West Hempstead tops East Rockaway on new turf

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West Hempstead opened its plush new turf field in style last Saturday, defeating East Rockaway, 15-6, in a Nassau Conference IV football opener played in fall-like conditions before a spirited crowd.

The Rams got touchdown runs from seniors Dylan Mojica and Frank Messina in the first and third quarters, respectively, and two interceptions by senior cornerback Sean Plasencia in his first-ever game. Senior Jarell Brown had the lone touchdown for the Rocks, who had a score nullified by penalty late in the third quarter.

“New field or old field, it’s great to get a win opening week,” West Hempstead head coach Dom Carre said. “The field is beautiful, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that our focus has been on preparing for East Rockaway. The kids put in so much work throughout camp and there’s so much anticipation for the first game. It’s a good feeling.”

East Rockaway, which plays its first-ever home game under the lights this Friday against Locust Valley, struggled in key areas including fourth-down conversions (1-for-8) and penalties. “We always have a word of the week and this week it was ‘discipline’,” Rocks head coach Russ Pajer said. “We didn’t play that way unfortunately. We made too many mistakes and to West Hempstead’s credit, they played tough.”

The Rams, who travel to face two-time defending county champion Seaford this Friday, scored on their first possession of 2018 after downing a punt at their own 32-yard line. Junior tailback Jerry Forti, on the second offensive snap, broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and busted outside along the visitor’s sideline for a 61-yard gain. One play later, Mojica became the first to find the end zone on the new turf with a 5-yard run. Messina ran in the conversion following a fake extra-point to make it 8-0.

“We have a bunch of guys capable of running the ball,” said Carre, whose offense racked up 176 yards on the ground. “It’s what we do best.”

The Rocks answered quickly, however, marching 56 yards on the ensuing possession to get within 8-6 on Brown’s 11-yard touchdown run with 4:32 remaining in the first quarter. Brown (79 yards rushing, 43 receiving) and junior Caleb Alvarez were instrumental throughout the drive.

Brown recovered the ensuing squib kick to put the offense back in business around midfield, but the drive stalled when senior quarterback Andrew Labarbera came up a yard shy on a fourth-down scramble. East Rockaway also drove into West Hempstead territory on each of its next two possessions but failed to cash in.

The Rams found paydirt on their opening possession of the second half, with the front five of Khari Dash, Jacques Naugaus, Donato D’Ogosto, Angel Garcia and Ahmad Shreiteh leading the charge. Messina scored on a 9-yard run and booted the PAT for a 15-6 lead that held up the rest of the way.

Senior Raffael Santiago ended an East Rockaway threat at the West Hempstead 12 with a sack early in the fourth quarter, and Plasencia’s second pick came in the red zone with 3:26 remaining.