John Jay Loses 34-27 in Overtime Heartbreaker

On Friday, September 3 at Contest Field, John Jay hosted Yorktown and both fan bases endured a heart stopping roller coaster ride. Still, the Wolves never wavered, according to Head Coach Joe Candarelli. “Their heart, desire and effort is never in question,” he boasted. But in the end, the flatline landed on the side of the home team and laid waste to John Jay’s faithful.

Playing to a 27-27 tie, Yorktown got seven in their first overtime possession, and John Jay could not match.

The Wolves would be first to get their fans pounding the bleachers, though.  After quickly sending Yorktown to their seats on three plays, the Wolf offense was sitting down even faster. On the first play, Craig Galea threw a sideline screen, and Christian Shapiro left Yorktown in the dust on a 70 yard touchdown play at 10:26.

A jolt that may have awakened the visitors, three Husker first downs had the Wolves on their heels at the 28. But Yorktown would still turn the ball over on downs. Unfortunately, John Jay moved the ball in the same direction, and a mishandled snap gave Yorktown a safety. 

4:38 left in the first, Yorktown again moved the ball across midfield but turned the ball over on downs for a second time. Set up at their own 40, John Jay returned the favor when Jack Ferone picked off Galea at midfield with 1:02 left in the first.

And there Yorktown stayed. Three plays and a punt put John Jay at the 20 to start the second. Unfortunately, a sack and an incomplete pass didn’t look so good. No problem, the offense got in gear, and Galea and Austin Zaccagnino did the shifting. The QB hit his receiver at the 50, and then on 4th down from the 42, Galea connected with Zaccagnino at the 12. 

An offside gave John Jay first and five at the six. But three plays later, the Wolves were still 4th and one, and Shapiro could not punch through. 

The field position game was not to be either. Yorktown slugged their way out to the thirty before punting, and got the ball back when Justin Meyreles picked off Galea at the 25 at 2:03.

Consecutive illegal procedures seemed to have Yorktown content to run out the clock, and two meek handoffs said as much. John Jay taking the bait, QB Kaden Gonzalez innocently handed off to Meyreles, and instead of taking a nosedive, the back heaved for a wide open Tom Costello. Yorktown had a 75 yard touchdown play and an 8-7 halftime lead.

Unable to answer back out of intermission, John Jay had Yorktown doing its bidding. A mishandled snap sent the Yorktown punter scrambling, and John Jay had the ball 25 yards away at 8:58. Two plays later, Galea lofted a perfect pass into the hands of Jack Marcogliese, and the Wolves were 1st and goal.

Losing ground again, this time John Jay connected. Galea dumped left to Dom Savastano, and he cut in for a 13-8 lead. 

Then after driving to the John Jay 30, the Huskers got hit with holding, and the long yardage play helped put the ball in the hands of Michael Mendicino. He ran back the interception to the 36, and John Jay was ready to open up their lead with 5:11 left in the third.

Three straight runs gave Shapiro 16 of his 103 yards on the ground, and after Savastano got ten more on a sideline pass, Shapiro bumped outside for a 17 yard gain to the 21.

No breather for the back, he took a sideline pass for eight of his 76 receiving yards, and with the Wolves humming, the offense continued to mix it up. Galea threw deep into the end zone, and Zaccagnino reached back to pull the ball away from the defender.

Up 19-8 with 3:08 left in the third, John Jay and Galea’s 25-37, 433 yard game seemed a winner. Although Yorktown had other ideas. 

Not panicking, Yorktown gobbled up ground to the John Jay 24 on the heals of their quarterback. A five yard rollout and three short passes set the stage for Meyreles again. The senior burst through the hole, and got the visitors within five. 

11:33 remaining, Shapiro went right back to work. He ran the ball back to the 37, and three rushes later, which included a face mask penalty, John Jay was at the 36. 

The Wolves then opted to go aerial, and two incomplete passes left a fourth and six from the 30. An illegal procedure and another incomplete gave Yorktown the ball with 10:11 left.

The Huskers didn’t waste any time either. Meyreles hit the hole and wasn’t dragged down until the 27. Four plays later, the all purpose back hauled in the touchdown, and John Jay trailed 20-19 after another failed two. 

So with 8:23 remaining, John Jay needed to answer, and on a 4th five pass to Savastano, the chains showed the Wolves short a yard at the Yorktown 46.

Under seven minutes, Meyreles got on his horse. He paced for 20 yards and 15 were added on a personal foul. So the night seemingly over, the curfew was lifted when Dylan DelVeccio fumbled.

Lining up with 6:04 left, a fake handoff gave Marcogliese a step, Galea lofted the ball in stride, and the receiver was in the end zone 86 yards later. Savastano then pulled down the two in the corner, and John Jay led 27-20 with 5:51 to go.

The thrilling turn was not enough to keep the lights from going out, though. Yorktown methodically moved the ball downfield, and a five yard run by Meyreles had his team set up at second goal from the four.  

But his next two runs went nowhere, and only one stop was needed. Instead, Gonzalez hit Costello in the end zone, and this time Yorktown ran out their kicker to tie the game.

A minute left, John Jay made no headway and the toss went to Yorktown. So the Huskers lined up first at the 20. 

A short gain on first, Meyreles was complexity boxed in on second down, but a face mask was called. Third and long no longer in play, Gonzalez scrambled left and found Chris Constantine for the score.

The extra point sailing through again, John Jay seemed ready to match up when Galea hit  Zaccagnino for seven yards. But Shapiro’s reception on the next play lost yardage and left a third and seven.

Shapiro got five back, and it was now or never. Hit in the back field, Shapiro was unable to rescue his team, and while extremely disappointed, Candarelli had his team’s back. “This group of kids, their attitude is unmatched,” he concluded. “We’ll bounce back just fine.”

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