Wiccopee -  Coming into the new season, the John Jay Patriots were ranked as one of the top teams in Class AA. Jay made history last season by winning the Section 1 Class AA title for the first time in the history of the school; so this year's edition of the Patriots had plenty to live up to. The ranking was mostly due to the fact that John Jay was returning its starting quarterback, Ryan Schumacher. It was behind Schumacher's leadership that the Patriots were able to grab the 2014 title, but many of his receiving targets graduated in June. Couple that with the fact that the Patriots were paired up New Rochelle in the season opener, and you got as close to a playoff game as you could get, in early September.

While New Rochelle held possession of the ball for the first four minutes of the game, their march down the field was halted when Dan Diedrich picked off a Greg Powell pass and took it 70 yards the other way. The celebration was quickly dampened with a flag on the field and a penalty that brought the ball out of the end zone and back to the 40 yard line.  Jay moved the ball with successive quarterback keepers, but had to settle for a field goal for the first score of the game.

In the second quarter, Schumacher churned up more yardage on the ground and got the ball into the red zone where Dan Diedrich was able to power in from the 5. Jay led 9-0 in the second quarter and 16-6 in the 4th quarter. Then New Rochelle showed why they are a perennial powerhouse in Class AA. Greg Powell connected with Rashon McNeil for two TD strikes to roar back and erase the 10-point deficit. 

The final connection came with just 1:32 on the clock and New Rochelle down to their final down of the series. Powell connected with McNeil on the sidelines and McNeil broke a couple of tackles and took it into the end zone to give New Rochelle its first lead of the game. With 1:23 left on the clock, Jay couldn't make its way downfield and New Rochelle stole this one away in dramatic fashion. 18-16, the final.

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