Reporter: Brady Weldon
Defending Section 1 Class A state champion Rye High School traveled to Clarkstown South on Thursday night to take on the Vikings with all the confidence in the world, entering the game on a 15-game win streak. But their streak was snapped after a 35-28 loss.
The Garnets’ offense, led by quarterback Charlie Brady, had four passing touchdowns but couldn’t keep up all the way to the end with the heavyweight offense that Clarkstown South brought out. The scoring started out slow but quickly ramped up for both sides all the way through halftime, with senior Luke Denvir hauling in two touchdown grabs for the Garnets.
The loss was the first for the Garnets since the 2024 section championship game. It was also the team’s first regular-season loss in nearly three years, a 23-game streak dating back to Sept. 22, 2023.
This loss, which brings them to 1-1 on the season, doesn’t cause any real concern for this Garnets team, as they will still be among the top schools competing for state and sectional titles. Their goal is to win another state title after a perfect season in 2025, but getting a close loss out of the way in early September might be a good thing for this Garnets team, giving them the opportunity to create a new streak and take the pressure off of potentially dropping one late in the year and losing confidence heading into more impactful games. The offense seemingly was on point in the passing game, but the defense will need to step up in order to keep the form it had last season, and the penalties need to be cut down.
The Garnets take on Eastchester next week, looking to get back in the win column after defeating them twice last season, once in the regular season and once in the playoffs.
