John Jay Finishes off Ossining 47-0

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Last week after building a 27-14 halftime lead, John Jay still fell to Goshen by a score of 28-27. So the narrative this week was easy to identify. “Just finish,” said Coach Brendan Connolly, and his boys came home on Thursday night September 10 to hopefully follow through.

They did. But it was probably more accurate to say that the Wolves started and never stopped in the 47-0 victory.

Defense began the onslaught, though.  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 on the Ossining 40, and Jonluke Arefieg came out slinging. He hit a pair of sideline passes to Chase Carvajal and James Tesi respectively, and John Jay stood third and one. 

Unfortunately, a hold negated Austin Schneider’s first down grab so there was more work to be done. First Schneider went wide to set up a fourth and three, and then Tesi and Arefieg got back into the act. The receiver went over the middle and leapt to pull down his quarterback’s dart.

Still, the drive stalled and on came Jeremy Walerys. 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 had a big tackle on second down, and Ramirez broke up the drive again with another deflection.

Midfield was John Jay’s start this time, and they 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 a first down for the Wolves until the flags went up. Unfortunately, the ball went back and the penalty undid the drive. On came Walerys, he trotted out to the approval of Ramirez. “He’s got one hell of a leg,” the Wolf asserted, and 29 yards away was no bother.

6-0 with 25 seconds left in the first, and the defense remained dominate. On second down, Ossining ran left, and when the ball went on the ground, the defense had the scoop. 

26 yards away, Jay went right to work. Tesi took off for the front left 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, and John Jay lead 20-0 after Tesi reached the end zone.

Ossining did respond by getting past midfield, but they should have quit while they were ahead. A muffed handoff hit the ground, and Mikey Chiappa had the recovery.

2:44 left in the half and the Wolves showed sure hands weren’t just a one trick pony.  First Arefieg connected with Steven Almstead at the 30, dumped to Austin Schneider for a 17 yard gain to the 13 and finished off the drive with a front corner of the end zone out to Almstead.

A reception spread that 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, the finishing part began on the first possession. John Jay gobbled up ground, and Ramirez couldn’t help being 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.”

He added another later in the fourth and the final tally had the coach busting out for his team. “They did a great job,” he concluded. “They executed, stayed composed, and I’m just really proud.”

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