Cyclones host Roslyn in Homecoming

Sometimes the breaks can get even the most committed optimist down, but not South Side football head coach Phil Onesto.

The Cyclones are 1-5 heading into their homecoming game against Roslyn this Saturday, a record that even Onesto categorizes as “not ideal,” but they’ve been a tough out in every game and continue to make strides. And Onesto, a first-year head coach on the varsity level, continues to emphasize the positive.

“I love my kids for the fact that they play every game until the finish,” he said. “They have played with pride.”

Pride is an important virtue to Onesto, a standout receiver and defensive back on South Side’s county championship team in 2001. After working for four seasons with the JV, he took over as head coach for a program that had fallen on hard times and immediately plugged into his own sense of pride. “The first thing I told the players is that we’re not that far removed from being a championship caliber team,” he said. He wanted his players to know that it was a “privilege to be a football player and a privilege to play for South Side.” He also knew he and his team had some work to do following a 2010 season in which they went 1-7 and were shut out three times.

Wouldn’t you know it, they were shut out in their first game? After taking their initial drive inside the Valley Stream South 10-yard line, they were turned away without any points in a game they eventually lost 21-0. Anyone else might have been discouraged.

A week later Eric Willie gave the Cyclones their first touchdown on a 21-yard run, and Zach Scaduto later added a 38-yard scoring reception from Cole Considine, but South Side lost to Hewlett, 35-14. Scaduto scored twice and picked off a pass in South Side’s 27-20 win over Great Neck North on Sept. 24, then brought back a kick 80 yards for a score in a hard-fought loss to Division.

“We knew coming in that Zach was going to be a very, very good player for us,” Onesto said. “He’s done a great job wherever we’ve needed him, and he has leadership qualities that are irreplaceable.” 

Considine, who played quarterback for the first time in his life on the JV last season, continues to make progress. “He’s brand new to the position and he’s coming along,” Onesto said.

Yet the breaks have mostly gone against the Cyclones. Even their 43-6 loss to Bethpage on Oct. 6, the score was a manageable 15-0, with the defense holding its own, until Bethpage scored on a tipped pass late in the first half. In that game, Scaduto returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown.

Now the season is down to two games, winless Roslyn at home and then 3-3 Floral Park away.

“I look at those as two games we can win if the team I know we have shows up and plays its game,” said Onesto.