The end of summer is always a bit of a downer – and not just for students saying goodbye to their two months of freedom. The warm weather fades, the leaves begin to fall, and the sun sets at 8 p.m., then 7, then 6.
But the stadium lights that cut through the darkness add an element of excitement. The return to school also means the return of fall sports, and for a football-loving town, trading in a chair by the pool for a spot on a cold bleacher seat is more than fair.
Over the years, Rye High School has evolved from a gridiron powerhouse into an everything powerhouse. Inside our Fall Sports Preview, you’ll find stories on six Garnets teams, all with aspirations to win section titles and more. Each of these teams not only finished with winning records and comfortably made the postseason in 2024, but also kept winning once they got there.
Simply making the playoffs is considered an accomplishment at many, if not most, schools in Westchester County. At Rye, the standard is different.
Boys soccer coach Jared Small said it well:
“I know it seems – certainly in the last few years – that most, if not all, of the Rye teams in boys and girls sports compete for the section title in every sport every year. But it hasn’t always been like that in Rye.”
This is your chance to do your homework before the season kicks off. Here’s a rundown of last fall’s success stories:
- Football carried a 20-game win streak and undefeated season into the section championship before Somers ended their bid to repeat as state champions.
- Boys soccer trounced Ardsley 7-3 to win the section title and qualify for the state tournament.
- Girls soccer won the section title and advanced all the way to the state tournament semifinals with just one loss on the season.
- Field hockey won two playoff games before falling to Lakeland, the team that has won 15 straight section championships.
- Girls volleyball won a playoff game before falling to second-seeded Byram Hills, and returns most of its experienced roster this season.
- Girls swimming and diving sent six swimmers to state and was one of the top seven teams in the section.
That is the resume of an accomplished athletic department. Yet in each of the stories linked above, you’ll see how each team’s coach plans to match last year’s accomplishments, and possibly even exceed them.
Looking for more insights on the season ahead? Listen to sports writers Ariana Ottrando, Steven Kearney, and Ian Colalucci preview the teams they cover in our On the Record podcast.
