Coach Anthony Vitti credits Mamaroneck Varsity Football’s win tonight over the Scarsdale Raiders as a result of “a team of destiny.” In a neck and neck game, the Tigers were able to grind out a 17-14 win thanks to a 27-yard field goal from Will Prevost (’26) as time expired. This win sends the Tigers to the Section 1 Championship Game for the second time in their history, where they look to avenge their defeat in 2022.

Mamaroneck fans traveled in numbers, as hundreds of parents and students flocked to Butler Field at Scarsdale High School, hoping to see their team pull out a rivalry win. The game started off promising for the Tigers, as they forced a three and out on Scarsdale’s first possession and then marched down the field for a touchdown courtesy of Jack Davidson (’25). 

However, Scarsdale would not go down without a fight, as they quickly responded with a touchdown of their own, making the score 7-7. The Scarsdale defense would then intercept a pass from Mamaroneck quarterback Kieran Jacobson (’25), and they turned that momentum into another touchdown on a 4th and Goal Rush from the one yard line, taking the lead 14-7. 

Mamaroneck failed to establish offensive momentum of their own, but their stellar defense led by star defensive end Mika Barry-Thouez (’25) kept them in the game. 

Barry-Thouez had over four Tackle For Losses as one of the backbones of the Tigers defense.

“There’s no other group of guys I’d rather play with,” said Barry-Thouez after the game, when asked about his motivation for his stellar play. He spoke about how much he values this second chance to make history, saying that “we’re going to win it this time, I believe it with all my heart.”

But the Tigers still had to find a way out of this seven point deficit. After Jacobson threw his third pick of the night during the third quarter, it started to feel like Scarsdale might pull out the victory. The Raiders’ triple option offense kept winding down the clock, but Mamaroneck was gaining momentum during the 4th quarter. Down seven, the Tigers marched down the field, with Jacobson breaking off a huge run to put the Tigers at the Scarsdale 15 yard line. The Tigers worked it down to 4th and 3 from the eight yard line, and it seemed like the game came down to this play. The Tigers offense went deep in their bag of tricks, and threw the ball to offensive lineman Harlan Glassman (’25) who caught the misdirection pass and ran to the five yard line for a first down.

“It’s been my dream to catch a pass,” said Glassman, whose play may have saved the Tigers’ season. “Running for the crucial first down felt amazing.”

Offensive Coordinator Peter O’Byrne shared that it was “a play we (the coaching staff) have had on the call sheet for a couple of weeks now and we were looking for the right moment and we felt like we could give our guy Harlan a shot, and it worked.” 

O’Byrne had an elevated view of the game and when asked if he was holding his breath, he answered “absolutely” with a huge grin. “It was an awesome moment,” said O’Byrne.

The Tigers would then score on the ensuing play after Henry Bohn (’25) handed the ball off to Davidson, who dived into the end zone for his second score of the game to make the score 14-14.

Scarsdale then received the ball with five and a half minutes to go in the game, and they eventually found themselves in a predicament. They had the ball on their own 40 yard line and it was 4th and 1. They elected to go for the 1st down, but then for Raider fans, disaster struck. A false start penalty moved them back five yards, and they were forced to punt the ball away to the Tigers with two and a half minutes left, giving them a chance to win the game.

Before taking the field, Jacobson knew that “there were two minutes left or they were never playing again. We had to make some plays.”

Jacobson led the Tigers offense down the field, including throwing identical passes to Bohn, who noticed that “the cornerback would back up every play, and Kieran would make perfect plays” which allowed the Tigers to continue their drive.

However, the Tigers found themselves in a 4th and 6 situation where they could not kick a field goal, and they were forced to go for it. The play call “did not work at all,” according to Jacobson, but “Jack Davidson always finds his way open and I was able to get him the ball.” The play saw Jacobson scramble and find Davidson for a 1st down, which led to the game winning field goal.

Coach Vitti described Jacobson’s resilience as “football justice’’ and praised his ability to “shake it (certain mistakes) off and say that ’I’m going to make a play’, which shows the type of leader he is.”

Prevost then calmly kicked the game winning field goal as time expired, his second game winning field goal of the year, which sent the Tigers through to the championship game by a score of 17-14. 

They will play North Rockland in the Section 1 Championship game at Mahopac High School next week, looking to capture their first Section Championship in school history.