Sachem coach Dave Falco said Kevin Bragaglia, “runs like his pants are on fire.”
Floyd had a difficult time extinguishing Bragaglia’s game Friday night. The senior back rushed for three touchdowns and led Sachem to a 21-7 victory at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium to open the 2014 season.
Bragaglia scored on touchdowns of 31, 21 and 9 yards, respectively, and had 13 carries for 127 yards.
“I don’t really feel like I’m running that fast,” he said. “My feet are moving, my mind is looking and I’m running towards whatever I see.”
His first score for 21 yards came on an end-around at 9:53 of the second quarter. Most teams will have a difficult time wrapping Bragaglia up once he reaches the second level of defense. He’s simply too fast for the average high school player to catch.
“I was running right, and I feel like I could have put on a little more speed and gotten to the pylon, but I felt like pulling my shoulder, making one cut and getting in,” said Bragaglia of a beautiful juke he made around the five yard line on his first score.
He had a 31-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2 with 2:56 left in the first half and he later scored his 9-yard touchdown rush with 8:50 left in the game.
“We put in a lot of work over the summer and it’s good to see it has paid off,” he said, “but I can’t be the player I am without the players in front of me.”
Sachem’s defense, sporting a handful of unproven and new starters, held Floyd at various points of the contest, including a 4th-and-6 situation in the red zone during the first half, and another fourth down spot late in the fourth quarter at the five yard line.
“Week one’s are always scary because of the unknowns,” Falco said. “You always know what you’re going to get from your returning guys, but there are a lot of unknowns.”
Floyd opened the game’s scoring with an eight-yard touchdown pass by Brandon Desmond in the first quarter, but was held scoreless for the remainder of the game.
READ MORE! Check out the game’s TURF NOTES!
Scoring breakdown
- F: Desmond 8 yard pass, kick good
- S: Bragaglia 21 yard run, Gagliardi kick
- S: Bragaglia 31 yard run, Gagliardi kick
- S: Bragaglia 9 yard run, Gagliardi kick
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro