By ANDREW McCLURE
The lost dropped the Spartans 1-2 in Conference III.
Justin Mayers carried the ball 32 times for 177 yards and a touchdown to lead the Spartans, while Matt Rizzo ran for 106 yards on 24 carries and scored twice for Hewlett.
Elmont head coach Jay Hegi summed up the loss. “The difference was special teams.” Hegi said. “That’s where we lost the game. Just about every football coach will say that special teams are 25 percent of the game. Today that was pretty obvious.”
Elmont’s ground attack was running on all cylinders as the Spartans went 73 yards in 10 plays to score on the game’s first possession. It appeared the Hewlett defense might be able to thwart the Spartans’ drive, but on third down and 12 from the 22-yard line, quarterback Diashawn Miller found Kadeem Smith in the left flat. Smith made an acrobatic grab and took the ball down the sideline and into the end zone. The extra point attempt failed. Mayers, who broke the 100-yard mark for the third consecutive week, ran for 40 yards on the scoring drive.
Hewlett answered quickly. With Rizzo running between the tackles, the Bulldogs marched down the field. On first down from the Elmont 21, senior quarterback Andrew Cohen dropped back and found Anthony Velardi open down the left sideline for a touchdown. Balberg split the uprights to put the Bulldogs up 7-6. Rizzo and Mayers would both score in the second quarter and the teams went to the locker room with the game tied at 14.
Hewlett’s Mac Posner set the tone for an exciting second half by taking the kickoff all the way to Elmont’s 34-yard line. Five plays later, the Bulldogs were in the end zone. Cohen faked left and handed the ball to Rizzo running right. Rizzo buried two would-be tacklers as he bulled his way to paydirt. Balberg’s kick put Hewlett up 21-14.
Elmont wouldn’t go away. The Spartans went 72 yards in 18 plays with Miller taking it in from a yard out to get Elmont within a point with a few minutes remaining. The Spartans converted twice on fourth down during the drive, including an eight-yard pass from Miller to Mayers on a fake punt. The Spartans went for two. Miller dropped back and found senior James Myers open a couple yards deep in the in the end zone to give Elmont a one-point lead.
Once again, Posner would give the Bulldogs outstanding field position, returning the ball to Elmont’s 30-yard line. Hewlett would run the ball to the five to set up Balberg’s heroics. Hegi recognized how exciting the game was. “It was an outstanding football game to watch, except if you were coaching the losing team,” Hegi said. “We need to cut down on the mistakes and stop beating ourselves.”
Elmont travels to Mepham this Saturday for a 3 p.m. start.
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