Above, Declan Connors of Fox Lane is tackled by Austin Omin (33) and Jojo Kern of John Jay. Below, top, John Jay celebrates after a touchdown catch by Theo Dorta (8). Below, bottom, John Jay quarterback Tommy Machado looks to stiff-arm Fox Lane’s Mac Keller. Jim MacLean Photos
By JIM MACLEAN
Every coach knows anything can happen in a rivalry game, and anything can happen when one team gets the momentum, and anything can happen when key players are lost to injuries, and there are many factors that can impact a high school game to make it a special night for one team and a nightmare for another.
That was certainly the case for the John Jay and Fox Lane football teams as the Foxes hosted the rival Wolves under the lights on Oct. 25.
John Jay came in with a 1-6 record, facing the rival Foxes on the road on their senior night. Fox Lane was coming off a victory with a 3-3 record, but the Foxes were banged up, and the Wolves grabbed hold of the momentum on the opening drive of the game and never slowed down, shocking the Foxes as John Jay dominated for a 43-7 victory.
“This meant so much for our team, we’ve been having a rough season, but you put your head down and keep grinding, and this felt great, a good team win,” said John Jay senior captain Tommy Machado. “Senior year, last regular season game, wow, it goes by so fast. I just thank God and my family, this is the best moment of my life right now.”
Machado was a big reason John Jay was able to dominate as he moved into the starting quarterback role and led the Wolves all night long. On the opening drive of the game, Machado and the Wolves marched 60 yards with Nick Rinaldi capping it off with a three-yard touchdown carry for a 7-0 lead.
On the third play of Fox Lane’s first possession, Machado came up with an interception for John Jay and the Wolves needed just five plays to cap off another drive with another Rinaldi touchdown carry from 10 yards out for a 13-0 lead.
It was the same scenario on the next Fox Lane possession as Gavin Carvajal came up with an interception for John Jay and the Wolves capitalized again. This time it was Machado connecting on a 31-yard touchdown pass to Theo Dorta to make it 20-0.
Three Fox Lane possessions and three turnovers as Jojo Kern recovered a fumble for the Wolves, and John Jay capped off its fourth drive with its fourth touchdown as Machado ran it in from eight yards out for a 27-0 lead.
The Wolves were not done yet, as Machado scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to give John Jay a 34-0 lead at the half.
“It was important for us to start strong, they’re a banged up crew, unfortunate some of the injuries they’ve had, they’re a good team and it was an exciting rivalry game, so anything can happen and our guys were fired up and ready to play,” John Jay coach Joe Candarelli said of the fast start. “It showed the heart of this team, we told them it’s a good character trait for life, when you have no reason to fight other than to compete with your boys and to see them come out and fight like they did, I was really proud of them tonight.”
John Jay didn’t let up for the second half as the Wolves on their first possession needed just one play to strike again as Rinaldi broke free for a 62-yard touchdown carry and his third rushing TD of the game and a 40-0 lead.
Mathias Baez kicked a 17-yard field goal for the final score for John Jay to give the Wolves a 43-0 lead.
Fox Lane was able to reach the end zone on its final drive of the game as Nate Getman completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Mac Keller to make the final score 43-7.
“They played fast and physical and we didn’t, I told our guys all week long I watched John Jay last week against Mahopac and they were hitting and competing and not worried about the record, and it’s a rivalry game and they’re going to come ready to play and they did and beat us on our home field,” said Fox Lane coach Drew Giuliano. “Everyone in Class A knows our situation, the rough thing is we had some mojo going early and could have had a good year, but this sport a couple of things can go wrong and it doesn’t give you any favors, and we’ll look to bounce back and finish strong.”