Carey wins big in opener

It took a little while for the scoreboard at Carey High School to run smoothly last Saturday, but that wasn’t the case on the field as the Seahawks scored on each of their first three possessions on the way to a convincing 30-0 victory over Mepham in a Nassau Conference II football opener.

Junior quarterback Andrew Ris threw three touchdown passes, including a pair to sophomore Nick Spillane, sophomore Conor Colasurdo added a touchdown run, and junior kicker Dylan DeMeo booted a field goal and three extra-points to lead Carey’s attack.

“We were fired up to play today,” Seahawks senior lineman Sean Nagy said. “Mepham’s a good team and beat us here early last season. We had that in the back of our minds.”

Ris, who completed 7 of 15 attempts for 130 yards and didn’t turn the ball over, directed a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive on the season-opening possession, and the hosts never looked back. Junior Matt Robison, who picked off two passes to lead a defense that kept Mepham outside the red zone until the fourth quarter, busted a 25-yard run and caught a 14-yard pass to set up Colasurdo’s 6-yard touchdown run that set the tone for the day.

“I was really pleased with everything,” Carey head coach Mike Stanley said. “The quick pass game was important today because of the wind. Andrew [Ris] showed a lot of command and made some big throws.”

Ris’ 24-yard touchdown pass on a timing pattern to Spillane on third-and-long was a thing of beauty and capped a 65-yard drive that resulted in a 14-0 lead. Ris pumped-faked to the right, then floated a throw to the left where Spillane made a leaping two-handed grab over cornerback Yianni Hilas, who had tight coverage.

“It was an outstanding game for Nick,” Stanley said of Spillane, who had four receptions for 92 yards. “He made a slight adjustment on the first touchdown route, which is really impressive for a kid his age.”