The Rye Football team did it: The Garnets wrapped an undefeated season with a New York State Championship on Friday, December 5, winning their fith state title as a program, all since 2005. This also marks the second State championship in three years and the fifth in the 50th year of Head Coach Dino Garr’s legendary career. The final score was 28-14 over Section 5’s Brighton Bruins.
“We did it!” Garr told MyRye.com after the win. What a fantastic year that climaxed tonight. Now we get to celebrate the fruit of our labor.”
With star running back Charlie Garnett only able to operate in a limited fashion, the Garnets relied on their passing game and defense to come away with the win. Carson Miller threw for three touchdowns, all of them connections to Henry Shomekar, including a dimed teardrop in the fourth quarter to salt the game away. The final Miller to Shoemaker touchdown pass went for 68 yards and gave Rye a 28-7 lead, far too insurmountable for the Bruins against the Garnets’ hungry defense.
The game was even until Rye forced a fumble, leading to their third touchdown, the second for Shoemaker. The turnover and score stretched a tense 14-6 lead into a 20-6 advantage, which stayed that way until the aforementioned 68-yard dagger.
“They moved the ball early, but we made adjustments,” Garr said of his defense after holding Brighton to just two scoring drives. “It was an excellent game on both sides of the ball.”
Rye finishes the year having won until they could not anymore. Their final record is 14-0, including 6-0 in the postseason. As a team, the Garnets averaged 37.2 points per game and ceded just 16.6 per game for a final point differential of +288. Dino Garr is a 5x State champion. Carson Miller (2x State champ) passed for 41 TDs on the season, a new Rye Football record. He also broke the passing yardage record. His top target, Harvard commit Henry Shoemaker, had a legendary season for the ages – 1,796 yards – a Rye program and Section 1 all-time record. His 22 receiving scores are also a record in both regards. Highly respected New York State High School sports reporter Kevin Devaney Jr. dubbed the Miller-Shoemaker duo the best in Section 1 football history. It’s hard to argue with that.
Rye Football has set an impossible standard of excellence. This State title victory seemed never in doubt. The 2025 Rye Football team will be talked about well beyond 2025.
Outstanding! Particularly when you realize that t one point, the NFL season was 14 games!