Carey wins Rutgers Cup

Nassau County’s only undefeated high school football team brought home the biggest pieces of hardware from the coaches association awards dinner held Dec. 11 at Crest Hollow Country Club.

After capturing its first county championship since 1978, as well as its first-ever Long Island title, Carey (12-0) was awarded the Rutgers Cup for the first time in nearly four decades. The Seahawks received 142 points and 46 of the 48 first-place votes from coaches to outdistance Farmingdale (63), Lawrence (55), and Roosevelt (28.)

“We had a talented group of football players but they were even better people,” Carey head coach Mike Stanley said. “They all had the same selfless attitude and the same goal. No matter what happened the previous Saturday, they came to practice on Monday with the desire and hunger to get better.

“It was such a special season,” he said.

The team was honored with a pro-like parade through Franklin Square last Saturday. Goldenrod Avenue, which served as the final stretch of the route, was lined on both sides with JV, junior high and youth players from the community. The event was capped off with Athletic Director Matt McLees presenting championship medals to players and coaches. “I didn’t know what to expect,” Stanley said. “When we got on top of the firetrucks and drove through town, it was really neat.”

The Seahawks dominated the competition in Conference II during the regular season and in the playoff quarterfinals and semifinals, outscoring teams by a whopping margin of 416-42. Then in the county championship game, after trailing for the first time in 2013, they rallied to beat Garden City, 20-16, on Thorp-winning quarterback Ray Catapano’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Dylan DeMeo with 5:15 remaining. The win ended a streak of six straight playoff setbacks to the Trojans, who were seeking a fifth straight county crown.

Catapano, who edged Roosevelt’s Johnnie Akins and Farmingdale’s Curtis Jenkins to win the Thorp, given to Nassau’s most outstanding player, passed for 2,141 yards and 36 touchdowns with only three interceptions. His final scoring strike — to Andrew Ris — came in Carey’s 20-6 victory over Riverhead in the L.I. Class II title game.

“He did a great job all year of keeping things alive in our passing game,” Stanley said of Catapano, who became the first Carey player to ever win the Thorp and also shared the Don Snyder quarterback award with Lawrence’s Joe Capobianco. “We hit on a lot of big plays because of Ray’s ability to make things happen under pressure,” he added.

Stanley, who took over the program in 2007, was honored as Nassau’s Coach of the Year. DeMeo, Ris, Catapano, Matt Robison, Conor Colasurdo, and James Kadnar were named All-County, while Nick Conte received honorable mention recognition.