All good things must eventually come to an end. That’s something that Rye’s football team found out the hard way on Oct. 8, as they saw a lengthy wining streak against old foe Harrison snapped. On Saturday afternoon—in the 95th playing of the ‘The Game’—the Huskies got back in the win column, topping the Garnets 22-7 to earn their first victory since 2012. 
Senior Dylan Haines, basking in the glow of Harrison’s win said that Saturday’s victory was built on a deep level of trust between the players and a laser-like focus on the task at hand.
“It means the world to me, but I’m especially glad that I got to do it all with my brothers,” said Haines. “Everyone here came in with one goal.”
Harrison wasted little time putting their mark on the game, scoring on the opening drive as
Christian Barchella broke loose for a fourth-down, 42-yard scamper. Though the Garnets would respond in kind, finding the end-zone on a dive by Tommy Richardson, it was all Harrison from thereon out, as the Huskies rattled off 15 unanswered points—with nine points coming on field goals from Nick Reed—to down their longtime foes.
Solid play up front was key to the Huskies ability to control the line of scrimmage, and Haines wasted little time praising his line mates for their gritty, physical performance against Rye.
“Our O-line is big, we’re bad, and we want everyone to know it in Section I,” said Haines.
Defensively, Gianlucca Santarelli spearheaded a tremendous performance that kept Rye’s explosive offense led by quarterback AJ Miller in check.
The offense was buoyed by the return of starting quarterback Marco Citro, who was cleared to play after suffering a broken collarbone a few weeks ago. Citro and Niko Marinelli both took snaps on the day, with Marinelli finding the end zone on a second half rush of 52 yards.
“Once Marco got that clearance, you could tell the team was excited and they wanted to back him up,” said head coach Jay Ciraco. “He’s a big asset for us, but we’ve had a next-man-up mentality which has helped.”
After Saturday’s contest, the Huskies and Garnets both find themselves at 5-1 on the year. The Huskies will take on Nyack this Friday while the Garnets will have to contend with undefeated Clarkstown South. For the Huskies, said Ciraco, the key is just to continue to attack the week the same way the team has been attacking everything this year; with confidence.
“This was the message from day one, we have to start believing in each other,” said Ciraco. “This is a close group and they beat a really good Rye football team today.”
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