Aquinas, Tuckahoe earn NYSPHSAA championships

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For anyone who has ever hopped into the car, started driving and forgot where they were going, Mike Monacelli and Art Troilo Jr. know how you feel.

Their football teams drove virtually the length of the field late of the first half of New York State Public High School Athletic Association football finals Friday only to come up with nothing to show for the effort.

For Monacelli's Caledonia-Mumford (Caledonia, N.Y.) team, it was a journey of 21 plays and 73 yards that consumed 9:06 on the clock. The Red Raiders turned it over on downs, went into the locker room moments later still down 6-0 but could muster little in the second half and lost the Class D final to Tuckahoe (Eastchester, N.Y.) 27-0.

Down two TDs in the back end of the doubleheader, Troili's Harrison squad covered 76 yards in 17 snaps over 6:53, including a missed field-goal attempt negated by a defensive penalty, but came away empty as time expired in the first half and ended up dropping a 24-13 decision in Class A to Aquinas Institute (Rochester).

The championship was Aquinas' fifth, breaking a tie with Cal-Mum for the all-time state lead. The Little Irish did it with big plays from their senior stars in the scant time they held the ball. Chris Bostick got his feet down in the back right corner of the end zone for a 24-yard TD pass on a fourth-and-17 play in the second quarter, and Mike Messina broke loose for a 50-yard TD run that put the game away with 2:08 to play.

"I thought as long as we didn't give up any big plays we could win," Troilo said of Bostick's catch. "That was a killer. Fourth and 15 or fourth and 16, that was a killer. If that ball turned back to us anything could have happened."

It nearly did anyway. In the span between the Bostick and Messina TDs, the Huskies held the ball for 20:51 to just 7:40 for Aquinas and outscored the Little Irish 13-3.

"They kept us off the field for a very long time," said Messina, a Syracuse University lacrosse recruit who earned game MVP honors after carrying 16 times for 176 yards. "That's what hurt us. "Usually our defense can get the ball right back and we can put some points up, but their offense was the key to their team. They kept us off the field a lot. I was getting antsy on the sideline. I couldn't wait to get in."

Harrison's methodical drive at the end of the first half started at the Huskies' 20. It stalled out at the Little Irish 8, so Troilo sent Roberto Bruno on for a 34-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide to the left with 11 seconds left. But Aquinas was called for roughing the kicker, and Troilo put his offense back on the field believing he could get off two plays and still have a tick of the clock left for another kick if necessary.

Aquinas linebacker Sean Preish tripped up the intended receiver in the end zone on first down to move the ball to the 4, but sophomore quarterback Vincent Nicita was intercepted by Jahmahl Pardner on the next play, ending the half.

"It was huge," Harrison running back Tanner Knox said after picking up 110 yards in 22 carries. "I thought if we scored we'd have gotten back into the game."

Harrison did drive 82 yards to a TD to open the second half and immediately forced the Little Irish into a three-and-out. But Aquinas senior Klay Heston stepped in front of a Nicata throw four plays later to set up a 36-yard Eric Terhaar field goal for a 17-7 lead.

Harrison (10-2) fought back to a Stephen Ricciardi TD reception two plays after the senior was on the receiving end of a 38-yard pass from Charlie Drago, who had fielded a one-hop lateral from Nicata along the sideline.
Despite a missed extra point, Harrison still had life with 2:28 to play.

But Pardner recovered the ensuing onside kick on one hard hop, and two plays later Messina swept left, broke one high arm tackle and stormed down the Aquinas sideline to wrap up the championship and a 13-0 season.

CLASS D: TUCKAHOE THWARTS CAL-MUM

The symmetry of what happened to Harrison and Cal-Mum was striking.

Cal-Mum fell behind midway through the first quarter after an ill-advised fake punt set up a six-play, 23-yard TD drive capped by quarterback Kevin Garabitos' 1-yard run.

But Cal-Mum righted the ship and held Tuckahoe to two first downs in its next two possessions, taking over at its own 20 with 9:27 left in the second quarter to begin its lengthy drive. Jon Cappotelli would carry 15 times for 67 of his game-high 88 yards as the Red Raiders moved to the Tuckahoe 2. But lining up for a fourth-and-2 snap just outside the Tigers 2, Cappotelli leaned into a rolling start and was flagged for illegal procedure. Facing fourth down from the 7, Madison Suhr throw into the end zone and Vince Moore batted the ball down to end the threat.

The third quarter began with Tuckahoe driving nine plays and 53 yards to a Luis Esquilin 5-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead, and the Tigers wore down the Red Raiders the rest of the way with a combination of size and speed that was a cut above Class D competition all season long.

"We don't get that team quickness (in Section V)," cal-Mum coach Mike Monacelli said. "I can't remember (something comparable), maybe a Clyde-Savannah team years ago. When your scout team is out there (in practice) you're just trying to make plays. I don't have a scout quarterback to mimic that quarterback, I don't have two wings to mimic their wings and I don't have scout guys the size of 73 (Jonathan Jubilee) and 51 (Kevin Chen)."