Elmont squeaks into playoffs

A Nassau Conference II football game not played between Long Beach and Valley Stream Central in Week 7 affected Elmont as much as it did the Marines and Eagles.
Based on the county’s power ranking system, the Spartans would’ve leapfrogged the loser of that game and into seventh place in the standings. Although the top eight qualified for the playoffs, avoiding five-time defending county champion Garden City in the first round was important for all postseason hopefuls.
Now Elmont (4-4) gets to face the Trojans a second straight week after being handed a 34-0 loss in last Saturday’s regular-season finale. “We went from being locked into the 7 with an outside chance at 6 to being locked into 8,” Elmont head coach Jay Hegi said. “Our season turned out to be pretty predictable according to the seeds. We beat all the teams we were supposed to beat and we lost to the teams seeded above us.”
Garden City (8-0), which saw head coach Dave Ettinger receive a warning from the Nassau County sportsmanship committee for lopsided scores, has outscored opponents by a silly 347 to 20 margin.
“It’s the best Garden City team I’ve seen in 20 years, and they’ve had some great teams,” Hegi said. “They look to beat you by winning the field-position and turnover battles. They do a really good job at both.”

It was the battle of special teams the Spartans won by a wide margin in their 56-21 homecoming victory over Roslyn on Oct. 23. They had three kickoff returns for a score and capped the day with Eric Burkett’s 80-yard punt return for a touchdown. In addition, kickers Gustavo Hernandez-Moreno and Davidson Ba LaFortune both went 4-for-4 on extra-point tries.
Senior quarterback Evan Colwell, who has 14 total touchdowns on the season, connected with Rashaun Stephens Jr. and Kymani Lewis on passing scores covering 16 and 46 yards, respectively, in the second quarter to build a 14-0 cushion. “Evan’s an elusive runner who has struggled a little bit passing at times, but he’s our best overall player and having a big year,” Hegi said of Colwell, who is also the defense’s second-leading tackler.
After Dylan Goodman scored his first of three touchdowns for Roslyn to cut the margin to 14-7, Elmont’s Justus Nathaniel took the ensuing squib kickoff 52 yards for a touchdown to up the lead to 21-7. The Spartans led 28-14 at halftime on leading rusher Tyler Meyers’ 55-yard touchdown.
Isiah Davis took the second-half kickoff 81 yards and the lead was 35-14 heading into the fourth. Osagie Ekhator answered Goodman’s third touchdown by bringing back the kickoff 60 yards to paydirt. Ba LaFortune added two interceptions.
Elmont’s other victories came against Sewanhaka (38-20), Long Beach (8-7 on a late touchdown and two-point conversion), and Herricks. The Spartans’ defense is being led by linebacker Kymani McDonald, its leading tackler, while junior lineman Precious Ekeh has been a two-way force.