After a quarterfinal upset of No. 3 Northport, it’s on to the new turf at Connetquot, where sixth-seeded Sachem East will play the T-Birds in the second Suffolk County Division I semifinal of the weekend.
It’s Sachem East’s (5-4) second appearance in the semifinals in as many years. Led by Steven Casali and his monster running game and ability at linebacker, Sachem East will need him to be the beast he usually is yet again.
He willed East to a win in the quarterfinals last week and made Northport, who had a strong regular season, look perfunctory at best.
Connetquot did beat Sachem East in the regular season, but that was only after Casali was out with a concussion. Taking him out of the equation usually means positive gains for the opposing team. With a healthy beast on the field, anything is possible.
For the T-Birds, their only blemish on a relatively untouched cruise through Division I this year, was a Week 8 loss to Sachem North that showed how strong line play can control the tempo of games.
New turf, sunny day, playoff football. Head down to Connetquot at 1 p.m. today (Saturday, Nov. 17) to catch the gridiron action.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro