Best described by MSG Varsity, “the play was maybe a millisecond away from being blown dead. Ryan Schumacher was sacked on fourth down with under a minute left, effectively ending an epic playoff game and bringing John Jay-East Fishkill’s season to a crashing halt.
But the whistle never blew.
Despite being wrapped up by three Mamaroneck defenders — long enough for some of the Tigers players to begin celebrating on the field — Schumacher somehow shoveled a back-handed pitch to running back Brad Belotti, who made a cut and buried his shoulders low enough to drive for a first down.
The breath-taking sequence with 25 seconds left in regulation allowed one of the craziest Section 1 playoff games in recent memory to go on, eventually ending with John Jay stopping Mamaroneck’s 2-point conversion attempt in double overtime to seal an unforgettable 34-33 win in the Class AA semifinals.
“For a section semifinal to go double overtime, this has to be the wildest game we’ve played on this field,” Patriots coach Tom O’Hare said.
On a night with head-spinning scoring, tense defensive stops and controversial officiating, Jay survived on its home field to earn a trip to next Saturday at Mahopac against either New Rochelle or Arlington.”
