The final Section I football game of the year might just have been the best.
On Saturday, Nov. 12, the top two large school teams in the area squared off, as undefeated Mamaroneck took on reigning state champion Carmel for the Class AA crown at Mahopac High School. And though it was Carmel who would come out on top, pushing their multi-year winning streak to 26 games, it’s unlikely that anyone in attendance will soon forget this instant-classic.
Trailing by four points with just over one minute left to play, Carmel quarterback Matt Gay found wideout Chris Nerys on a game-winning 37-yard strike to put the Rams on top for good—at 31-28—in a topsy-turvy, back and forth game that few—outside of Mamaroneck itself—may have given the Tigers much of a chance in at all.
And yet the Tigers were a minute away from proving everybody wrong, testing Carmel more than any single football team in the past 2+ years.
“There was no doubt in our minds that we could win this game,” said Mamaroneck head coach Anthony Vitti. “Obviously Carmel is a great program, they’re well coached, and nobody else has been able to do much of anything against them through the years, but kids never believed for a second they weren’t going to win this game and they showed it.”
Although the Rams’ defense has been stifling this year, the Tigers—as they have all year long—managed to find ways to put points on the board.
Vitti said his team knew it would have to dig deep to hang with Carmel and that the Tigers’ resilience on both sides of the ball was impressive.
“This is exactly how we envisioned this game, we knew they were make plays and we were going to make some plays,” said Vitti. “I’m real proud of the guys, it just hurts right now.”
With the win, the Rams will continue their quest to repeat as Class AA state champions. Their next test will be against Section 9 Newburgh on Nov. 19 at Middletown High School. Carmel and Newburgh squared off in last year’s state quarterfinal round.
For the Tigers, the loss brings an end to what had been inarguably the finest season in the program’s history during the sectional playoff era. Mamaroneck finished with a 9-1 record and reached its first-ever Section I title game, but Vitti said his team truly shined in its unflagging tenacity and character.
“Week in and week out, we built belief in each other and we answered every challenge,” said Vitti. “The hardest thing about this is that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and I’m not going to be able to coach them; that’s the hurt I feel right now and it’s more than winning a championship.”
