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Mostly Cloudy Oceanside and Freeport score big
Sailors, Red Devils top football awards
Oceanside’s breakthrough season on the gridiron ended in disappointment when it was beaten by Farmingdale in a Nassau Class AA playoff semifinal, but that didn’t stop the Sailors from taking home their share of hardware from the county awards dinner held Dec. 1 at Crest Hollow Country Club.
Senior record-setting quarterback Tyler Heuer earned the Don Snyder Quarterback Award, senior record-breaking pass-catcher Gene Garay was named Most Outstanding Receiver, and Rob Blount was voted the Bruce Gehrke Memorial Coach of the Year award winner.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Blount, who guided Oceanside to a record of 8-2 and its first-ever semifinal game at Hofstra since the county introduced the Big Four format almost 20 years ago. “There are so many great coaches in the county, and I couldn’t have done it without my assistants and a great group of kids.”
Heuer and Garay formed a prolific 1-2 punch. “I threw thousands of passes to him in practice the past two years,” Heuer said of Garay. “We had great chemistry.”
Heuer broke Nassau’s single-season record for passing touchdowns with 34 and the single-game record for yards through the air with 419. On the year, he threw for 2,179 yards and added 723 yards and nine touchdowns. He was intercepted only eight times in 221 attempts.
Garay became the county’s all-time career receiving yards leader (1,628) this year when he established a single-season mark of 1,136 on 55 grabs. He had 14 receiving touchdowns to tie the Nassau record.
Rutgers Cup returns to ‘Port
For the second time in three years and fifth time in 14 years, the Rutgers Cup belongs to Freeport. The Red Devils, who captured their second straight Long Island Class I title and finished 11-1, edged Lynbrook in a tight vote by nine points. The Owls took the Long Island Class III crown. “Anytime you have something determined by coaches voting, it’s impossible to predict how it’s going to turn out,” Freeport coach Russ Cellan said. “Lynbrook had a great year too. We’re honored to win it.”
