The New Rochelle Huguenots might not have been tested in their first two games of the season, but they took a major step up in class on Saturday when they took on league foe Mamaroneck. Although the Tigers stuck close with visiting New Rochelle throughout much of the first half, the Huguenots’ explosiveness eventually won out, propelling them to a 53-26 victory.

Over the last several years, Mamaroneck has established itself as one of New Rochelle’s toughest regular season tests, a fact that was not lost on the players heading into this year’s game. More than midway through the first half, the Huguenots found themselves clinging to a 13-10 lead—an unusual situation for an undefeated Huguenot team that had won its first two games by a combined 62-7 margin.

 “Every time we play Mamaroneck, we know that their offense is very good; they run hurry-up offense, they run no-huddle, so we have to be a conditioned team,” New Rochelle running back Colin Jennings explained. “Every year, especially in the first and second quarter, it’s always a dogfight but we somehow find a way to come out on top.”

This time around, it was a late second quarter spark that spurred the Huguenots. With just under eight minutes left in the first half, Jennings busted a 60-yard touchdown run, which New Rochelle followed up by recovering the ensuing pooch kick. Quarterback Jaden Perreira found Jaheim Gregory for a long touchdown strike on the very next play to give the Huguenots a 27-10 lead that they would carry into halftime.

The Huguenots would score the next 14 points after the intermission to essentially put the game away. 

“As soon as that happened, we talked about how we didn’t want to let our foot off the gas,” Jennings said. “If we didn’t let up, we knew we’d be able to control the situation.”

Jennings and teammate Jaquis Brandon both ran for two touchdowns on Saturday, while Perreira threw for two as well. Mamaroneck got rushing scores from Grant Malas and Paul Weller, and Yelly Seck returned an interception for a touchdown for the Tigers.

“As far as competition goes, we were craving this,” Huguenots head coach Ray Rhett said. “We were waiting to be in a game where it would go back and forth and I think you saw us play our best football when it got close.”

For Mamaroneck, the contest was something of an eye opener, explained head coach Anthony Vitti.

“We’re a group playing some seniors, but we’re a group that has some sophomores; and when you play against a team of that nature that has some special kids, we just missed a few fits on the run and that hurt us big time,” Vitti said. “But I was happy with the way our kids kept battling.”

At 1-2, the Tigers will look to rebound on April 10 against rival Scarsdale. New Rochelle (3-0) will look to keep its undefeated season going when they travel to Port Chester to take on the Rams.

“It’s just another week,” Jennings said.  “We came into the week saying we wanted to be 3-0, and we came out and showed we could do it. We just have to keep that mindset.”