Oceanside edged by Massapequa

In each of the past two seasons, Oceanside and Massapequa both came up short in the Nassau Conference I football semifinals at Hofstra. So something had to give last Saturday night when they returned to the Big Four and met face-to-face with a spot in the championship on the line.

Overtime was looming when the second-seeded Sailors, trailing by eight points, drove just outside the red zone with just over a minute remaining in regulation. But Nick Capuana, who made big plays all night, batted down Oceanside’s Vinny Guarino’s fourth-and-3 pass with 1:08 to go to seal the third-seeded Chiefs’ 28-20 victory.

Capuana, whose team was beaten by Guarino and Casey Kelly on the final play of Oceanside’s 16-13 win when the teams met Oct. 19, had a pair of rushing touchdowns and a crucial interception in Massapequa’s first semifinal playoff triumph since 2008. The Chiefs will meet No. 1 Farmingdale in this Saturday’s title game at 4 p.m.

It was the fourth straight semifinal defeat for the Sailors (8-2), who hadn’t reached the Big Four prior to 2010. “It’s disappointing, but the kids played their hearts out all year,” said head coach Rob Blount, who has guided them to five consecutive playoff appearances after some trying times. “Massapequa’s a great team. They were preseason No. 1 for a reason.”

Things started out well for Oceanside, which built a 10-0 lead in the first quarter as Blount reached into his bag of tricks. Leading rusher Tariek Harris, who sparked the previous week’s playoff win over Baldwin, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Morgan McCarthy out of the Wildcat formation to open the scoring. “We were waiting for the right time to call it,” Blount said. “Tariek made a nice play, rolling out to buy himself some time to throw.”

Kicker Mike Palmiotto capped the Sailors next possession with a 38-yard field goal, but Capuana’s 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the quarter cut the margin to 10-7. It stayed that way until the waning seconds of the half when Massapequa quarterback Matt Caracappa found Craig Berge for a 15-yard score to give the Chiefs a 14-10 halftime advantage.

The see-saw battle continued in the third quarter with Oceanside vaulting back in front, 17-14, on a 1-yard touchdown run by Harris. The Sailors were knocking again early in the fourth but couldn’t punch it in from the doorstep and had to settle for a 25-yard Palmiotto field goal that made it 20-14 with 8:35 remaining. “It hurt not being able to get a touchdown there,” Blount said.

Massapequa responded with an impressive 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive and led 21-20 with 5:03 left after Paul Dilena’s 1-yard touchdown run and Berge’s extra point. The Chiefs were right back in the end zone with 2:42 remaining after Capuana’s interception set up an 18-yard touchdown pass from Caracappa to Berge. 

Needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie, Guarino, sophomore, moved the Sailors 52 yards with four straight completions, including two to Kelly (seven catches for 77 yards) and one to Timmy Nolan (seven catches, 73 yards), but Capuana had one more big play left in his tank.