Yielding an early touchdown for a second consecutive week is a trend Wantagh head coach Keith Sachs wants to see broken immediately, but at the same time he’s been impressed by the new-look Warriors’ resiliency.
After Elmont scored on Saturday’s game-opening possession, it failed to finish another drive and had no answer for Wantagh’s Luke Martini, Joe Nicholson an offensive line largely responsible for five unanswered touchdowns and a 35-7 Nassau Conference III football victory.
Martini, a sophomore, did all of his damage after halftime rushing for four scores, the longest of which covered 78 yards midway through the third quarter two plays after junior Joe Adamo’s pivotal fumble recovery and put the visitors ahead, 21-7.
“I couldn’t have done it without the boys up front,” said Martini, who finished with 195 yards on the ground and added an interception in the fourth quarter that led to his final touchdown. “Halftime we needed to make a few adjustments, and we did. One goal we have every week is to try to go up two scores because it’s hard for a team to come back from that against us.”
Eight days earlier, Martini had three touchdowns — one receiving — as the Warriors (2-0) pulled away late from Valley Stream North for a 28-13 home win after spotting the Spartans six early points.
“Getting punched in the mouth early seems to be our M.O. so far,” Sachs said. “We’ve had two sluggish starts for whatever reason and that’s something we need to fix. These kids work hard and they’re always going to battle. It’s good to see them fight back.”
Elmont (0-2) took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards to lead 7-0 on senior Justin Reid’s 4-yard touchdown run but had few highlights thereafter except for a sensational one-handed interception by senior quarterback/cornerback Aiden Barnes in the second quarter.
“Wantagh executed and we didn’t,” Elmont head coach Tom Innes said. “First half was fine. Second half we just didn’t execute and their offensive line pushed us around a little bit.
“We’re in a position now where we’ve gotta get a win,” he added. “We have Manhasset next and we need that game.”
Nicholson’s second-effort touchdown run in the second quarter tied the game at 7 following the first of five successful extra-point kicks by sophomore tight end/linebacker Brendon Wood. Nicholson bounced off several tackles at the line of scrimmage and raced for 40 of his 136 all-purpose yards.
Martini and the offensive line consisting of seniors Thomas Christoforidis, Ryan Martone and Shane Adee, junior Patrick Forthofer and sophomore Vincenzo Fullone owned the second half. Christoforidis, Adee and Nicholson all had sacks of Barnes, who had the Spartans knocking on the door on their first possession of the second half before the fumble.
“I saw the ball pop loose and it was laying on the ground for a few seconds before I fell on it,” Adamo said.
Wantagh, the Nassau Conference IV and Long Island Class IV champions last season, won its seventh consecutive game and will look for its 22nd victory in its last 25 games when Hewlett visits for Homecoming this Saturday at 2 p.m.
Junior Elijah Davis rushed for 85 yards for Elmont, which travels to Manhasset Friday for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
