As if a trip to Nassau County during a shortened spring football season wasn’t unique enough, Sachem North and Carey took the game to overtime.
Chris Kelly rolled to his left and hit Michael Heffernan with an 11-yard touchdown pass in overtime to give Sachem the lead. The Flaming Arrows gave up a Seahawk touchdown on the next series, but stopped their two-point conversion attempt to capture a 35-34 victory.
“We really didn’t know what we were doing this week and have three different game plans,” said Kelly, “and for all this to just fall through [the way it did] is great for us.”
Cam Lee led all players with 21 carries, 187 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 1 catch for 18 yards and 5 tackles on defense. He scored three touchdowns in the first half, including ones of 53 and 58 yards.
Kelly and Heffernan connected on two touchdowns in the game. The other was a 14-yard pass.
“We love each other and wouldn’t have done it without each other,” said Heffernan selflessly when asked to describe the winning touchdown. “Those touchdowns I wouldn’t have gotten without Chris.”
John Hall had two interceptions. Tyler Hall also recorded one interception.
“Those two interceptions weren’t just me,” said Hall. “The linebackers helped. [Defensive coordinator Dave] Pittman calls great coverages. Anybody could have done that on our team. It really helped us get going to swing the momentum.”
Sachem, now 2-0 this season, is 2-1 all-time against schools from Nassau. They also played Lawrence and Farmingdale in Long Island championship games.
This game’s circumstances were different as Commack, Sachem’s original Week 2 opponent, was put in COVID-19 quarantine protocol. Carey, a Nassau Division II school, was facing similar issues and had availability to play.