Coming into Friday night’s Class D championship game between Tuckahoe and Haldane, most onlookers familiar with the rivalry between the two teams expected a solid, competitive game to unfold. But few could have expected the epic shootout that unfolded, as the Tigers edged the Blue Devils 48-40 in a wild seesaw battle for the Section I Championship.
The win marked the latest in Tuckahoe’s recent stretch of success against Haldane, as the Tigers topped the Blue Devils for the last Section I title in 2019. Last spring, in a Covid-altered season that did not feature an official championship game between the only two Class D schools in the section, Tuckahoe edged Haldane on a last second field goal to win what many viewed as the “unofficial” title.
On a day that featured several mammoth offensive performances, no player shined brighter than Tuckahoe running back Michael Meyers, who bulled his way to 352 rushing yards and three touchdowns to lead his team to victory.
“This win feels great, I have to give a lot of props to Haldane for how well they played and how much of a fight they gave up,” said Meyers. “But this is just a team that never gives up and doesn’t back down from anything, and our team and our talent just got us on top.”
Meyers’ dominance on the ground would be especially important, considering that Tuckahoe entered the game without standout quarterback Michael Annunziata, who was sidelined with a leg injury. But sophomore Jax Colacicco filled in admirably in Annunziata’s stead, throwing four touchdowns to four different receivers.
“I think Jax Colacicco is an absolute stud,” said Meyers. “He’s so new to this system, we basically just put him in last year, which was a fake season. But he stepped up and came through when we needed him to.”
Head coach John D’Arco Jr., was effusive in his praise for Colacicco as well, and said that the young signal caller’s greatest strength might be an innate understanding of his place within the offensive game plan.
“Jax has one of the highest football IQs on the team” said D’Arco. “He’s able to manage the game and he gets that he doesn’t have to make every play for us to be successful.”
But despite Tuckahoe’s offensive performance, both Meyers and D’Arco said that there were issues that arose during the game that the Tigers will need to iron out before they play Section II champion Greenwich on Nov. 19 at Mechanicsville High School. In particular, costly turnovers and special teams miscues prevented the Tigers—who led by as many as two scores late in the third quarter—from putting the Blue Devils away.
“We made some mistakes today, and Haldane was able to capitalize on them,” said D’Arco. “We’ve faced adversity all year so that’s nothing new to these guys.”
“I think our defense played well, but we made a lot of breakdowns today, especially on special teams, that hurt us,” Meyers added. “But luckily, we were able to overcome that.”
