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HARRISON, N.Y. -- Prior to John Jay-Cross River's first-and-goal play from the 5-yard line in overtime, running back Danny Caiola leaned over to quarterback Tyler Keech."Tyler told me he wanted me to get the ball in the end zone on the play," said Caiola.Caiola took the handoff, went up the middle and was hit at the 3-yard by a few Harrison players, but he kept his legs moving and his second effort provided the difference.His 5-yard touchdown run lifted visiting John Jay to a come-from-behind 27-24 victory over Harrison, Saturday."I knew it was only a couple of yards," Caiola said. "I had to get it in for us."This was John Jay's third consecutive win since an opening-game loss. John Jay also exacted revenge on Harrison as the Huskies eliminated the Indians from the 2010 Section 1 Class A championships.John Jay rallied from a 21-7 deficit early in the third quarter on Keech scoring runs of 4 and 14 yards. The later touchdown, with 2:24 remaining in the game, forced overtime.Before Caiola's winning score, Roberto Bruno kicked a 37-yard field goal, giving Harrison a short-lived lead."I have never seen anyone run as hard as Danny so I wanted him to take it in," Keech said. "That was a great job by Danny."Keech had another balanced game running John Jay's no-huddle offense. He carried 16 times for 114 yards and completed 11 of 18 passes for 114 yards and a score. Keech also caught a 36-yard pass from Jack Lambert on a double reverse. Caiola finished with 87 hard-earned yards on 20 carries.The win was especially gratifying for Keech, who wanted this for Caiola and his fellow seniors."I remember sitting in the stands there last year and watched my friends," said Keech, as he pointed to area of the bleachers. "To come back this year and to win it, especially for the seniors, feels great."John Jay trailed 14-0 with four minutes remaining in the first half, but the Indians marched 84 yards, capped by a Keech-to-Jimmy O'Reilly 8-yard strike with 1.8 seconds on the clock.Harrison, now 2-2, quickly vanquished John Jay's touchdown with a score of its' own to open the third quarter. Will Hilliard swept left, got to the corner, and took off on an 81-yard scoring run just 50 seconds into the second half. Hilliard, who also had a 41-yard touchdown run caught a 3-yard scoring pass, finished with 129 yards on five carries. However, after his 81-yard run, he only ran the ball once.John Jay put itself in position to win the game in overtime with a strong defensive showing and a rejuvenated offense in the second half.Harrison did have one drive reach the John Jay 22, however, after a motion penalty, Bruno's 44-yard field-goal attempt just slid wide right. Other than this drive, John Jay kept Harrison bottled up and to short gains on running plays."In the first half, we did not do a good job of wrapping up on tackles," Caiola said. "We were putting ourselves in good position, but we were doing too many arm tackles."Keech's reception, from Lambert, brought the ball to the Harrison 11. Four plays later, Keech went around right end and leaped into the end zone.John Jay tied the score when Keech directed a five-play, 62-yard drive. The key plays were consecutive passes to Declan Myer totaling 38 yards. Keech took it the final 14 yards."Our offensive line did a great job in the second half of pushing big No. 66 and No. 72 out which opened up holes for us," said Keech, in reference to Charlie Credendino and Kevin Doyle, respectively."This was a huge win for us," Caiola said. "Last year we were so close to them and we felt we let it slip away. We didn't want to lose another heartbreaker."John Jay-Cross River 0 14 7 7 6 -- 27Harrison 7 7 7 0 3 -- 24Harrison -- Will Hilliard 3 pass from Vinnie Nicita (Roberto Bruno kick).Harrison -- Hilliard 41 run (Bruno kick).John Jay-CR -- Jimmy O'Reilly 8 pass from Tyler Keech (Michael Corrado kick).Harrison -- Hilliard 81 run (Bruno kick).John Jay-CR -- Keech 4 run (Corrado kick).John Jay-CR -- Keech 14 run (Corrado kick).Harrison -- Bruno 37 field goal.John Jay-CR -- Caiola 5 run.
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