Saturday, November 8, 2025
There was nothing fake about Carey’s dominant run to the Nassau Conference II football championship.
Well, actually, there was.
Deadlocked with Mepham early in the second half of Friday night’s title game at Hofstra, the Seahawks pulled a fake punt on fourth-and-6 from their own 47 that saw senior Billy Koutsoumbaris gain 29 yards. Five plays later, sophomore Justin DePietro scored his second of three touchdowns and Carey eventually pulled away for a 28-7 victory and its first county championship since 2014.
“We noticed on the previous punts they were in full return mode,” Koutsoumbaris said. “When I saw we called a fake, I was confident. There was a huge hole and I just took off.”
The top-seeded Seahawks (11-0) faced another fourth down later on the same possession and DePietro, who carried 35 times, kept the chains moving with four of his 187 yards. His 11-yard touchdown capped the nine-play, 57-yard drive which put them ahead for good.
“Our O-line did what it needed to do and Justin is just a machine,” senior center Richie Metzger said of DePietro, who in the 15-0 semifinal win over Long Beach had 160 yards and both touchdowns. “It’s such a great feeling for all of us,” he added. “We’ve been working for this since the summer. Mepham gave us a tough fight as we expected.”
Carey, which has yet to trail in any game this season, advanced to face Half Hollow Hills East for the Long Island Class II crown next Friday at Hofstra at 4:30 p.m. Mepham, which reached the finals for the second time in three years, finished 9-2 with both defeats coming to the Seahawks.
“I’m just so happy for the kids, they worked so hard all year long,” Carey head coach Mike Stanley said. “They were committed to the offseason and did everything we asked them to do, and more. It’s a special group and I’m really proud of them.”
Both teams scored on their opening drives. Carey went 67 yards on 12 plays and led 7-0 on DePietro’s 6-yard touchdown run and senior kicker Joshua Palomino’s first of four successful extra points. The Pirates responded by going 66 yards on nine plays, with senior quarterback Owen Heller throwing for all of it including a 10-yard touchdown strike to senior Nicholas Gampero. Senior Ryan Bayer added the extra point after the first playoff score allowed by the Seahawks.
“Coach [Tom] Aiello does an outstanding job with our defense to give us an edge,” Stanley said. “Our guys are ready week-in and week-out.”
The next eight possessions combined resulted in no points and the ninth had a similar look until Koutsoumbaris took junior long snapper Mike Agostino’s delivery and turned the biggest play of the game.
“At the time of the fake punt we thought we needed to swing momentum,” Stanley said. “We converted and went on to score and it was a bit of a backbreaker for them.”
DePietro provided breathing room with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 8:33 remaining in the fourth. Carey iced the title four minutes later with senior quarterback Chris Obertis’ 25-yard touchdown pass to junior Tristan Hickis.
Junior Christian Anaya had 2 sacks and 9 tackles to lead Carey's defense. Junior James Quilty had 17 tackles for Mepham.
