Croton Captain’s Corner: Jesse Mainiero

Senior Croton-Harmon quarterback Jesse Mainiero clearly has the ability to run the ball, as his numbers will attest too.

Mainiero has rushed 77 times for 484 yards, averaging 6.29 yards per carry. He is averaging 96.8 yards a game while rushing for 10 touchdowns.

He can also throw the ball when he has too, completing 22 of 34 passes for 432 yards, averaging 86.4 passing yards per contest. He has thrown six touchdown passes and only one interception.

Mainiero also contributes at his defensive position of safety, making 5.6 tackles per game.

The numbers, though as impressive as they are for the 5-0 Tigers, hardly tell the whole story. Mainiero’s leadership, as well as his numbers, are why Croton-Harmon is in contention for back to back Section 1 Class B championships.

Mainiero is one of the four captains on the Croton-Harmon football squad along with senior linemen Dennis O’Connell, John Brennan and Kyle Ricciardi.

It is a responsibility that he does not take lightly.

“It’s a big responsibility because the way the coaches communicate to the team, is through us,” Mainiero said. “They want to instill role models for captains. It’s a role we take seriously.”

What helps the foursome in running the team is that they have been friends since early childhood.

“Our relationship is great,” Mainiero said. “We have been friends forever, all of four of us. We have a bond that you can’t break. We have all played together on varsity for the last four years.”

Because they know each other so well, it makes it easier for them to help each other as well as the team.

“We know when one is frustrated and one isn’t,” Mainiero said. “We know how to show the younger guys, especially the sophomores, what to do. The biggest thing about being a captain is being a role model and doing your best in front of the guys at all times.”

One of those times is during the preparation for an upcoming game.

“People think that’s all coaching but a lot of that responsibility is on us, like when we do opposition breakdown for example,” Mainiero said. “We are also important because since we are their peers, we can relate to our teammates better then the coaches can. One of the coaches may say something and everyone respects that but when they hear it from one of the captains they know it’s real.”

“As players, we have been in their shoes, we understand them more,” Mainiero continued. “It’s a different relationship we have with the other players than the coaches do.”

Mainiero and his teammates will now look to get off to a good start when they travel to Pleasantville at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 in their next game.

“We are not clicking on all cylinders,” Mainiero said. “We want to be a more elite team. We are good but the last three weeks they have been really close games in the first half but we picked it up afterwards. We have to elevate our play in the first half. We have to come out more fired up.”

While Mainiero will look to get everything out of his final year of playing high-school football, he said he would like to play football in college as well.

The school he has looked most closely at is Marist College in Poughkeepsie, where his brother Nick is a junior and former Croton-Harmon teammates, brothers Matt and Joe Tralli, both freshmen, also play for.

“My brother starts at Marist, which is 1-AA, and my other two friends are up there, Matt and Joe so they are really big on my radar and I am big on theirs,” Jesse Mainiero said. “It’s probably my top choice right now.”