By: STEVE SINISKI
It's not often a battle of heavy weights lives up to the advanced billing. Baldwin and East Meadow, however, fought for 48 minutes last Thursday before the No. 5 Bruins (2-0) finally came out on top 14-13, when the Jets missed a 35-yard field goal with just 11 seconds to play.
"[The wins] are a big boost [for confidence]," Baldwin coach Steve Carroll said. "The guys now believe they can [do] anything. We just beat two huge teams [Oceanside in Week 1]."
The defense anchored Baldwin, making up for three first-half turnovers, and the offense mustered just enough on the scoreboard to help the team open up 2004 with consecutive victories in Conference I.
"We played a big game inside the 20 [yard line]," Carroll said. "We were able to stop them four times [on drives without allowing a point]. During the summer you're not sure what's going to happen [in the regular season], but yesterday we came up big. East Meadow has a great running back, good receiver and quarterback and we shut down the areas we had to."
In fact, Baldwin kept East Meadow's defensive line limited to the backfield tandem of Matt DeLuca and Chris Bright to hard-fought inside yardage. Keyed by the play of Ryan Kelly (nine tackles), Wesley Esanbor, Gary Roker (seven tackles, forced fumble, recovery and 30-yard run back) and Jon Schillinger (six tackles), inches, let alone yards, were tough to come by for the Jets
"Ryan [Kelly] played out of his mind," Carroll said. "He made three great plays and they were the type you're lucky to make once in a year."
"Everyone said [in all the previews] that Baldwin's strength was its offensive and defensive lines," East Meadow coach Vinny Mascia said. "They have a lot of two- and three-year players, and aren't known to give up too many yards."
Wide receiver Joey St. Cyrus scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, on one of the most difficult plays a pass-catcher has to make: the wide-open grab. Quarterback Aaron Weaver spotted St. Cyrus all alone at the East Meadow 30-yard line, lofting a touch pass his way. St. Cyrus did the rest, watching the ball into his hands and turning on the burners, narrowly out racing a Jets' defender to the corner of the end zone.
"We've struggled enormously with the passing game and it's not in gear [yet]," Carroll said, noting the nature of the big play through that area of the offense.
East Meadow's Pete Poznanski, who racked up 260 all-purpose yards, ripped off a 75-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, but kicker Troy Walker prevented a touchdown when he caught Poznanski from behind at the Baldwin 6. On third down, Kelly and Esanbor teamed up on a crushing tackle at the one, proving that nothing comes easy. DeLuca was finally able to fight his way through on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1.
Ralph Manigat took charge on the Bruins second-quarter scoring drive, and it all started on the kickoff. An up-man in the formation, Manigat took the short kick on a hop and returned it 33 yards to the East Meadow 45. He ripped off consecutive runs of seven yards before Matt Billia put his body on the line and laid out to grab a 19-yard pass from Weaver at the 17. Following a seven-yard run by Justin Allen, a four-yard scamper by Weaver and reception by St. Cyrus, Baldwin called on one number to gain the final three yards-22. After a one-yard run on third and goal, Manigat plowed through the Jets defense for a 2-yard touchdown.
The Bruins are at rival Farmingdale on tap this Saturday at 2 p.m., and the Dalers (1-1) are coming off a 34-20 victory over Massapequa.
