Despite winning five of its first six, North Shore entered Saturday’s pivotal Nassau Conference IV football game at Malverne outside of a playoff spot and with much more to prove.
And with a perfect offensive mix, the Vikings scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions to build a 21-14 halftime lead that held up as the final before a large crowd on the Mules’ Homecoming Day.
Junior quarterback Joey Cristofari threw for 124 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 57 yards and a score, and senior tailback Casey Gates added 98 yards and a touchdown on the ground as North Shore (6-1) tripled its win total from 2025 and all but secured a trip to the playoffs.
“We’ve come a long way from last season when we had a young team and were 2-7,” said Cristofari, who behind the blocking of seniors Pavlos Papantoniou and Canon Evans sealed the victory by converting a fourth-and-2 run from inside the Malverne 20 with less than two minutes remaining. “We knew what today meant,” he added. “We prepared hard all week and executed.”
The last possession for the Mules (4-3) ended with an interception in the hands of North Shore senior linebacker Greg Kleinman. The hosts had only two possessions in the second half as Cristofari, Gates & Co. had a pair of lengthy drives that resulted in no points but burned plenty of clock.
“They’ve got nice balance and executed better than we did,” Malverne head coach Kito Lockwood said. “They were more physical and we didn’t tackle the way we should tackle.”
The Mules, who played without standout senior quarterback/linebacker Isaiah Smith due to injury, got a pair of long touchdown runs from junior tailback Jayden Johnson but lost their second straight after winning four of their first five.
Malverne led 90 seconds into the game when Johnson took a direct snap and raced 52 yards for a touchdown. North Shore responded and also found paydirt on its opening possession, driving 71 yards on 12 plays. Cristofari completed passes to three different receivers — juniors Del Neal and Lukas Jovanovic, and Gates, to set up his 2-yard touchdown run. The Vikings led 7-6 after kicker Joseph Basile’s first of three successful extra points.
A botched punt snap set up North Shore at Malverne’s 23 early in the second quarter and the visitors cashed in with an 8-yard touchdown run from Gates to lead 14-7. Cristofari did damage through the air once again, connecting with senior Tommy Curran for 15 yards on fourth-and-10 to keep the chains moving.
“We saw on film their defense plays soft on the outside, so we took advantage with quick, short passes,” Cristofari said.
Johnson’s 22-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion tied it at 14 late in the second quarter before Cristofari hooked up with Neal for the eventual game-winning 57-yard touchdown through the air.
“We had a great game plan and put in a few wrinkles this week that worked,” North Shore head coach Bill Madigan said. “We did a really nice job on both sides of the ball and had no turnovers. It’s a huge win.”
