South Side falls to Floral Park, 7-0

South Side’s football season ended in unfortunate fashion last Saturday, when it lost to visiting Floral Park 7-0 in the first round of the Nassau Conference III playoffs.

After the game, South Side head coach Phil Onesto was disappointed in the result but was mostly just sympathetic to the seniors.

“The seniors we had this year were terrific all season long so I do feel terrible for them,” Onesto said. “Floral Park did a great job today so congrats to them.”

For the Cyclones, their Achilles heel was not converting red-zone opportunities into points. The offense got into the red zone at three different junctures, yet in each instance, they were stopped on different fourth down attempts.

Between the 20s, the Cyclones did establish a multi-faceted rushing approach. Senior Matt Solano led them with 70 rushing yards, with many of his tough runs coming on hard-fought, third-down conversions. He also had a few nice deflections at cornerback to stagnate Floral Park’s offense. Matt Lozito also had 64 rushing yards on the same number of carries, including a 30-yard burst where he evaded a handful of unfruitful arm tackles.

The Cyclones’ passing game helped them sustain drives, including an impressive first half hook and ladder completion, where senior Owen West threw a screen pass to his brother Brady, who then promptly lateraled to Jack Lozito for a gain of nearly 30 yards. However, they did not maintain the same potency when they got in the red zone. Quarterback Owen West finished with 67 yards passing on the afternoon. Brady West had 3 receptions throughout the game.

The Cyclones’ defensive unit held its’ own for the most part. Floral Park scored on its initial drive, but from there, the hosts pitched a shutout. The unit gave the offense ample opportunities, primarily due to their sharp third down and fourth down defense. They snuffed Floral Park on a fourth down running attempt in the first half and forced two punts in the second half. Sophomore Bobby Galindo had a third down sack to force one of these punts. Michael Melkonian and Matt Solano played suffocating coverage on a third down out route, which instigated the other punt.

Onesto believes the loss could serve as a growing opportunity for the players who return next season. “Luckily, we have a lot of underclassmen and guys coming back next year, so we’ll look at the tape of this one and I’m very excited for what next year holds,” he said.

South Side finished with a 4-5 record.