By ANDREW McCLURE
In what was one of the most exciting high school football games in Nassau playoff history, Malverne outlasted Locust Valley, 32-26, last Thursday at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium in a Conference IV semifinal game last Thursday. Steven Alexander's third touchdown, on the first possession of overtime, gave the Mules the lead. Malverne safety Glen Odem intercepted Matt Cloninger's pass in the end zone to clinch the victory. The Mules meet top-seeded Seaford at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hofstra in the championship game.
Odem couldn't have been more thrilled to be moving on to the title game. "I'm ecstatic," he said. "This was a complete team effort. On that last play, the coaches were telling us to watch the tight end over the middle. I knew I had to make a play. Locust Valley gave us all they had."
Early on, it looked like Malverne would run away with this one. Alexander, who ran for 226 yards on 16 carries, broke loose for a 59-yard run on the opening play from scrimmage to set up the first score of the night. It was the first of three gains of 50 yards or more in the game for the senior halfback. Alexander amassed 150 yards on his first half dozen carries.
But this game was about far more than a talented running back. The boisterous crowd witnessed a tremendous Locust Valley passing game, five missed extra-point attempts, the tough, between-the-tackles running of Malverne's Frank Shanahan, bone-crushing hits by the Mules' Matthew Bates, a dramatic goal-line stand, and a curious decision by the coaching staff.
After Shanahan scored to put the Mules up 20-7 late in the opening quarter, Alexander took one out of the school yard playbook. He took a pitch from Odem around right end, ran into a wall of Falcons, then changed direction and worked his way free toward the left sideline. Alexander pulled away from the defenders and sprinted toward Hempstead Turnpike for a 52-yard touchdown run to give the Mules a seemingly insurmountable 26-7 lead.
However, the Falcons wouldn't go away. After Malverne fumbled the ball away on its own 25-yard line, Locust Valley quickly got itself back in the game. On third down from the 5-yard line, Cloninger found tight end Kevin Sumcizk cutting across the back of the end zone. The sure-handed senior pulled it in for the score.
Malverne coach Colbert Britt knew that his team couldn't sit on a 26-14 halftime lead. "Locust Valley showed that they had a lot left at the end of the half," Britt said. "We didn't make a whole lot of adjustments; I just told the boys that we just had to keep playing Malverne football."
The third quarter was all Locust Valley. Senior Ellijah Lominy's 49-yard kickoff return to the Malverne 36-yard line set the tone for a dominant quarter. Four plays later, sophomore Rob Alfano took it in from five yards out. The kick failed, but the Falcons were within six.
The next time they touched the ball, they went 72 yards in 16 plays, only to be stopped by the Malverne defense. The drive featured three successful fourth down conversions by the Locust Valley offense, a tremendous hit by Bates, and a sack by Cole Hayes.
On the ensuing possession, Alexander broke free for 47 yards to put the Mules in position to put the game away. But, the Falcons defense tightened up and left the Mules facing fourth-and-12 from the Locust Valley 39 with 4:10 remaining. Rather than punt, the Mules coaching staff decided to gamble. The result was disastrous. Odem went back to pass, was rushed heavily, and was called for intentionally grounding.
Eight plays and 47 yards later, the Falcons tied it when Alfano ran it in from seven yards out. But, with the game riding on the foot of Falcons' kicker Kivanch Tiyaloglu, Malverne sophomore Terry Banks, Jr. got his fingertips on the ball and then watched as the pigskin fell just short of the cross bar.
In overtime, Malverne, 8-1, turned to Shanahan, who ran the ball on consecutive plays to set up Alexander's winning score. Shanahan was beaming as he talked about going to the championship. "We worked hard all year," Shanahan said. "We believed in ourselves. This is a dream come true."
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Photos by Kathy Leistner/Herald
