Thursday, October 1, 2026
It was a tale of two halves for Seaford’s vaunted ground attack in Saturday afternoon’s Nassau Conference IV football semifinal.
Senior Brian Falk dominated the first half with more than 200 scrimmage yards and two of his three touchdowns, then junior Michael Calvacca exploded in the second half for 207 of his 224 rushing yards including scoring runs of 98, 2 and 78 as the second-seeded Vikings pulled away from No. 3 Lynbrook for a 48-20 victory at Hofstra University.
“We have an amazing O-line that paves the way and I’ve got a great teammate like Brian Falk to learn from,” said Calvacca, who two plays after sophomore Logan DiFondi’s fumble recovery late in the third quarter crushed Lynbrook’s potential game-tying drive raced along the Seaford sideline for the second-longest rushing touchdown in Nassau County playoff history to make it 34-20. “I just had to make sure I stayed inbounds once I broke past the defense,” he added.
The Vikings (9-1) scored 27 unanswered second-half points after the Owls (7-3) got to within one just before halftime on senior quarterback Chase Samelson’s 1-yard touchdown run that capped an impressive two-minute drill.
“I’m very proud of our guys,” Seaford head coach Mike McHugh said. “Seven [Falk] and 23 [Calvacca] were unbelievable and defensively we knew we had to limit the damage Samelson does with his legs and arm. He’s their biggest weapon.”
Samelson had passing and rushing touchdowns and more than 200 yards passing and 100 rushing. Senior Michael Potash had the game-opening touchdown from a yard out and junior tight end Peter Rahaniotis had the receiving score.
“This group set a goal to get this program back to Hofstra and didn’t let anything stand in their way of attaining it,” Lynbrook head coach Dave Yaker said. “Although it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, I couldn’t be more proud of these young men for sacrificing and competing at the highest level.”
Falk, Calvacca and junior Jackson Pignataro had interceptions for Seaford, which advances to face top-seeded and unbeaten Plainedge (10-0) for the Conference IV title Friday at 4 p.m. at Hofstra.
Falk (195 yards rushing) had a 30-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Michael Spinella off a screen in the second. Sandwiched between was Spinella’s 4-yard touchdown pass to senior Peter Barone.
The Vikings led 21-13 late in the first half when Samelson orchestrated a 64-yard scoring drive in the final 1:36, logging 38 of those on three carries of his own. He also connected with seniors Jake Brenneis and Miles Storm for key first downs as Lynbrook got within 21-20. Samelson’s lead target was junior Orji Agwu, who had five catches for 84 yards.
“We were a little deflated at halftime but we always try to stick by the ‘bend but don’t break mindset,’” Falk said. “They’re a good team so we knew Lynbrook was going to score points. We just had to respond in the second half.”
The response was a good one — four touchdowns.
“We lost in the semifinals last year so this feels great,” Seaford senior center Thomas Miranda said.
