Massapequa entered Saturday’s Nassau Conference I football showdown with rival Oceanside winners of 27 consecutive games, three of which were come-from-behind victories over the Sailors.
The Chiefs’ last defeat also came at the hands of Oceanside in the 2023 opener, and the Sailors drew first blood in that one as well.
Senior Dylan Milio made sure Massapequa didn't play catch-up this time.
He electrified a standing-room-only Homecoming crowd by returning the opening kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown in the Chiefs’ convincing 33-0 win. It marked Oceanside’s first shutout defeat since falling to ‘Pequa in the 2023 semifinals.
“It felt awesome,” Milio said. “All week at practice coach [Kevin Shippos] said multiple times every day that we needed to throw the first punch. I saw daylight right away and everyone did a great job blocking.”
Junior running back Michael Castellano rumbled for 130 yards on only 14 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter as Massapequa (5-0) built on its 19-0 halftime lead.
“I challenged the kids all week to come out and answer the bell,” Shippos said. “We’ve been behind against Oceanside the last four times and last year in the regular season they went up two touchdowns. I wanted to see the 7 on our side of the scoreboard first and that was some return by Dylan. We couldn’t have written a better opening.”
Oceanside, which fell to 3-2, had trouble developing any rhythm on offense a week after blowing out Syosset, 36-7, behind senior Chace Morris’ 206 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and three takeaways by the defense.
“They put us in a hole early and we didn’t get into any kind of offensive flow,” Oceanside head coach Rob Blount said. “Unfortunately, we came in here banged up and now have a few more injuries to worry about. Give Massapequa credit. That’s an excellent team and we’re hoping we can regroup, earn our way to the 2-seed and see them again down the road at Hofstra.”
Senior Michael Ippolito had two interceptions for the Chiefs in the opening quarter, both of which led to points. Senior Caden Bowen’s 28-yard field goal made it 10-0, then senior Justin Farrell went 64 yards for a touchdown after taking a screen pass from junior quarterback Blake Seidenstein for a 17-0 lead.
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