This is a weekly look at the historical significance of football at Sachem East and Sachem North.
Both football programs played in the Suffolk County Division I semifinals against different opponents this year.
Note: All stats in this column are subject to change once the official statistic sheets come in from the coaching staffs.
Sachem East 33, Connetquot 28
- With the victory, Sachem East will appear in its first county football championship next weekend against William Floyd.
- The victory marked Sachem East’s first win over Connetquot. They were 0-3 previously. Coincidentally, the 33 points against the T-Birds are the most Connetquot has surrendered against Sachem East.
- This is the first time ever Sachem East has won back-to-back playoff games in the same season.
- Sachem East has scored 200-plus points in a season for the fourth time in nine years. It currently has 200. The record is 227 in its inaugural season of 2004. East has still been outscored 220-200 this year so far.
- Sachem East is now 3-2 all-time in playoff games. The 33 points scored in the semifinals are the most points Sachem East has scored in a playoff game.
- Sachem East has now won five or more games four out of its nine seasons.
- Sachem East has outscored opponents 72-41 in the fourth quarter this season.
- The Steven Casali File: Casali’s journey to the Hansen Award has been fruitful this year. Offensively, he has carried 215 times for 1,642 yards and 16 touchdowns. For his career he has 3,378 rushing yards, 34 rushing touchdowns (37 total) and has scored 242 points. He owns basically every major single game, single season and career rushing record, give or take a few, in Sachem East history.
William Floyd 32, Sachem North 7
- This marked the fourth straight year Sachem North was eliminated from post-season contention by the Colonials. The previous three seasons the two schools played one another in the Division I championship at Stony Brook University.
- In keeping statistics per decade, Sachem is 26-6 in the 2010s; that’s an .812 winning percentage, the highest in Suffolk’s Division I.
- Sachem scored 304 points in 2012, the fourth most in program history and the fourth time they scored 300-plus points in a season.
- Sachem also allowed 268 points, which is now a program record. It passed the 265 points set in 1966.
- Sachem has played in 54 playoff games in program history and now has a 30-24 record all-time. That’s still a .556 winning percentage.
- Sachem has played Floyd more times than any other program in recent history. They have met eight times since 2009 and Sachem has won two of those games. Sachem is 12-19 against Floyd all-time.
- Sachem crossed the 9,000-point plateau this season for total points scored in program history. The Flaming Arrows have now scored 9,105 points since 1961.
- This is the sixth season in which Sachem finished with seven victories. Sachem has recorded seven or more wins in 18 of its 51 seasons.
- Sachem is 24-1 on its home turf since it was installed in 2009. The loss to Floyd last weekend was the first of its kind in Lake Ronkonkoma.
- Sachem scored more second down touchdowns (21) than any other down in 2012. The next highest was seven on first down.
- The Malik Pierre File: Pierre finished with 771 rushing yards this year, making his career total 1,247 through two varsity seasons. He currently ranks No. 17 all-time in Sachem history.
- The Kevin Bragaglia File: The speedy back put together one of the best sophomore campaigns on Long Island this year and in Sachem history. He compiled more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and was a triple threat on offense, defense and special teams. He had 52 carries for 522 yards and six touchdowns; 9 receptions for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns and seven interceptions, which is the second highest total in a single-season in Sachem history. Bragaglia also had one kick return for a touchdown (83 yards).
- The Tyler Andreassi File: Andreassi finished with 666 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 2012. He finished his career with 994 rushing yards, just short of the 1,000-yard mark.
- The Trent Crossan File: Crossan only played a brief amount of time in 2012, but had a lasting impact. He rushed for eight touchdowns in a 63-62 overtime victory over Bay Shore in Week 2 and he also crossed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for his career. He’s ranked No. 18 in Sachem history with 1,018 yards. In 2012 he rushed for 542 yards and 11 touchdowns.
- The Bryan Morris File: Morris ended the 2012 season with 120 extra points in his career, which ranks him second in Long Island history and just two shy of the record, which he should break in Week 1 of 2013. He also has 131 career kicking points, only 58 behind the record held by Sean Moller of 189. This year Morris also made four of the seven field goal she attempted. His longest was a 37-yarder.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro