By Matt Napolitano
A dream came true for the Franklin Square community as the Seahawks pulled off what might be the upset of the year, defeating the Trojans, 21-19, in overtime in Garden City last Saturday. The win marks the first time in school history that the Seahawks had defeated the rival Trojans. Carey improved to 4-1 on the season, and Garden City was handed their first season loss in five years, ending a 32-0-1 undefeated streak.
A frosty Warren King Field was the site of the march-up, as both teams entered the game coming off close victories the week before, Carey having just slid by Hewlett, 26-21, and Garden City inching by MacArthur, 7-6. The stands were packed to the max with a sea of maroon to the left and a wave of orange to the right.
Carey kicked off the scoring on their first offensive drive of the game. On third down, junior quarterback Sal Intagliata launched a 45-yard completion to junior Chris Spillane to set the Hawks up at Garden City's 20 yard line. Senior halfback Matt Zaffuto capped off the drive with a two-yard dash to the end zone. Zaffuto's touchdown would be the only score of the first quarter. However, the star halfback was not through yet. Zaffuto opened up the scoring in the second quarter with a 74-yard run to the end zone to give Carey a 13-0 lead.
Garden City answered this touchdown with some points of their own. Quarterback Dean Gibbons tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to a diving Tim Harder to put the Trojans on the board before the half.
Although Carey was ahead 13-6 coming out of the locker room, the outcome of this game was still up in the air. Would Garden City come out firing? Would Carey hold ground and earn the "W"?
The third quarter was scoreless with both sides playing clutch defense to hold their opponents back. With the clock ticking away in the fourth quarter, it seemed as though a Seahawk victory was a lock, but Garden City QB Dean Gibbons had a different idea in mind. With less than a minute left in the game, Gibbons completed a pass on the sideline to put the Trojans inside the fifteen. With eighteen seconds to go, Gibbons found an open Terrance Kennedy for the touchdown. Dylan Dwyer's point after tied the game and sent the teams into overtime.
Overtime is a new concept to high school football, as it was just instituted last season. High school overtime is similar to overtime in NCAA football. There is no clock, and each team gets an opportunity to score.
Garden City won the overtime coin toss and elected to go on defense first. The Seahawks came out firing and capping off their possession with a three yard TD run up the gut by junior fullback Jamie "The Bus" Spanopoulos. Intagliata then ran the ball into the end zone for the two point conversion to put the Seahawks ahead 21-13.
Then it was Garden City's turn. On 4th and goal, it was the final chance for the Trojans. Gibbons connected to Harder one more time for a touchdown, making the score 21-19. The Trojans were forced to go for two to tie it up. Gibbons dropped back looking for an open receiver, but was rushed by junior defensive lineman Marc Pesa. Gibbons floated a pass to the back of the end zone, but it was tipped by senior defensive back Chris Oswald and bounced onto the turf to end the game.
With that, a crowd of Carey faithful stormed the field to congratulate the team on what may have been the greatest victory in school history.
Carey now looks to face another tough rival in 4-1 Lawrence, this Saturday at Marc Martone Field at Carey High School. The team is sure to be coming off a huge adrenaline rush from slaying the mighty dragon that was Garden City and hope to continue their four game winning streak.
For now, all we can say, is congratulations to Coach McLees and the Seahawks for delivering the final blow to K.O. the Trojans.
Editor's Note: Matt Napolitano, the writer of this column, is the sports editor of the Carey Clipper, the H. Frank Carey High School newspaper. Comments about this story? FSeditor@liherald.com.
