CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - After having their weekend washed away, John Jay did the next best thing a few days later. They welcomed Horace Greeley, and a little Monday Night Football more than made up for the deluge.
The Wolves scored the first three touchdowns and went on to an easy 38-6 victory.
The defense was up first and kept the Quakers in the red. A hold on first down, followed by three more plays that netted minus-5 yards, gave the Wolves the ball at the Greeley 44.
There, Chase Carvajal ran left, cut in and knifed his way to the 23. Two plays later, though, Jonluke Arefieg was picked off in the end zone.
At 8:27, Greeley’s offensive output exponentially increased. Unfortunately for the visitors, the sum total only amounted to six yards, and this time John Jay took over 48 yards away.
Carvajal made sure his team wasn’t there for long. He bumped right for 20 yards, and Jay had a first down from the 28. After a hold sent the boys back a bit, Ryan Ramirez went in the same direction and wasn’t pulled down until reaching the 10.
The Wolf legs then got a rest. Arefieg threw left, and Colby Crystal forced his way into the end zone at 3:54.
Up 7-0 on Jeremy Walerys’ extra point, the offense had a little longer to wait to get the ball back. Two first downs this time for the Quakers only reached the 25, but the visitors had the ball back pretty quickly anyway. On the first play, Arefieg threw a screen to the left, James Tesi cut in and went 63 yards for the touchdown.
Arriving at 10:23, the 14-0 lead was as big as it looked. Still, the Quakers did a little better this time. Ben Jackson completed a 12-yard pass on third-and-9 to the 39 and then connected with Justin Pufahl twice to move his team to the other 34.
On second-and-5, the Wolves dug in. Austin Schneider held another Jackson completion to a 3-yard gain, and the line let the QB get no further on a keeper to turn the ball over on downs.
Carvajal didn’t wait to rub it in, either. On the handoff, he disappeared into the morass and emerged in open field for a 50-yard run. At the 20, John Jay went left and right, hands and feet. Crystal pulled in another Arefieg completion, and Tesi fought his way into the end zone on a run the other way at 5:45.
Walerys was true on the extra point, and 21 points seemed like plenty. It wasn’t, but only briefly. Jackson scrambled to midfield, and after a personal foul allowed Greeley to keep the ball, he completed a sideline pass to Pufahl to set up a first down at the 11. Then, on the next play, he dropped a corner loft into Pufahl for a 21-6 score.
With 93 seconds left on the clock, Jay refused to take a knee. Three runs by Carvajal made for a fourth-and-1 at the Greeley 39, but the Wolves didn’t settle for playing small ball.
Arefieg dropped back and hit Tesi with a perfect over-the-shoulder strike in the middle. With a step, the receiver exploded to the end zone to steal back the momentum.
And the return to the field proved the point. Carvajal and Crystal opened with runs of 30 and 13 to set the ball up at the 32, and Tesi went acrobatic next. On the sideline, Arefieg’s ball was underthrown, and the receiver cut in front and leaped for the 29-yard gain.
First-and-goal, Austin Schneider did the rest. All alone in the back of the end zone, he made the grab, and the rest was running out the clock.
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