Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Hofstra University has become a home away from home for Seaford’s football program.
The Vikings punched their ticket to the Nassau Conference IV semifinals at Hofstra for a 13th consecutive year with a 20-0 victory at East Rockaway Friday night in an opening-round matchup between the No. 5 and 4 seeds.
Junior Mark Villeck had a pair of interceptions, senior Ayden Das had 15 tackles and junior Brian Falk made 10 stops, picked off a pass and rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns as defending county champion Seaford avenged a 28-7 defeat on the same field three weeks prior.
“Our motto this week was “All In” and the kids delivered,” Seaford first-year coach Mike McHugh said. “You always know you’re in for a grind when you face East Rockaway and they beat us up pretty good last time. Our guys were really focused all week in practice and executed the gameplan.”
The Vikings (5-4) advanced to face top-seeded Plainedge (8-1) in the semifinals at Hofstra on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Rocks finished 5-4.
“I’m proud of these kids,” East Rockaway head coach Russ Pajer said. “They worked hard and got better every game. We got the fourth seed, which was pretty impressive considering we began the season as the seven.”
The game-opening drive ended with Villeck’s first interception at the Seaford 16-yard line and two plays into the Vikings’ initial possession, Falk raced down the visiting sideline 78 yards for a touchdown. It was 7-0 with 2:35 remaining in the opening quarter after senior Max Kasparian’s extra point.
“Falk’s a great runner and once he saw a hole and cut back, he was gone,” Pajer said.
East Rockaway’s star back, senior Anthony Grimaldi, was limited throughout the game by a sprained foot suffered in its Oct. 18 victory over the Vikings in which he rumbled for 195 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. He was limited to 11 touches in the rematch but still finished the campaign with more than 1,200 yards on the ground and 16 touchdowns.
“Anthony had an incredible year and gutted it out as best he could,” Pajer said. “We used him sparingly the past two games and he still had 122 yards against Cold Spring Harbor and two touchdowns against West Hempstead.”
Senior tailback Antonio Buzzetta, who missed four games due to injury, led the Rocks Friday night with 87 yards. However, the offense was unable to get inside the red zone until the final drive of the night.
“We wanted the shutout,” said Das, who surpassed 100 tackles on the year. “It was an amazing game by our defense and offense. We knew we had to stop their running game.”
Seaford led 13-0 at halftime despite East Rockaway’s defense denying a pair of fourth-and-1 tries. Edwin Abreu Lopez led the Rocks with 8 tackles.
Junior quarterback Michael Spinella orchestrated a 47-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter, connecting with Das for 26 yards and junior Brian Hennessey for 23 between a holding penalty to set up Falk’s 5-yard touchdown run.
Falk’s 2-yard run with 4:15 remaining in the fourth iced it.
“We’re excited to get back to Hofstra,” McHugh said. “Plainedge has one of the top programs in the county. We know we have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
