Saturday, October 17, 2026
In winning 70 of its previous 71 football games, Garden City was rarely in the predicament it was Saturday at home against Carey in a Nassau Conference II showdown of the top two seeds.
The Trojans trailed the defensive slugfest by two points with 1:10 remaining and had the ball at their own 27.
Then quarterback Brayden Robertiello and the offense went to work. He twice connected with Max Siragusa to move the chains to the 43, then a pass interference call brought the ball to the Seahawks’ 42. Another short completion to Siragusa and a long one to a leaping Ben Smith set up a field-goal attempt in the closing seconds.
Mark Escher drilled it from 25 yards and Garden City snatched a 13-12 victory from the jaws of defeat.
“The snap by Ben and hold by Brayden were great, but I wasn’t sure it was going to split the uprights,” Escher said. “I was worried I missed it left. Got a little help from God and the wind pushed it right.
“When the refs put their arms up, I got so ecstatic,” he added. “This game was a battle from start to finish.”
Escher’s field goal provided the only points of the second half as neither defense yielded much. Carey punted four times and fumbled away one possession. Garden City punted three times. The Trojans also missed a field goal late in the third quarter and turned the ball over on downs midway through the fourth at the Seahawks’ 25.
"I'm proud of our guys today," Carey head coach Mike Stanley said. "We were physical, fought hard and just came up on the wrong end of a tough battle."
It was an inauspicious start for the Trojans, who on Sept. 28 had their national-record, 68-game win streak snapped by Massapequa. The hosts fumbled the opening kickoff and Carey’s Mason Simon recovered. Two plays later, senior two-way star Justin DePietro raced 27 yards for a touchdown and the Seahawks had a 6-0 lead after just 31 seconds.
Garden City (5-1) responded late in the first quarter with a 59-yard touchdown drive led by Christian Roddini on the ground. His pair of double-digit gains set up a Robertiello to Siragusa 17-yard scoring connection. Escher’s extra point made it 7-6.
Carey had a touchdown reversed by penalty on its ensuing drive but found paydirt early in the second quarter to regain the lead. Simon caught a nifty pass over the middle from quarterback Sal D’Amato for a 25-yard gain to set up first-and-goal. Two plays later, DePietro was back in the end zone from 2 yards out and it was 12-7.
The Seahawks (5-1) did miss both extra-point tries. One was blocked by Kosta Walsh and the other clanged high off the goalpost.
Escher’s 29-yard field goal with 3:28 remaining in the half cut the margin to 12-10. His first attempt to put the Trojans ahead in the third quarter sailed wide left. But he made the most of another chance.
