South Side readies for playoffs

South Side is focused on a strong finish as it gears up the postseason.

The Cyclones (6-1) enter the final week of the regular season controlling their own fate to claim the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Conference III playoffs. An unbeaten season was snapped against top-seeded Plainedge last Friday night, but ninth-year head coach Phil Onesto has been overall pleased with how his team has responded to high expectations entering the fall as the preseason two seed.

“We still control our own destiny,” said Onesto, whose team closes the regular season at Bethpage this Saturday at 3 p.m.

South Side hung tough with Plainedge early before the defending county champions ran away with a convincing 61-13 win. A 25-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback William Pickett to Brady West cut the lead to 20-13 in the second quarter. Pickett also rushed for a 77-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage for a 7-0 Cyclone lead.

Plainedge held South Side scoreless for the second half and scored on each of its offensive possessions. The dominant Red Devils have outscored opponents 290-45 on their undefeated run.

“We looked at a couple different ways at attack them and they had answers for all of them,” said Onesto of Plainedge. “They are as complete a team as I have ever seen.”

Pickett has helped key South Side’s 6-1 start through a more balanced offense from his junior season when he ran for over 1,300 yards and threw for around 500.. The 6-1, 230 entered the final regular season game with 750 yards passing and 795 yards on the ground. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes and ran for 10 scores.

“He has really worked hard on his passing game,” said Onesto of Pickett. “Whatever the team needs to do he will do.”

Senior Nick LiCalzi has been a big receiving weapon for Pickett’s aerial attack with 18 receptions for 290 yards and six touchdowns through six games. The versatile LiCalzi has also rushed for three touchdowns including an 80-yard score in South Side’s 34-6 win against Lynbrook on Oct. 19.

LiCalzi has also helped spark South Side on special teams along with fellow kick returners Richie Petrone and Ezavier Brewster. Kicker TJ McNicholas and punter Mark Weber have also been instrumental to the special teams unit by pinning opposing offenses back near their own end zone.

On the defensive side of the field, sophomore TJ Maher has been a major force during his varsity season. In the Lynbrook win he recorded eight tackles and an interception and on offense made one catch for 18 yards.

"He has done a really nice job on both side of the ball," Onesto said of Maher.

South Side is set for its first home playoff game since 2008 no matter the result of the Bethpage game, but Onesto said it is important his team gets that winning feeling back. A win or a loss by Wantagh, who South Side defeated in a 27-24 thriller on Oct. 12, would clinch the two seed.

“It’s important to get a win right before the playoffs,” Onesto said. “Hopefully [Friday] night was just a blip on the radar.”