Girls Flag Football: John Jay falls short on in loss to Yorktown

Clockwise from the top left, Sadie Walworth carries after an interception for the Wolves. John Jay quarterback Jaime Bartley-Cohen breaks free for a first down. John Jay’s Maya Koronowski splits a pair of Yorktown defenders. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN

Another opportunity to take the next step, to prove they belong, and in the end it was another close loss against a good team for the John Jay girls varsity flag football team.

In just its second season as a varsity program, John Jay has shown a lot of improvement as the Wolves are now 5-4 overall after winning just one game last spring.

However, John Jay would like to knock off one of the established programs to prove they are among the title contenders, and the Wolves have come close. Three of the four losses come against undefeated teams, including a close 6-0 loss on the road to undefeated Yorktown.

John Jay was hoping to turn the tables as the Wolves hosted Yorktown on April 21, but once again the Huskers were up to the challenge as they handed the Wolves a 20-13 setback.

“A close game against a very good Yorktown team; they’ve been one of the top teams for a few years, a veteran group, and I thought our girls played a tough game against them,” said John Jay coach Jimmy Clark. “Yorktown did a good job of making us miss flags, extending drives and keeping our defense on the field and that hurt us. They made the big plays in big situations and that’s what a good team does, but our girls kept battling the whole game.”

After falling behind 6-0 early in the first half, John Jay answered back and took the lead. Sadie Walworth got the Wolves started as she came up with an interception on defense.

John Jay then drove up the field as quarterback Jaime Bartley-Cohen completed a pair of passes to Gianna Pelosi to give the Wolves a first down inside the Yorktown 10-yard line. Three plays later Bartley-Cohen connected with Noni Whelan in the end zone for a touchdown pass, and Bartley-Cohen connected with Maya Koronowski on the extra point to give the Wolves a 7-6 lead with 10:56 left in the first half.

John Jay thought it had held the Huskers on the ensuing drive, but Yorktown converted with a long fourth-down touchdown pass to reclaim the lead at 12-7 and that’s the way it stood at halftime.

Yorktown put together a drive on its first possession of the second half that John Jay was able to stop at the one-yard line, but on the Wolves first play from scrimmage the Huskers came up with an interception at the John Jay 25-yard line. The Huskers took advantage of the opportunity and scored a touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to make the score 20-7.

John Jay put together one last drive as Bartley-Cohen connected with Koronowski for a first down, and then converted with a first-down pass to Pelosi at the Yorktown 15-yard line. Bartley-Cohen was able to cap off the drive with a touchdown carry to make it 20-13, but it was too little too late as Yorktown held on for the victory.

It was a good game overall for John Jay as the Wolves stayed close with the undefeated Huskers, and it didn’t help that the Wolves had not played a game in 10 days due to the spring break. Prior to the loss to Yorktown, John Jay met another undefeated team and suffered a loss to Tappan Zee. Despite the losses, Clark knows his team is competing strong against some of the best teams in the Section and he hopes the Wolves can turn it around to get the victory when it counts the most in the upcoming playoffs.

“We were in it with all the best teams in Section 1, we’re progressing and we’re in the mix,” explained Clark. “We have a lot of games this week with the playoffs right behind, and we just have to keep working and getting better.”

John Jay was set to host Putnam Valley on Saturday, April 26, for Jay Fest, and the Wolves then host Mahopac Monday, April 28, before going on the road to face Byram Hills Friday, May 2.