Football at a crossroads for Fox Lane and John Jay

Nick Rinaldi will be a senior running back for the Wolves. John Jay players experience the thrill of the entrance. Fox Lane coach Drew Giuliano looks forward to the new league format against local rivals. Andrew Rudolph will be back as quarterback for the Foxes. The Fox Lane crowd enjoys the Friday Night Lights experience.

By JIM MACLEAN

Numbers don’t lie. Numbers tell a story, although sometimes not the whole story. And sometimes the numbers simply don’t add up.

In the world of high school athletics, numbers are everywhere. On the scoreboard, on the stat sheet, in the win/loss column for your record, but the bigger numbers are often found in the number of players you have competing in the program. That participation number has a direct correlation with the numbers you compile on the field. That is especially true for the sport of football where you have to fill 22 starting positions every time you step on the field.

For both the Fox Lane and John Jay football programs, the numbers in the program have been trending in the wrong direction, and looking ahead to the fall the numbers did not add up, so both programs have elected to compete in the new Ability Based League next fall.

The new league gives them a chance to rebuild the numbers in their respective programs while not playing against the teams competing for the Section 1 championship.

“When you start doing the math, varsity had one win and two the year before, junior varsity had zero and one the year before, you’re looking at a trend where a group of kids don’t get the opportunity to have a good experience,” explained John Jay Athletic Director Christian McCarthy. “Football is a hard physical sport and it becomes challenging and you start losing athletes. We saw our numbers dwindle and our J.V. program fold, and when that happens you don’t get the same level of development and growth. The kids last year were great soldiers, but by the end of the season we were piecing it together to try and play the games and we didn’t have enough players.”

Fox Lane found itself in a similar scenario. Both varsity teams won one game last fall, and both schools saw their J.V. program not record a win and fold by the end of the season unable to field the required minimum of 18 players to compete.

Both schools see small numbers for their upper classes heading into the fall season, while both see the numbers improving for the incoming freshman class and the future. Both schools see this coming fall with the new ABL league as an opportunity to reset and make it a positive experience.

“Obviously, the numbers and results were not what we wanted last year,” explained Fox Lane Athletic Director Adam Lodewick. “We had a lack of a feeder program for a few years, and not having that made it tough to retool every year. Our numbers started to drop, J.V. couldn’t finish the season, and looking at what we had for the fall and looking at who was in this new league with our traditional rivalries intact, we felt this was an opportunity to give us a chance to revamp our numbers and hopefully see some success.”

The set up for the new league is exciting for both schools and should make it a fun football season in the area. The new ABL lineup of teams includes Fox Lane, Horace Greeley, John Jay, Nyack, Ossining and Port Chester in Class A.

“I see the move as an opportunity to reset,” said Fox Lane coach Andrew Giuliano. “We have tradition, we have culture, and we have good players, but with low numbers this is a unique opportunity that will benefit us. This is a positive thing. Every other team in this league is in a similar position with us. They all have good players and coaches and traditions, but we all have low numbers and when you have low numbers it becomes very difficult to compete with teams that have it. This league is a chance for us to remain competitive during a time when numbers will be low. We will be back up soon.”

That is the plan for both teams, with low numbers now but big numbers coming up and it might be a one-year change, but both schools are very excited about the new format with the three local rivals — Fox Lane, Greeley and John Jay — scheduled to play each other twice with a home and away game.

“A year from now, our goal is to get back, we have a good core to build with and we just needed a year to revamp and build up,” McCarthy said of John Jay. “We’re playing all Class A and AA schools so it is a competitive schedule, and the reality is this is great for the rivalry schools. Now, we’re doing a home and away with Fox Lane and Greeley, and it will be like a homecoming atmosphere each time playing those schools. That rivalry piece helps both teams, and the hope is it reignites the excitement for all three programs. Then the kids are in an environment where they can develop.”

John Jay also faced two other factors in the decision for the upcoming fall season. First of all, the Wolves are moving back up to compete in Class A after spending last season in Class B. Second, the Wolves have a new coaching staff with Brendan Connolly just named as the new head varsity football coach at John Jay. Connolly was most recently the head coach at Carmel, and before that he was the head coach at Edgemont where he helped the Panthers through a similar process.

“Going back up to Class A puts us in what many consider the most challenging class in the state with quality teams across the board,” explained McCarthy. “We have a very young team, very small upper class numbers, with a large number of ninth graders. The guys coming up are talented, but they’re ninth graders and you’re asking them to go into the gauntlet and they’re not quite ready. We also have a new coaching staff coming in, so we didn’t want them to start out overmatched. We’re really excited about Brendan, he’s all about the process, focused on building relationships, and when you show them you can make them better they buy in. Our upper class men have bought in and are key to the success, they want to be the group that gets the program going in the right direction. We have some really good players, just not enough of them. This is absolutely the right decision to give our new coach a chance to be successful and do it the right way to build a good foundation.”

And both schools know the real success of building a solid future starts long before the kids get to the high school teams. Youth football programs are growing in both districts.

The John Jay Youth Football program offers teams from third grade up to the eighth grade. A pair of alumni lead the way in President Mike Chiappa and Vice President Skaz Gecaj. They played for the Wolves and want to see the program back to where it was when John Jay was a perennial powerhouse, winning a Section 1 championship in 2018. You can sign up at jjyf.org.

The Fox Lane youth football program is also back. The program was the Mount Kisco Maroons for almost 30 years, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the league had trouble fielding a team. The lack of a youth program is being felt at the current varsity level. It was restarted a couple of years ago as the Fox Lane Youth Football program with Matt Dawes spearheading the effort. You can sign up at flyouthfootball.com.

“Those are crucial years where kids can fall in love with the sport and the people in the youth league are doing a great job,” Lodewick said of the Fox Lane Youth football league. “There has been so much improvement in recent years, equipment technology has gotten better, professional development, concussion protocols, different helmets, it’s all out there now to keep kids as safe as we can and give them the best experience possible. We’re hoping to have good numbers on modified and J.V. this year, and that is largely because of the youth program.”

Numbers also tell the story about how much of an impact a good football environment can have on a school district and community. Friday night football under the lights always draws the largest crowds of spectators. Homecoming is a big night every year for every school.

Lodewick knows firsthand what it means to be part of a great high school football tradition. He was a two-way varsity starter on back-to-back state championship teams in high school at Yorktown. He went on to play collegiate lacrosse at Maryland, and he knows the value of being a multi-sport athlete at the high school level.

“There is no other sport that brings out school spirit and brings the community together more than football,” said Lodewick. “Football under the lights, everyone coming together, it’s a great environment to be a part of. It’s one of a kind, teaches you mental toughness, teaches you team-first mentality, and you only get to play football with your buddies for a couple of years. When I played there were no club sports all year long, after lacrosse season it was football season, you didn’t get burned out, and it made you excited for the next season. I think it’s vital to get our athletes to play multiple sports, it makes you a better athlete in other sports.”

Numbers do not tell the whole story of what it means to compete in high school sports. You can be part of a team that wins one game and find 40 years from now that your high school teammates are still your best friends.

“I am proud of the group we had this year, six seniors who stuck through it, who didn’t quit, they played for each other and did their best with a young team,” Giuliano said of his Fox Lane squad last fall. “I think anywhere that football is doing well there is a buzz around the school and community. Football is not a glorious sell to people. It is very difficult to sell football to someone who hasn’t played, but I would say if they give it a chance it is a great experience to go through. And I would say the earlier a kid starts it makes their senior year more special. It is the only sport that does not have year round opportunities, you play purely for the school written across your chest.”