Elmont overpowers Calhoun

Looking to rebound after a loss to Carey in Week 3, Elmont bounced back like a superball on Saturday, knocking off Calhoun, 30-6, in a Conference II football game. Senior Qusarn Caldwell ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, senior quarterback Will Faison threw three touchdown passes and the defense piled up eight sacks in the road win.

“We knew [Calhoun] was going to be tough No. 1,” Elmont head coach Jay Hegi said, of the importance of coming out strong on the road. “And No. 2, we had to bounce back after the Carey game.”

The Spartans (3-1) did most of their damage before halftime, running out to a 22-6 lead punctuated by a perfectly thrown 44-yard touchdown pass from Faison to senior wide receiver Kyle Johnson with 3:22 left in the second quarter. With Calhoun senior cornerback Brandon Furia in lockstep with Johnson down the sideline, the receiver caught the ball in stride inside the Calhoun 10 and coasted into the end zone. “We saw that [Furia] was pressing him and said let’s go for it,” Hegi said of the play that capped a six-play drive.

Six different players had a hand in the Spartans eight sacks, including senior nose guard Denis Melendez and junior cornerback Daniel Crawford, who each had a pair. “Our defense is predicated on coming after you,” Hegi said. “We’re not sitting back.”

And come after Calhoun quarterback Matt Brennan the defense did. Just before halftime, the Colts (2-2) had driven all the way down to the Elmont 7-yard line on the strength of three pass completions. Brennan completed a 9-yard pass, then hit Furia for 19 more on the very next play with senior Alex Vargas helping spring the receiver to the outside with a huge block. Two plays later, Brennan, again under duress, was flushed from the pocket but managed to throw across his body and complete a 22-yard throw that set up the goal-to-go. After an incompletion on first down, however, consecutive sacks by Crawford and senior Patrick Laroque forced Calhoun to try for three. Senior Angelo DiMatteo converted his second 30-yard attempt of the game on the final play of the half.