Nassau County Varsity Football Semifinals - Garden City vs MacArthur
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Story:
Trojans In County Finals As Defense Dominates
by Jake White
Offense pleases the crowds and feeds the egos, but good defense always keeps teams in a position to win games. Garden City High's remarkably successful coach Tom Flatley learned that lesson a long time ago and it is one he has taught his team well. In a year when the offense has been good but not consistent, it has been the defense, which is largely responsible for earning the Trojans a chance to be four-time Nassau Conference II Champions.
Garden City has allowed just 62 points in nine games, fewer than any team in Nassau. Last Friday night before a crowd of 1,500 at Hofstra the Trojans blanked MacArthur, 10-0, to improve their record to 8-1. GC will play Lawrence (8-1) at Hofstra this Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
MacArthur knows a thing or two about defense as well. The Generals lost to the Trojans, 7-6, in week four and again proved to be a tough foe. Garden City won the toss and, as is their preference, deferred so that they could play defense first. After holding the Generals on downs at their 14, the Trojans took advantage of the great field position when Tim Harder electrified the crowd with a 43 yard punt return for a touchdown less than two minutes into the game.
The Trojans had a chance to put this one away early, but mistakes kept it close. On their second possession a holding penalty moved them out of scoring range. The third time around they drove to the MacArthur 7 but on
fourth down Dillon Dwyer's 25-yard field goal attempt narrowly missed.
Keeping the Generals in the game was dangerous, but time and again the
defense pressured quarterback Kevin Ryan and the secondary played flawlessly. MacArthur had virtually no running game (68 yards on 25 carries). When the Levittown school did threaten, GC was up to the challenge. Ryan Sweeney recovered a Ryan fumble at the Trojan 31 in the third quarter and in the closing seconds he intercepted a pass at GC's 10 and returned it 35 yards. Terry Kennedy also chipped in with a fourth quarter interception.
A look at the tackle statistics shows a strong team effort with Rob Stufano leading the way with 7 solo tackles and 4 assists. Others with multiple stops were Ryan Sweeney, Dean Gibbons, Tom Mahoney, Gavin Crisafulli, Declan Fee, Tim Harder and Jeff Fell.
Nursing a 7-0 lead, Garden City mounted one last drive and iced the game on Dillon Dwyer's 33-yard field goal with 3:39 left. It was a boomer, which would have been good for at least another 15 yards, and it gave Dillon a tie for the lead in total career kicking points with 127. He'll have a chance to pass Skip Thomas of West Islip (1992-94) next week. In an ironic twist, Dillon's dad Doug was Thomas's phys Ed teacher.
The championship game with Lawrence will be Garden City's twenty-second trip to the finals since 1981 and GC will be looking for its seventeenth win. The teams met on October 7 with the Trojans coming out on top, 16-8.
The Golden Tornado looked sharp in the semi-finals, beating Elmont, 36-0.
They have a balanced attack with the passing of P.J Preziosa and the running of Bryan DiSabito and Quincy Kennedy. The defense will once again be put to the test, but clearly if GC is to make its fourth straight trip to the Long Island Championship, the offense must put points on the board.
EXTRA POINTS: Dean Gibbons once again led the team in rushing. He has rushed for 435 yards on 94 attempts (4.6) and that figure includes sacks.
The only Trojan QB's in the last 50 years who had comparable numbers were Dave Kang and Conor O'Brien who led GC to Long Island titles in 2000 and 2003...GC has intercepted 13 passes led by Kennedy (4) and Sweeney (3) and has had only one intercepted.... Ryan Sweeney had the big reception of the game, a 13-yard catch over the middle on third-and-12, which set up Dwyer's field goal.... Good news for the GCHS football program: the JV (8-0), the 8th grade (6-0) and the 7th grade team (6-0) all finished undefeated.... Garden City has outscored its opponents 200-62. The Trojans have scored 200 or more points in 23 of the last 25 years. .......
MacArthur 2006 Varsity Football Roster Mike McCabe, Derek Coglievina, Sean Jones, Tom Celentani, James Sanacore, Kevin Ryan, Cataldo, Brett Tom, Tom Whitfield, Dennis Roach, Ray Zdrodowski, Rob Fontano, Mark Hanebury,Shaquan Hinson, Paul Tom, Bryan Kaplan, CJ Reilly, Ken Bonura, Dom Orban, Anthony Villa, Cody DeOliveira, Jake Goodelman, Rob Moran, Mike Cheshire, Marc Bernstein, Anthony Macaluso, Evan Nechamkin, Dennis Egan, Rob Forgione, Chris Messina, Alex Zic, Shaun Stone, Dan Drucker, Brian Olsen, Billy Klein, Kyle Dodds, Andrew Haimm, Dylan Saccone, Vito Cataldo, Mike Genovese, Sean Farrell, Grant Wells, Joe Albor, Tyler Hunter head coach: Bobby Fehrenbach Asst coaches Bobal, Ryan, Farney, fazzolari, Petrizzo, Manfredo....MacArthur cheerleaders.....Garden City 2006 Varsity Football Roster: Dillon Dwyer, Dean Gibbons, Hayden Fries, Brendan Carroll, Terrance Kennedy, Tim Harder, Ryan Lynch, Joe Alleva, Will Manning, Greg Meli, Steve Hucke, Kyle Walsh, Kevin Rose, Will Fuller, Dan Savage, Billy Fell, Robert Stufano, Tyler Pewarski, Brian O'Mara, Declan fee, Tim MArtin, Blaise Ancona, Spencer DeSena, Thomas Mahoney, Ryan Marrinan, Peter Costello, Mark Pando, Bobby Niebler, Jeff Fell, Joe Mohen, Drew Sweeney, Stephen Paladino, Joe Calcaterra, Robert Fargnoli, Gavin Crisafulli, Ryan Dowling, Francis McDonough, Pat Reeves, Kyle Bolson, Brian tempesta, Ken Wright, Ryan Sweeney, Michael Mancusi Head Coach Tom Flatley Assts Baccarella, Casey, Ettinger, Finnell....Garden City Kickline and the Garden City band also performed
