The Tuckahoe football season came to an end on Friday night, as the Tigers fell in the state regional finals to a powerhouse Greenwich team, 41-20. Although the loss was a disappointing one, second-year head coach John D’Arco Jr., is confident that the Tigers’ showing this year is proof that the Tuckahoe program is headed in the right direction.

Coming into Friday’s game, the Section I champions knew that they would face a stiff test in the Witches (11-0) who are in the midst of a 15-game undefeated streak. According to D’Arco, curbing Greenwich’s offensive explosiveness would be a tall task for the Tigers.
“We knew they were going to be well-coached, we knew they hadn’t lost a game in two years,” said the D’Arco. “We knew they had a really good quarterback who was a good athlete, a good strong running back and a good skilled kid, too.”

As it so happened, D’Arco’s assessment turned out to be spot on, as Greenwich quarterback Jesse Kuzmich proved to be the difference-maker as the Witches pulled away, finishing with two passing touchdowns and two rushing scores on the night. 

“[Kuzmich] was the best player out on the field,” said D’Arco. “And I think they just made a few more plays than we did.”

Despite the final score, however, Tuckahoe—led by backup quarterback Jax Colacicco—found themselves within striking distance late in the third quarter when Colacicco found Jake Matarazzo for a touchdown to make the score 21-20. But the Greenwich defense clamped down after that as the Witches would go on to score the next 20 points to cement the win.

“Our kids played about as well as we could, they did everything we asked them to do,” said D’Arco. “I think they wore us down a little and we made some costly mistakes.” 

Colacicco was under center for his fourth straight start after standout junior Michael Annunziata suffered an injury in the Tigers’ Oct. 16 victory over Rye Neck. Annunziata did suit up on Friday, but was limited to just a few plays of action. 

“We knew that [Annunziata] wasn’t going to play much, if at all,” said D’Arco. “Jax was our starting quarterback and we had faith in him, and the plan was only to use Matt for a few plays if the opportunity called for it.”
With the loss, the Tigers finished the season with an 8-2 record, while Greenwich will move on to the state semifinals this week, where they will take on Section II champion Moriah. Moriah topped Section I runner-up Haldane 22-0 on Nov. 19. 

Tuckahoe will graduate 14 seniors, including standout running back Michael Meyers and a host of starters on the offensive line, but D’Arco remains confident that the team will return plenty of talent next year with 27 players slated to come back.

“I thanked this group and I truly believed they gave me everything they had; I was glad they were upset because it showed they cared,” said D’Arco. “We have a ton of skill guys coming back next year but we have to make sure we focus on the line.

“I told the guys when I came back here that I wasn’t just interested in winning Section I titles,” he added. “Our goal is to get back to Syracuse.”

Contact: sports@hometwn.com