By STEVE SINISKI
(5-3) in the first round of the Nassau Conference II playoffs last Saturday.
Seahawks senior quarterback Sal Intagliata iced the game with a 15-yard touchdown run on third-and-8 with 3:20 remaining. The run, on a delayed draw, used the Colts' aggressiveness against them, as Intagliata took off for the end zone just as the rush approached.
"We knew that sooner or later they were going to break a big run," Calhoun coach Joe Bianca said. The score capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive that drained nearly seven minutes off the fourth-quarter clock and catapulted Carey into the semifinals this Friday against No. 2 Garden City at Hofstra at 7:30 p.m. The teams previously met in the season opener, when the Trojans rallied for a 21-10 victory.
In leading the Seahawks to their final touchdown, Intagliata completed a pair of drive-sustaining plays, including an 8-yard pass to sophomore Greg D'Arienzo after scrambling away from Colts nose tackle Tim Downey, and a 10-yard completion to senior Joseph Carr on fourth-and-4 from the Calhoun 25. "He's been making big plays for us all year," Seahawks coach Mike Stanley said of Intagliata. "He's our guy."
Strong play from Carey's defensive line kept Calhoun's top offensive weapon, running back Joe Michalski, bottled up and limited him to 97 yards rushing. The senior topped 1,000 yards for the season in the first half, but managed just 39 yards on 10 carries heading into intermission. Entering the game, the slippery back had run for 506 yards and eight touchdowns in his previous three games. "The defense has gotten better week in and week out," Stanley said. "On a day when the offense couldn't [generate many points], the defense held up."
Though Michalski ripped off runs of 20 and 19 yards on Calhoun's final drive, the Carey defense added a final exclamation mark: Sophomore Michael Lisi and junior Joe Fasano teamed up for a sack of Calhoun quarterback Mike Goldberg on fourth down to end the threat. It was a true team effort for a defense that held Calhoun to 147 yards of offense, including just 26 yards of passing, and registered two sacks. "It was all 11 [on defense]," Stanley said. "We just kept bending but didn't break."
Senior Nick Martelli's 23-yard field goal on the final play of the first half broke a 7-7 tie, completing an eight-play drive covering 53 yards. The key play was a 16-yard completion from Intagliata to senior Daniel Babich that lined the field-goal unit up perfectly between the hash marks. D'Arienzo scored the Seahawks' first touchdown, racing untouched into the end zone on a 17-yard catch-and-run, as Intagliata found him wide open down the seam. Senior James Spanopoulos's bruising runs helped Carey's clock-consuming offense.
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