Huskies Fall In State Championship

A balanced offensive attack from the Aquinas Institute along with some costly mistakes early doomed Harrison in the state championship game Friday afternoon in Syracuse, as the Huskies lost 24-13. 

The loss for the Huskies ends a dream playoff run for Harrison, the team had reeled off five consecutive wins to reach the Carrier Dome for the first time since 2002.

Defensively Harrison looked good early, stopping the Irish on fourth down in their first possession and causing a turnover on Aquinas' next drive, but the Harrison offense couldn't find any rhythm in the first half.

With just more than a minute remaining in the first quarter Harrison appeared to find a spark when linebacker Tanner Knox nearly intercepted a pass, but the officials called dual position on the play giving the ball to Aquinas.

On the very next play senior Tim Young broke through the line and scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. It was the first of several big runs from a powerful Aquinas team that would overpower the Huskies throughout the second half.

"To be honest with you I don't even know what they were doing so well they were just running it," said Harrison senior Steven Ricciardi. "They were just running the ball and we couldn't tackle them."

The next Irish score came only minutes later when Chris Bostick got behind the Husky defense and caught a pass in the back of the end zone. Harrison had a chance to put points on the board late in the half, but the Huskies threw an interception in the end zone as time expired leaving the halftime score at 14-0.

In the third quarter Harrison finally came alive offensively, on fourth and five from seven yards out, Vinnie Nicita Jr. bobbled the snap but the Husky quarterback was able to improvise and tossed the ball into the end zone. The ball was tipped by the Irish defense and Harrison senior Alex Acompora made a diving catch for Harrison's first score of the game.

Aquinas would add a field goal early in the fourth quarter to take a ten point lead, but Harrison stayed in the game late when Nicita skipped the football to wide receiver Charlie Drago and the Aquinas players thought the play was over. But the pass was ruled a fumble and Drago tossed the ball to Steven Ricciardi for a big gain. On the next play Nicita found Ricciardi in the front corner of the end zone for a score.

Harrison failed to convert the point after and did not recover the onside kick.

Aquinas was running out the clock when on second down senior Irishmen Mike Messina ran the ball off the right tackle 50 yards for a back-breaking touchdown, giving Aquinas the 24-13 victory.

"Just making it to this game was pretty great, but unfortunately we couldn't come away with the win," said Harrison senior James Tirella. "I felt like everyone was still in shock that we just made it here and wasn't focusing on the game like we should have been."

Harrison's Robbie Mulderrig and Aquinas's Trevor Bierworth were given postgame awards for their sportsmanship. Harrison's Tanner Knox was named the game's most outstanding defensive player and Nicita was named the outstanding offensive back of the contest. Aquinas' Jaron Jones was named the game's most valuable defensive linemen, and Mike Kausch was named the game's most outstanding offensive lineman. Messina was named the games most valuable player.

"Our team kept it together," said Jones, "Harrison got plays here and there and they got a very big play where they almost scored but we kept our composure and came out on top."