By Mike Schnitzel
The game opened with a flag presentation by Central alumni Dominic Castiello and Chris Lopez, both of whom recently returned from service in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps. Central Principal Joseph Pompilio accepted the flag, which will fly over Central High School.
Port Washington won the coin toss and elected to receive, but their running game was stuffed by a stingy Eagles defense that was able to clog the middle of the field, or halt any runs flanking the line. Central took over on their own 30-yard-line after a 43-yard punt by the Viking's Greg Berry.
Eagles running back Terrence Shaw, who had a total of four touchdowns on the day, opened up the scoring floodgates for Central with a 63-yard touchdown run that saw him weave through defenders with the grace of Fred Astaire. That touchdown put the Eagles up 6-0 with 8:36 to go in the first quarter.
Those were the only points the scoreboard would see for the remainder of the first quarter, as Central and Port Washington were unable to put together any scoring drives, with the sopping wet conditions contributing to two fumbles by Port Washington and one by Central during the remainder of the first quarter. The first fumble recovered by Central occurred on a snap that was bobbled and the Eagles, but was recovered by linebacker Joe Sicari. The Eagles were forced to punt after the fumble recovery because of poor field position, and Port Washington took over on their own 9-yard line after a 41-yard punt by Stephen Higgins.
Port Washington fumbled on the next drive, and Sicari stepped up for his second fumble recovery of the game to give the Eagles possession on Port Washington's ten yard line. An incomplete pass attempt to tight end Thomas Bertha followed, and a Shaw run stopped by Port Washington's Peter Miller at the line of scrimmage ended the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Eagles fail to capitalize on the great field positioning given to them by Sicari's fumble recovery, with Port Washington taking over on downs after Shaw was knocked out of bounds following a two-yard run. However, Port Washington's running game was stuffed by a defensive combo of Sicari and Dinardo Joseph, whose 19-yard punt return set up an Eagles scoring drive.
The first play of the drive saw Shaw run up the middle for a gain of three yards. The second play saw another hand-off to Shaw, who looped around the left flank of the Viking's defense for a 27-yard touchdown run, Shaw's second of the game. Running back Leslie Allonce then ran through the Viking's defensive line for a two-point conversion, boosting the Eagles lead to 14-0 with 7:34 left in the half.
The Vikings made some noise on offense with their next possession. Running back Francisco Silva picked up 15 yards before he was hammered by Central defensive back Khiry Budd. A Berry pass to Jamain Parchment bounced right out of Parchment's hands, and the Eagles stopped Dan Koh on the next play to force a punt. The Eagles next drive saw excellent running by both Shaw and Allonce, highlighted by a 47-yard Shaw run that brought the Eagles a first down on Port Washington's 16-yard line. After two Allonce runs for an overall pick-up of 3 yards, Shaw ran up the middle for his third touchdown of the game, and after a two-point conversion, the Eagles were up by 22 points going into the second half.
Central Homecoming king Joe Sicari and queen Tara Mendoza were introduced to a cheering crowd at the abbreviated half-time ceremonies.
Central opened the second half strong, with a kick return by Joseph and an 18-yard first down run by Shaw setting up Leslie Allonce for what would have been a 20-yard touchdown run had holding not been called against Central on the play. However, on the next play, Shaw barreled his way through the Viking defense for a 25-yard touchdown run that would stick, Shaw's fourth of the game, putting Central up 28-0 with 5:49 left in the third.
Later in the quarter, a touchdown run by Khiry Budd capped an Eagles drive, and after an extra point by Kevin Smith, the Eagles were up 35-0.
The fourth quarter was much quieter than the first three, with Central and Port Washington unable to get enough offensive momentum going to put up any more points on the board, making the final score Eagles 35 - Port Washington 0.
The effort prompted Eagles head coach Mike Mutone to exhort his players' resolve during a post-game on-field chat.
"You did a great job," said Mutone. "Everyone one of you guys are stepping up."
Look for the Eagles to step up again when they play Uniondale on Saturday at 2 p.m., in Uniondale.
