By Tom Jordan
It was the greatest feeling to see such a huge turnout, said coach Walter Denton. It was just phenomenal. There must have been 2,000 people from Rockville Centre there.
The Cyclones did not disappoint their well-wishers. Running back Bryant Daniels ran for 283 yards and receiver Bill Carey had five catches for 176 yards, a Nassau County playoff record, and three touchdowns in the victory.
Carey's first touchdown came on the second play from scrimmage. Quarterback Mike Ambort hit him in stride on a crossing route and the receiver was off to the races. He streaked 74 yards to the endzone and South Side led 7-0. He also scored on a 22-yard pass and a 30-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter that gave the Cyclones an insurmountable 28-16 lead.
Daniels scored on a 55-yard run and a 63-yarder that completed the scoring. One week after setting a South Side record with six touchdowns against Mepham, the senior running back had a chance to break the playoff single-game rushing record, but fumbled the ball away on his final carry of the game, just seven short of the mark set by Wantagh's Joe Brancato in 1970.
But it's not about records for these Cyclones. Not when there are playoff games to be won.
Despite all of the offense, Denton believed the key point in the game was a defensive stand in the first quarter. Immediately after Carey's first score, the Generals drove deep into South Side territory and threatened to get into the endzone before the Cyclones' defense stiffened. MacArthur settled for a field goal and South Side kept the momentum.
That was a huge point in the game, Denton said. Every series can't be one-two-three and out, but when we stopped them, the defense said
