Beauchesne bros. lead Carmel to Higgins trophy win over Mahopac

As far as host Mahopac was concerned, them Beauchesne boys were up to no good.

First-year Carmel coach Alex Beauchesne conducted a clinic from the sideline, while his younger brother, Landon, put on a show on the field, scoring two touchdowns—including the go-ahead score with 1:26 remaining—to lead the Rams (1-0) to a 28-21 win.

Coach Alex, just 24 years old out of Wesleyan College, dialed up Landon’s number and with 1:26 to play and the senior RB found pay dirt for his second score.

The elder Beauchesne, just 24 years old and a graduate of Wesleyan College, dialed up Landon’s number late in the fourth quarter, and the senior running back found pay dirt for his second score. The Carmel defense bent but did not break as time expired with Mahopac at the Rams’ 13-yard line, sending the coveted Bryan Higgins Memorial Game trophy back to Carmel High School, where it has spent much of its recent history.

“Walking out of there with the Higgins trophy was definitely a good feeling,” coach Beauchesne said. “I was very proud of the way the boys competed!"

The trophy carries deep meaning regardless of who wins, and the Higgins family has touched the Carmel and Mahopac communities like few others.

Bryan Higgins was a former Mahopac football standout who went on to play at SUNY Albany. He died in a tragic water accident during his sophomore year, and the trophy helps keep his memory alive.

And now, ‘The Bet’ – initiated by Carmel Councilman Robert Kearns, will see the Rams’ flag flown at Carmel Town Hall through the end of the football season. 

“The boys definitely are excited to raise that flag. They showed out through a ton of adversity throughout the game, which I loved to see,” coach Beauchesne said. “We are a young coaching staff, but we are all motivated to give our players the best chance to succeed.”

It was one big play after another in the first half for Rams.

Junior QB Colin Sullivan, who looked every bit the part of a stud three-sport athlete that Mahopac will have to deal with the next two years, sailed a 73-yard scoring strike to senior WR Miles Parchen, who went untouched and put Carmel up 14-7. 

Before the capacity crowd could catch its breath, Mahopac junior RB Ryan Grabeklis, who had scored Mahopac's first touchdown on a two-yard run, darted 98 yards on the ensuing kickoff, leaving a wake of Rams in his dust.

Grabeklis finished with 14 carries for 85 yards and another 161 yards on kick returns. Cole Stock's PAT tied the game at 14-all at halftime.  

But in the third, Sullivan blew past the Mahopac defense at 1:55 left for a five-yard TD and a 21-14 Carmel lead. 

Mahopac senior QB Ethan Dedvukaj (9-of-20, 92 yards passing) then spotted up and found senior WR Nick Lucia (4 catches for 44 yards) for a 19-yard TD catch at 6:36 of the fourth, tying the game at 21 after Stock’s third successful PAT. 

Sean Carson and Nick Minnix led the Wolf Pac defense with 4.5 tackles each, but the unit gave up entirely too much on the ground, allowing the Rams 267 rushing yards and 6.2 per rush on 43 carries. Senior LB Sal Garufi forced his second fumble in as many weeks.

“We could be better, no doubt,” Mahopac coach Dominick DeMatteo said. “We have to play better on the perimeter with our defense. We have to be where we are supposed to be more consistently, and, bottom line, we have to tackle better. When you have hats delivered to the ball at the line of scrimmage and it ends up being a 12-yard gain, that’s a problem.” 

In the end, the Rams looked nothing like the 2025 version that suffered through an abysmal 1-6 campaign, in which they were bludgeoned by Mahopac, 42-6.

Mahopac senior LB Sal Garufi believes the Wolf Pac can work things out despite a tough start.

Mahopac, which will next host state-ranked Somers—the Section 1 Class A favorites—on Friday, Sept. 18 (7 p.m.).

“Collectively as a team, we all know that tackling hasn’t been our strongest point,” Garufi said. “No one, including our coaching staff, is looking past it. We’re gonna have the best practice week of our season this week with Somers coming up and really dial in on the key fundamentals like tackling. We have a whole season ahead of us. The final score of Carmel and Minsink doesn’t show what we’re capable of.”