Record day for Tesi not enough for Wolves in loss to Panthers

James Tesi makes a diving catch for a touchdown on his way to setting a new Section 1 record.  Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

Nick Rinaldi refuses to go down as he gains more yards.

After another offensive explosion and record-setting performance, the John Jay varsity football team found itself walking off the field with another disappointing loss.

For the second-straight week the John Jay offense piled up the yards and scored 40 points, but it wasn’t enough as host Pleasantville handed the Wolves a 56-40 setback on Friday night under the lights.

John Jay sophomore James Tesi certainly did all he could do to help the Wolves. Last week in his first varsity game, Tesi set a new school record with 14 catches. This week he took it even further. Tesi broke his own school record and set a new Section 1 record for receptions in a game and also receiving yards in a game. He finished with an incredible 20 catches for 307 yards and four touchdowns. It was the second most catches in a game in New York state history, and Tesi currently leads the state in receptions despite playing only two games while most of the other leaders have played three.

Chase Carvajal carries after an interception for the Wolves.

“He’s unbelievable and playing really well,” John Jay coach Joe Candarelli said of Tesi. “He’s a tough kid to cover, even in double coverage he was finding a way to get open and kept making plays.”

Tesi put together a highlight reel of unbelievable catches diving and leaping high in the air to set the record, but it’s hard to win a football game when you are allowing the opponent to score 50 points. Last week John Jay rallied but came up short in a 55-47 loss to Pearl River. This week the Wolves had a two-score lead at 34-21 with six minutes left in the third quarter, but the host Panthers outscored them 35-6 the rest of the way to pull away for the 56-40 victory.

With its 0-2 start on the season John Jay faces an uphill battle for the playoffs, but Candarelli knows the Wolves faced two of the top teams in Class B and they might see them again in the playoffs down the road.

“We’re pretty happy with the offense, can’t be upset scoring 87 points in two games even though we left some points off the board and it’s tough to lose two games, but we were right there at the end in both games and feel confident moving forward,” explained Candarelli. “Defensively we have to get some stops and we have to work on field position to turn the season around, it’s tough scoring 45 and giving up 55 and we have to step up and make plays on defense and special teams.”

John Jay came out flying at Pleasantville as quarterback Patty Ryan connected with Tesi on the first possession of the game to give the Wolves a 7-0 lead after the PAT by James Bysshe. Ryan found Tesi again for a 26-yard touchdown on fourth down to make it 14-7.

The Wolves extended the lead early in the second quarter as Nick Rinaldi scored on a two-yard carry to make it 20-7, and then Chase Carvajal came up with an interception and the Wolves capitalized on the turnover with a three-play drive capped off by a 28-yard touchdown carry from Rinaldi to make it 26-7 after the PAT was blocked.

Pleasantville cut the lead down to 26-14 before halftime, and the Panthers carried the momentum over into the second half. The Panthers scored on their first possession to make it 26-21, but John Jay answered as Ryan connected with Tesi again for a 31-yard touchdown and a 34-21 lead after the two-point pass to Tesi.

The Panthers took the ensuing kick off back to the John Jay 39-yard line and scored on the first play of the drive to make it 34-28, but once again Ryan connected with Tesi for their fourth touchdown pass of the game to make it 40-28.

Then the Panthers took over, scoring the last four touchdowns of the game to pull away for the victory.

Ryan completed 32 passes on 49 attempts for 414 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions for the Wolves. In addition to Tesi’s 20 catches, Steven Almstead had five catches for 30 yards. Rinaldi finished with 16 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and he also had six catches for 65 yards.

John Jay will try to get its first win of the season on homecoming as the Wolves host undefeated Dobbs Ferry on Saturday, Sept. 27.