This article was updated on Nov. 3 at 6:45 p.m.
No matter the pressure, the Garnets have found a way to succeed in recent years by taking things one step at a time. That was no different on Friday, as Rye opened up postseason play with a 34-14 victory over Brewster.
The Garnets have now won their last six elimination games, and secured a win over the Bears by forcing multiple turnovers and taking early advantage of their offensive opportunities.
Despite receiving the football to start the game for the first time this season, the Garnets looked comfortable on offense early, stringing together a 10-play drive capped off by a Chris Iuliano rushing score to give Rye a 7-0 lead.
On defense, Rye kept Brewster from securing a first down on either of their first two drives, and forced Bears quarterback Kenneth Dillon into an interception after junior Sebastian Lewis snagged the ball out of the air in the red zone – the first of two picks on the day.
“The key to success on defense was in the game plan from coach [Joe] King,” Lewis said about the Garnets’ defensive coordinator. “We’re always on the same page going into each week, and we were as successful as we’ve been the whole year.”
Photo Steven Cao
The stingy Rye defense held Brewster scoreless through the first half, and took a 20-0 lead into the break after the Garnets scored two more touchdowns on the back of Iuliano. The running back scored three touchdowns in a half for the third time in his career.
The third quarter saw quarterback Carson Miller and senior running back Ty Ramachandran connect on a screen pass that blew the game open 27-0.
A one-handed interception by senior captain Jake Kessner, who returned it 60 yards to pay dirt, pushed the margin to 34-0.
Kessner’s interception was the first defensive score for the Garnets since the memorable blocked punt and score in the state championship game last season.
The dominant performance was also a milestone for coach Dino Garr, who now has a whopping 360 career wins in his illustrious 40 years as a head coach in Westchester County. He tied former Somers coach Tony DeMatteo for the most by any coach in the history of Section 1 football, and is just five wins away from setting the state record set by Bethpage’s Howie Vogts back in 2000.
Photo StevenCao
It was a perfect all-around win for the Garnets, which Garr alluded to in his postgame comments.
“I was really proud of the effort, we did a great job passing, running, tackling, great defense, forcing turnovers … and everybody got a chance to play,” he said.
The Garnets will now shift their attention to Friday when they will host familiar foe Yorktown in the semifinal round of the Section 1 Class A playoffs. The two teams battled to a 21-21 deadlock through three quarters at Yorktown back on Oct. 18 — before Rye put the game on ice with two fourth quarter touchdowns.
Rye will need to bring its A game against the upset-minded Huskers and its potent offense.
Photo Steven Cao