Thursday, October 1, 2026
Trailing visiting Hewlett by just a point midway through the fourth quarter of Friday night’s Nassau Conference III football matchup, South Side was poised to regain the lead it held after each of the first three quarters.
But the Bulldogs’ defense came up with the play of the game a foot from the goal line when junior Stefano Borsellino forced a fumble and junior Erick Bojorge recovered, then senior quarterback Matthew DeCicco took it from there. DeCicco accounted for every inch of an ensuing 96-yard touchdown drive and Hewlett withstood a late two-point conversion try to beat the Cyclones, 21-19.
“They were about to score and I felt it was now or never,” Borsellino said of the forced fumble, which popped into the air and was caught on the fly by Bojorge. “We had their guy wrapped up and I just came in and jarred the ball out. Our motto this week was “don’t flinch’ and we lived up to it.”
DeCicco rushed for 223 yards and two touchdowns, while his counterpart, South Side senior Nate Schwartzberg, threw for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns including a 16-yard fourth-and-10 strike to sophomore AJ Magaraci with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to set up a potential game-tying, two-point attempt that resulted in an incompletion.
“We played a lot of guys tonight and it was a total team effort and a great win,” Hewlett head coach John Palladino said. “South Side was the preseason No. 2 seed and has built a tremendous program over the years. We had a few kids get banged up, but others came into the game and stepped up. To leave here with a win is huge.”
Both teams entered the game 2-3 and on the playoff bubble. The Bulldogs have Floral Park and Division remaining on their schedule; the Cyclones host Manhasset for Homecoming next and close with Floral Park.
“We can’t worry about anything except the next game,” said head coach Phil Onesto, who last season guided South Side to its first county championship since 2001. “We left a bunch of points on the field tonight. We stung ourselves a little bit and Hewlett made big plays when they needed to.”
Following Bojorge’s fumble recovery with 5:23 remaining, Palladino called his quarterback’s number on seven straight snaps. On the fourth one, DeCicco broke free down the sideline for a 71-yard gain to the South Side 11. He then capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and Borselino’s extra point gave Hewlett a 21-13 lead with 2:07 left.
A nice kick return by Magaraci set up South Side at its own 38 and Schwartzberg, with help from senior tailback Justin Singh (150 yards rushing on 33 carries), Sean Arnott, Jack Boyens and Brendan Vetter, directed the offense on a 72-yard scoring drive and brought it inches away from forcing overtime.
Jack Mullin had the game’s first touchdown, a 10-yard reception in the second quarter that gave the Cyclones a 10-0 lead. Junior Lucas Papadopulos booted a pair of field goals. Sophomore Dylan Parchment got the Bulldogs on the board late in the first half with a 2-yard score set up by a DeCicco 68-yard run behind an offensive line consisting of Gianni Griffith, Cristopher Maiorano, Jordan Sita. Jordan Sita, and Jude Zack.
