a 23-point win over one of the best teams in the state.
The individual stats are just as spectacular, with Miller and Shoemaker putting on a show for the 1,000-plus fans in attendance at Mahopac. Miller had 347 passing yards (a career high), and Shoemaker set a school and section record with 221 receiving yards.
The Garnets, who won the 2023 Class B state title, are now three wins away from claiming this year’s Class A championship. In Rye’s last two trips to the Class A state tournament (2019 and 2021), the team lost in the semifinals.
Next up is a regional championship game against Section 9 champion Minisink Valley (10-0). It’s the first meeting between the teams since the 2021 regional final, a 31-21 Rye win.
Every game from this point will provide a test, but there may be none bigger than the one Rye passed Friday night.
