By TONY BELLISSIMO
But there he stood early in the fourth quarter as Hewlett, trailing the Spartans by 15 points in last Saturday’s Nassau Conference II championship game, lined up for a field-goal attempt. The snap into a blustery wind sailed high, and before any of the Bulldogs moved toward the loose ball it was already in the hands of Mayers, who raced 70 yards for a touchdown to put the finishing touch on Elmont’s 28-7 victory at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium.
“I picked it up and never looked back,” said Mayers, a senior who rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. “I didn’t think anyone was going to catch me. I just kept running.”
The Spartans (9-2) last won a county title in 1986. They’ll take an eight-game winning streak into the Long Island Class II championship game against undefeated Riverhead (11-0) on Saturday at noon at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium. The Blue Waves topped West Islip, 13-0, in the Suffolk Division II final.
“Winning a championship was our goal from the first day of practice,” Elmont coach Jay Hegi said. “We hit a couple of snags early in the season, but we knew we had the talent. We’ve got a special group of kids.”
The Spartans, who were ranked No. 1 in the preseason, stumbled out of the gate with two losses in their first three games, including a 24-22 setback at Hewlett on Sept. 27. The tough start made them work harder, according to senior fullback/linebacker Brian Cole, who added 60 yards rushing and six tackles in the title game. “We got a reality check and regrouped,” Cole said. “We knew we could go all the way. Everybody’s family and friends came to watch today. Everyone’s so proud. It’s a great feeling. I’ve dreamed about this for years.”
For only the second time in its last six games, fourth-seeded Elmont never trailed. Four seconds into a wild second quarter in which the teams combined for 29 points, Mayers capped a nine-play, 83-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to break a scoreless tie. Junior quarterback Diashawn Miller then hit senior James Myers on a two-point conversion pass to make it 8-0.
After senior linebacker Sebastian Clerge sacked Hewlett quarterback Andrew Cohen on a risky fourth-and-3 try from the Bulldogs’ 39, the Spartans went back to work on offense and needed only five plays to add to their lead. Mayers took a pitch from Miller and scored on a 10-yard run. It was his 20th rushing touchdown of 2008. Miller made it 16-0 by running in the conversion.
The second-seeded Bulldogs, who beat Garden City in the semifinals, answered on the ensuing possession. They drove 70 yards on 15 plays and reached deep into their playbook for the “lonesome polecat” formation, which confused Elmont on Cohen’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Adam Isaacs with 1:16 left in the half. Isaacs, Hewlett’s only player between the hash marks at the line of scrimmage, snapped the ball to Cohen and, as an eligible receiver, worked his way through the defense to get open in the end zone.
“We didn’t use it all year,” Bulldogs coach Jay Iaquinta said. “It’s tough to defend.”
So are the Spartans.
They seemed destined to take a 15-7 lead into halftime until a squib kick gave them possession at their own 46 with a little over a minute to operate. A run by Mayers moved the ball to the Hewlett 40, bringing Miller within reaching distance of the end zone, and he nearly connected on one of three long heaves to Myers. Then, on fourth down, with no timeouts left, Miller found senior Adelbert Clerge in the middle of the field at the 15 with three seconds remaining. Clerge was flattened by Dylan Pastor and fell to the turf, where he needed assistance for a few minutes. The injury timeout made another play possible, and Elmont took advantage, with Myers hauling in a touchdown pass with no time on the clock, giving the Spartans a 22-7 lead.
“To get that score before the half was huge,” Hegi said. “It gave us momentum back for good.”
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
