By:Tom Jordan
The Cyclones took a huge step towards the playoffs with a 20-14 victory on Saturday over Garden City, one of Nassau County's elite teams, and a team that was ahead of them in the Conference II power ratings. They are 6-1 with one game remaining, a road contest on Sat., Nov. 10 against 3-4 Mepham. Basically, if they win, they're in.
South Side hasn't been in the playoffs since 1979. They came close last year, finishing 5-3. They clinched a spot with last week's win. Only 7-0 Lawrence is ahead of South Side in the Conference II standings.
It's quite nice. It's been a long journey, a hard-fought journey. These kids are very deserving,said third-year coach Walter Denton, who was an offensive and defensive coordinator for the 79 Cyclones.
The first playoff game for South Side will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15 at Hofstra University.
Running back Bryant Daniels, a star on both sides of the ball, shone brightest again against the Trojans. His 84-yard touchdown run in the second quarter put the Cyclones on the board first and set the homefield crowd of 500 into a frenzy.
In all, Daniels carried the ball 25 times for 179 yards. He's now surpassed the 100-yard mark in five straight games, six of the seven South Side has played.
But Daniels is far from the only player pulling his weight. Garden City tied the game just before halftime, and the Cyclones needed another big play.
Midway through the second half, wide receiver Bill Carey delivered, catching the first of his two touchdown passes. He hauled in a 15-yard strike from Mike Ambort, who was 8-of-16 passing, and the Cyclones never looked back.
Carey's second score, a 10-yard grab, made it 20-7. But there would be one more tense moment. The Trojans scored with four seconds remaining in the game to cut the Cyclones' lead to six, but failed to cover an onside kick and the Cyclones had the big win in the bag.
Denton expected nothing less.
Garden City is an extremely well-coached team,he said. We knew we weren't going to run away with it. It was one of our big goals to beat them. The guys wanted it very badly and went into the game extremely focused. We expected a close game and got it. We were fortunate to come out on top.
Denton literally tipped his cap to his players after the win. His shirt soaked with water after being doused by his players, he removed his cap and said, My hat's off to you,as the team huddled around him.
He specifically credited his defense for limiting Garden City's scoring. Five turnovers by the Trojans helped the Cyclones' cause. South Side coughed the ball up only twice.
Another key to the game was South Side's ability to limit Garden City's opportunities to come back by picking up crucial first downs, Denton said.
It wasn't a shootout at the O.K. Corral, that's for sure,he said. That's the way we've tried to win games all season.
So far, it's worked like a charm.
