CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - After building a 27-14 halftime lead, John Jay still fell to Goshen in their season opener, 28-27. So the narrative the following week was easy to identify. “Just finish,” said Coach Brendan Connolly, and his boys came home on Thursday night, Sept. 10, hoping to follow through.
They did. But it was probably more accurate to say that the Wolves started and never stopped in their 47-0 victory over Ossining.
The defense began the onslaught. After a pair of short runs, Ryan Ramirez broke up a third-down pass, and the offense took the cue.
A short punt put the Wolves at the Ossining 40-yard line, and Jonluke Arefieg came out slinging. He hit a pair of sideline passes to Chase Carvajal and James Tesi, respectively, and John Jay faced third-and-one.
Unfortunately, a holding penalty negated Austin Schneider’s first-down grab, so there was more work to be done. Schneider went wide first to set up fourth-and-three, and then Tesi and Arefieg got back into the act. The receiver went over the middle and leaped to pull down his quarterback’s dart.
Still, the drive stalled, and on came Jeremy Walerys. From 35 yards away, the kick was through, and John Jay led, 3-0.
At 5:52, Ossining didn’t spend much time with the ball. Michael Chiappa made a big tackle on second down, and Ramirez broke up the drive again with another deflection.
Midfield was John Jay’s starting point this time, and the Wolves weren’t there for long. Arefieg rolled right and hit Tesi in the flat for a 21-yard gain.
At the 32, John Jay kept the ball on the ground. Three runs by Carvajal got the Wolves a first down, but then the flags went up. Unfortunately, the penalty gave the ball back, undoing the drive. On came Walerys, who trotted out to the approval of Ramirez.
“He’s got one hell of a leg,” the Wolf asserted.
From 29 yards away, Walerys made no mistake.
John Jay led, 6-0, with 25 seconds left in the first quarter, and the defense remained dominant. On second down, Ossining ran left, and when the ball went to the ground, the defense scooped it up.
From 26 yards away, Jay went right to work. Tesi took off toward the front left corner of the end zone, and Arefieg let fly.
“Our receivers make a quarterback’s job a little easier because he can let them go get it,” said Connolly.
That’s exactly what Tesi did, and Jay led, 13-0, with 11:15 left in the half.
Ossining had nothing in response, and after a quick possession, Tesi had the drop — literally.
“No, that was not the plan,” joked Tesi after he fumbled the punt.
No problem. The punt returner reset on the fly.
“I picked it up and green grass was ahead of me,” he said.
John Jay led, 20-0, after Tesi reached the end zone.
Ossining did respond by getting past midfield, but the Pride should have quit while they were ahead. A muffed handoff hit the ground, and Mikey Chiappa recovered.
With 2:44 left in the half, the Wolves showed that sure hands weren’t just a one-trick pony. First, Arefieg connected with Steven Almstead at the 30. He then dumped the ball to Austin Schneider for a 17-yard gain to the 13 before finishing off the drive with a pass to Almstead in the front corner of the end zone.
A receiving corps that can spread the ball around spells trouble for opposing teams, according to Almstead.
“It’s scary,” he assured. “We’re going to continue to batter every team we meet.”
Of course, the threat doesn’t move without the quarterback.
“He’s commanding our offense, putting the ball in space, making his reads and throwing the ball on time,” said Connolly. “Jonluke is doing a tremendous job.”
Onto the third quarter, and the finishing part began on the first possession. John Jay gobbled up ground, and Ramirez couldn’t help but be swept away by his first taste of Friday night lights — on a Thursday.
“It’s electric,” he beamed.
His first-ever touchdown was next level, and a special charge came from one spot in the bleachers.
“I knew she was screaming for me from the stands,” said the senior of his mom. “I can still hear her through all the crowd noise.”
Ramirez added another touchdown later in the fourth quarter, and the final tally had the coach busting out with pride for his team.
“They did a great job,” Connolly concluded. “They executed, stayed composed, and I’m just really proud.”
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