Miller Delivers for Rye, Garnets Win State Title

SYRACUSE -- When you’ve got a winning formula, there’s no sense ditching it when it matters the most. Rye applied the philosophy to its NYSPHSAA Class A football championship game on Friday and walked away with a 28-14 victory over Brighton.

          Quarterback Carson Miller threw three touchdown passes to favorite target Henry Shoemaker en route to its fifth state title – all under 50^th-year head coach Dino Garr -- at the JMA Wireless Dome.

          The pair collaborated on scoring plays of 15 and eight yards just 2:56 apart in the second quarter to pull out to a 20-7 advantage. The margin held up until Miller, who had opened the scoring with a 1-yard run midway through the first quarter, and Shoemaker connected again with 10:12 to play on a 68-yard catch-and-run.

Brighton’s Ethan Bialaszewski (9 of 18, 136 yards) connected with Clarence Bell IV for a 12-yard scoring play with 1:28 remaining, but the Bruins were unable to recover the ensuing onside kick and the Garnets ran out the clock.

The Miller-to-Shoemaker combination worked all season for the Garnets, Section 1 champions who finished 14-0 on the way to their second state crown in three years. Miller, a fifth-team all-state quarterback a year ago, threw for 3,279 yards and 35 touchdowns before the final, and Shoemaker was on the receiving end 68 times for 1,665 yards and 19 scores.

In the finale of the perfect season, Miller completed 16 of 21 attempts for 252 yards and the three scoring strikes. Shoemaker made seven catches for 131 yards.

Brighton’s only lead came 39 seconds into the second quarter as Justin Medina finished off the Bruins’ first possession of the evening with a 5-yard TD run.

Brighton, the Section 5 champion playing in its first state final, finished 11-3.

Gallery by Emily Croisdale/WNYAthletics