Like a bad dream that never ends for Sachem, Floyd has yet again eliminated the Flaming Arrows from the post-season for the fourth straight season.
This time it was in the Suffolk County Division I semifinals at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium in Lake Ronkonkoma, so a new venue and playoff round, but the same outcome. The Colonials scored 32 unanswered points, erasing an early 7-0 deficit to beat Sachem on its home turf, 32-7, Friday night.
The defeat marks the first loss for Sachem (7-3) on its home turf, which was installed in 2009, snapping a streak of 24-0.
After a fumble recovery on the opening play of the game, Sachem gained instant momentum and capitalized on the turnover. Malik Pierre finished his five-carry, 44-yard opening series with a 14-yard touchdown to give the Flaming Arrows an early 7-0 lead.
Floyd (8-2) coughed the ball up again on its next series. Although Sachem rattled off 10 plays following the fumble recovery, the drive was meaningless until a fake punt that had some old-school trickery you normally see on SportsCenter. The deception was masterful as all eyes were on kicker Bryan Morris and not on full back Kevin Lathan, who carried the ball more than 40 yards to a first down at the 20 yard line.
A holding penalty, however, saw the play called back, forcing Sachem to punt for real. The potential to go up 14-0 and keep that scoring momentum was crucial and died on that penalty.
Chris Faison and A.J. Otranto went on to score two rushing touchdowns each and Chris Hurtado kicked field goals of 30 and 26 yards.
Sachem trailed 9-7 at the half and received the opening kick of the second half. A well-placed pooch kick by Hurtado forced Sachem to never get a solid hold of the ball. It hit a Sachem player’s hands and was recovered by Billy Kaastra at the 26 yard line. Faison, who finished with 146 yards on eight carries, ended that drive with a 6-yard touchdown rush off left-tackle.
“That was a good place for us to be at half,” Falco said. “We messed up on the kick return and that was big for us.”
“They hadn’t lost at home in three years and they’d been playing very well,” Floyd coach Paul Longo told Newsday. “We started a bit slow and turned the ball over a few times. But we settled down and I thought the defense did a great job.”
Par for the course, the injury bug continued for Sachem against Floyd. Lineman Conor Harris hurt his leg in the second quarter and did not play the rest of the game and quarterback Mike O’Donnell was hit hard on a play in the second half and did not return as well.
This added to an enormous list of players who were injured, including Trent Crossan, Tyler Andreassi and Anthony Ross, who all missed significant time on the field in 2012. At one point midway through the year there were as many as 10 players out with injuries.
“At some point you’re just down too many bullets,” Falco said. “I love the way our guys played the first half when we had all our guys. Just think about where we would have been with Tyler, Trent and Ross with that kind of play.”
With the two regular season losses, the underdog feeling and memorable victory over Connetquot during Week 8, a 63-point overtime win over Bay Shore in Week 2 and then a defensive gem against the Marauders in the quarterfinals, this has been a strange and unpredictable season for Sachem.
“We’ve overcome a lot of adversity and that’s what this is about,” Falco said. “It’s a good life lesson for us. We’ll keep moving on. We’ll be back in the weight room, moving along and we’ll be back here again. We have a lot of kids coming back. I’m very excited about the program and where we are.”
Fourth and Long
- Morris kicked one extra point in the loss. He now has 120 for his career, two shy of the Long Island PAT mark, which will have to wait until Week 1 of 2013.
- Floyd will play in its fourth straight Suffolk County Division I championship next week against the winner of the Sachem East-Connetquot semifinal.
- Check Sachem Report for end-of-season historical updates and off-season columns about football awards and college signings.
Scoring Summary
-S: Pierre 14 run, Morris kick
-F: Otranto 8 run, no kick
-F: Hurtado 30 field goal
-F: Faison 6 run, no kick
-F: Hurtado 26 field goal
-F: Otranto 1 run, Hurtado kick
-F: Faison 98 run, Hurtado kick
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro