Mamaroneck Varsity Sports are one of the most prominent parts of the Mamaroneck High School (MHS) community. This year, our teams represent our school and are competing all across both Section One and the state. Mamaroneck has several rivalries with other schools that have led to many intense games over the years, but no matter the sport, one rivalry will always reign supreme: Scarsdale. No matter the sport, any game versus Scarsdale is a must win.
Our rivalry with Scarsdale is seen throughout the entire year as Mamaroneck Varsity teams normally play Scarsdale every year in each sport. Each of these matchups has high stakes and is filled with lots of intensity.
This year the Tigers have had great successes against Scarsdale in sports such as field hockey, basketball and ice hockey, at which we recently beat Scarsdale 6-1. Head Coach Mike Chiapparelli described the win as “a sweet win over close rivals.” Chiapparelli credited the win to his team playing “a team game, defense first” and “continual pressure, screens and going to net…leading to six unanswered goals.”
Although this win was recent, Chiapparelli’s favorite memory is from over two decades ago at a 2007 hockey game against Scarsdale. Mamaroneck was trailing 4-3 in the last minute until the Tigers tied the game with four seconds left before scoring a shocking game-winning goal with one second left in the game, marking a historic victory over our close rivals.
In addition to a big win in hockey, earlier this year Mamaroneck Football beat Scarsdale in the Section One semifinals, winning 17-14 on a game winning field goal as time expired. Coach Anthony Vitti says that he will “always remember the aura of that final drive and the jubilee of our players, coaches, and fans.” Vitti says that our rivalry with Scarsdale creates “an incredible desire to win” and “stirs up our respective fan bases and sparks both of our communities.” Vitti added that his favorite memory of playing Scarsdale was beating them 28-0 in football as a senior at MHS.
No matter the sport, beating Scarsdale will always mean more than beating any other school. “Anyone who has been directly involved with this rivalry with the maroon team owns a piece of the rivalry,” states Vitti.
Whether it is early season or section playoffs, cheering from the stands or on the playing field, any MHS student can appreciate the intensity of the rivalry and the satisfaction of a victory over the ‘maroon team.’
