By JOSEPH KELLARD
Leading Port Washington, 12-7, with a minute left in the game, the Sailors- offense took a knee on first down but opted next to hand off to running back Dan Lazrus, who took a crushing blow in the backfield that sent the ball airborne. The Vikings- Greg Novick picked up the loose ball with nothing but 50 yards of open field before him, but center Josh Hilzinger dove and wrapped up the defenseman-s legs to save Oceanside-s day.
If we had to do it over, I-d kneel on it again, said Oceanside coach Mike Janosko. But [Port Washington] had another time out, so we thought maybe we could run our safest play, a straight power play, and we got some leakage somewhere and fumbled, but we survived it.
Along the way, the Sailors also survived some oddities at last Thursday-s game. First, they had to host their first home game at an unfamiliar site, traveling to School 6-s soccer field since a track is being installed around the high school-s new turf gridiron. Second, the Sailors were playing on a weekday after classes and just five days after a 34-22 win at Valley Stream Central to open their season. Janosko felt these factors hindered his team from playing their best against Port Washington.
I wish we had more time to get ready to play, he said, but we kind of settled in after we fumbled on the opening drive and they scored a touchdown.
On the first play from scrimmage, Sailors- running back Shane Wynn coughed up the ball near Oceanside-s 20-yard line, and after running for a first down, Vikings- backup quarterback Jeff Froccaro passed to tight end Brian Miller in the left slot to put Port Washington up, 7-0. But Oceanside-s defense then turned stingy, keeping the Vikings out of the red zone all game.
Port Washington came closest to scoring during the first half-s waning seconds, when Froccaro spotted a receiver downfield before the end zone, but Oceanside defensive back Jim Riecker batted away his pinpoint pass. The Vikings had another scoring opportunity late in the third while down 12-7. But this drive they mounted from their 27 ended when Froccaro was forced to roll to the sideline and throw from Oceanside-s 41, and Lazrus cut in front of tight end Brian Miller for the pick.
Port Washington drove 200-pound running back Steven Kaufman into the middle of Oceanside-s defense early and often, but, after stalling on each series, parked its ground game for good late in the fourth quarter.
With 2:02 left, the Vikings went strictly to the air on a series begun on their own 29, but Oceanside-s defense kept pressure on Froccaro, who after a short completion, missed his receivers on three successive longer passes, forcing Port Washington to punt with 60 seconds to go.
After Novick recovered Lazrus- late-game fumble at Oceanside-s 48, Froccaro completed a second-down pass to the 29, but, with just two ticks left on the clock, sent up a Hail Mary to Sean Allen that hit the ground and answered the Sailors- prays.
We weren-t playing on the top of our game, but we went out there and got it done somehow, said Logan, who both passed and ran for a touchdown. It came kind of close at the end, but things worked out.
After Wynn mishandled a Port Washington punt late in the first quarter that backed Oceanside up to its goal line, Logan engineered a 99-yard scoring drive, completing a pass to Wynn that moved the chains to Port Washington-s 47 after Lazrus rushed for two first-downs. Logan then overthrew a wide-open Chris Toby downfield, but redeemed himself on the next snap with a 45-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Sean King at 9:15 in the second, making the score 7-6.
In addition to his touchdown catch, King had two other receptions, including a 30-yarder down to Port Washington-s 9 that set up Logan-s second-and-goal touchdown run from the 4 at 6:13 in the third.
On defense, Oceanside lineman Brian Murphy shared a sack with linebacker Chris Tringali and dropped Port Washington-s rushers for two losses during the Vikings- lone scoring drive. And in addition to his passing and rushing, Logan assumed some defensive and punting duties.
I just had to get a lot of liquids in me to make sure I didn-t get dehydrated and tired, he said about playing both sides of the ball.
He-s our best player, Janosko said about Logan, who amassed four touchdown passes and another on a run against Valley Stream Central the prior week. We-re going to go as far as he takes us.
Oceanside (2-0) plays at Uniondale (1-1) at 2 p.m. on Sept. 30.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
Pull Quote:
[Chris Logan] is our best player. We-re going to go as far as he takes us.
Mike Janosko
Oceanside coach
By JOSEPH KELLARD
The fumbled football that sat alone along Oceanside-s sidel
After Novick recovered Lazrus- late-game fumble at Oceanside-s 48, Froccaro completed a second-down pass to the 29, but, with just two ticks left on the clock, was forced to send up a Hail Mary to sure-handed Sean Allen that hit the ground and answered the Sailors- prays.
We weren-t playing on the top of our game, but we went out there and got it done somehow, said Logan, who both passed and ran for a touchdown. It came kind of close at the end, but things worked out.
After Wynn mishandled a Port Washington punt late in the first quarter that backed Oceanside up to its goal line, Logan engineered a 99-yard scoring drive, completing a pass to Wynn that moved the chains to Port Washington-s 47 after Lazrus rushed for two first-downs. Logan then overthrew a wide-open Chris Toby downfield, but redeemed himself on the next snap with a 45-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Sean King at 9:15 in the second to make the score 7-6.
In addition to his touchdown catch, King had two other receptions, including a 30-yarder down to Port Washington-s 9 that set up Logan-s second-and-goal touchdown run from the 4 at 6:13 in the third.
On defense, Oceanside lineman Brian Murphy shared a sack with linebacker Chris Tringali and dropped Port Washington-s rushers for two losses during the Vikings- lone scoring drive. And in addition to his passing and rushing, Logan assumed some defensive and punting duties.
I just had to make sure I got a lot of liquids in me to make sure I didn-t get dehydrated and tired, he said about playing both sides of the ball.
He-s our best player, Janosko said about Logan, who amassed four touchdown passes and one on a run against Valley Stream Central the prior week. We-re going to go as far as he takes us.
Oceanside (2-0) plays at Uniondale (1-1) at 2 p.m. on Sept. 30.
