You might have shook your head, took a second look at the field and thought that you were watching a Sachem football game Wednesday night during the Empire Challenge.
If it wasn’t Trent Crossan catching passes or Justin Rivera making tackles, it was Bryan Morris kicking field goals, Bryan Gresalfi blocking and Malik Pierre in the secondary and on special teams.
Look left and Dave Falco was guiding the offense. Look right and Mike Wulforst was stretching players out on the sideline. Look straight and Pete Blieberg was running the show. Michael Slattery was patrolling the sidelines as he normally does. Sachem alum Dave Shanahan was also on the coaching staff. Dozens of Sachem supporters were in the stands at Shuart Stadium.
Sachem had a commanding presence and helped in Long Island’s 24-18 victory over New York City in the annual high school football all-star event held to benefit awareness and funding for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which battles cystic fibrosis.
Crossan was a spark plug as usual, totaling a game-high 79 receiving yards on three receptions. One catch was 60 yards and put Long Island in scoring position for Morris to nail a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter.
A running back and quarterback during his Sachem career, Crossan will make the transition to receiver at Suffield Academy in Connecticut next year.
“It was awesome to come out and play with this kind of talent,” he said. “I used to come to this game when I was younger and I dreamt of being here one day. I think it’s a little bit of a preview of what I’ll be seeing next year.”
Rivera, who will attend St. John Fisher, seemingly found his way to the ball on every defensive play. He had a game-high five unassisted tackles and six total tackles.
“Ever since ninth grade I’ve always looked up to the Empire Challenge as something the top all-stars on Long Island compete in and I always wanted to be a part of that,” he said. “I worked extremely hard to get to this point and I can’t believe it’s actually happening. For this to be my last high school game it means a lot.”
“I love all of these guys like a family. These last two weeks have meant everything for me and made my summer. I just went out there to have fun one last time and made the best out of it.”
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro