Mamaroneck’s bid to claim its first-ever Section 1 football title came to an end in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday night, as the Tigers saw a two-score lead—and their title hopes—evaporate in the final minutes, giving the Red Raiders a hard-fought 17-14 win over the championship hopefuls at Mahopac High School.
After surrendering an early field goal, Mamaroneck righted the ship, getting a three-yard touchdown run from Noah Koby to head into halftime with a 7-3 lead. The Tigers would add to that in the start of the third quarter, when Kieran Jacobson found the end zone on a goal-line push to put the Tigers up by two scores.
But North Rockland would roar back in the fourth, cutting the lead to 14-10 on a run by Jaquan Johnson. Defensive pressure and a blocked punt by Noah Kukielczak would set up Johnson for the game-winning score, giving the Red Raiders their first Section 1 crown in 13 years.
Mamaroneck head coach Anthony Vitti credited North Rockland with an exceptional performance, noting that while this was the same team the Tigers topped in the regular season, the Red Raiders’ execution was noticeably improved and was buoyed by a terrific outing by Johnson, who has now scored 25 touchdowns on the year.
“We knew exactly what to expect tonight, but they played a great, tough, gritty game,” said Vitti. “We knew it was important to locate [Johnson] wherever he was lined up and do our best to minimize the impact.”
The championship game loss is Mamaroneck’s second in the last three years, with both defeats—the first coming against Carmel in 2022—seeing late Tiger leads dissipate, something that made the night an even more difficult one for the squad.
But Vitti was quick to point out that in no way did Friday’s loss define what had been a terrific season for the Tigers. Mamaroneck finished with a 5-3 record and authored one of the program’s signature victories with a last-minute win over rival Scarsdale in the semifinals.
“After the game, I just told them that I love them and we’ll wake up tomorrow and the pain will subside a little bit,” said Vitti. “I’m proud of them and the hurt they’re feeling right now just shows how much they love this program and how hard they fought for it.”
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