A year ago, both Wantagh and Carey celebrated Long Island titles.
On Sunday afternoon at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium, both football teams showed their championship mettle with the fourth-seeded Warriors knocking off the top-seeded Seahawks, 21-14, in the Nassau Conference III semifinals.
“I never celebrated a semifinal win like this internally,” longtime Wantagh head coach Keith Sachs said. “I just feel like we had to beat such a good program.”
It was the first time since the 1994 Nassau Conference III final that two defending Long Island champions met in the playoffs, with Bethpage defeating New Hyde Park, 21-18, in a classic.
A little more than three decades later, Wantagh and Carey played an instant classic on a windy November afternoon.
Carey, which had an 18-game winning streak snapped by Wantagh in Week 7, took the game to the Warriors with a run-heavy offense led by Justin DePietro (21 carries for 136 yards) and James McGrath (17 carries for 86 yards).
McGrath rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the first half to help the Seahawks take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
“We had to get a little tougher,” Sachs said. “There were no tricks in what they were doing. They’re big and strong. Our whole key was to try to get a first down stop, and force them to do something they didn’t want to do.”
The Warriors did just that in the second half, limiting Carey to 62 yards in the final two quarters.
Patrick Forthofer keyed that charge with a team-high 11 tackles, Tyler Owens had nine tackles and Vincenzo Fullone and Devin Paccione had eight tackles apiece.
After Joe Nicholson’s 8-yard touchdown run tied the score at 14 with 6:39 left in the third quarter, Paccione made one of the biggest defensive plays of the game, stripping the ball loose before Fullone fell on the fumble.
“They were running on us all game long. I just made a play,” Paccione said. “My whole team came over, made a tackle. It’s just team tackling. We all come together like a family. We practice that every day.”
In the fourth quarter, it was Luke Martini’s time to shine. Operating out of the Wildcat, he put the Warriors in front on a 4-yard touchdown run with 9:18 left in the fourth quarter.
The sophomore emptied the tank, getting key first downs as Wantagh looked to eat up valuable minutes off the clock.
“The heart of a lion,” Sachs said. “He was exhausted. And Joe [Nicholson] gives us everything. He’s just a great football player. But we had to go to the Wildcat and put the ball in his hands at that time. It was our best chance.”
And when Carey did get the ball late with a chance to tie the score, Martini essentially put the game away with an interception at midfield with 1:29 left in the fourth quarter.
“It was a great feeling,” Martini said. “They’re a great team. Just beating them at Hofstra, there’s no better feeling than that.”
For Carey, it was a bitter defeat, with head coach Mike Stanley trying to soothe the pain in the immediate aftermath.
“I just told the team that the reason this hurts so much is because of what a special thing we have together,” Stanley said. “Not many people get that. They’re lucky to be part of it.”
Wantagh faces No. 3 Bethpage for the Conference III title Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Hofstra.
