A MacArthur football team full of newcomers is off to a 2-1 start and a couple plays away from being unbeaten entering the midpoint of the season.
The Generals, who returned just five starters from a year ago, moved above the .500 mark last Saturday with a commanding 42-13 homecoming win against Jericho a week after dropping a 24-21 heartbreaker at Mepham.
MacArthur jumped out to a 35-6 lead entering the fourth quarter against Jericho on the strength of a big rushing day from junior running back Ethan Shapiro, who finished with 155 yards and three touchdowns.
“He is a good hard runner,” longtime MacArthur head coach Bobby Fehrenbach said of Shapiro, who tallied two touchdown runs in a 36-0 season-opening win against Valley Stream Central.
MacArthur’s dominating win against the Jayhawks also featured two touchdown runs from junior quarterback Vinny Szucs, who had 21 yards on the ground. The defense was also strong with Danny Lopez and Garrett Thompson both recording interceptions while senior linebacker Caden Cullen produced a team-leading seven tackles.
The defense was also a force in the Generals’ dominant road victory against Valley Stream Central Sept. 13 producing two touchdowns on a Brian Lynch fumble recovery in the end zone and a Benny Arreago 62-yard interception return. Senior linebacker Thomas Murphy also had a fumble recovery in the opening game in which MacArthur led 16-0 at halftime before pulling away in the third quarter with 20 points.
The lone loss on the young season at Mepham was decided by a 29-yard field goal from Ryan Bayer with just under two minutes remaining that broke a 21-21 tie. The unbeaten Pirates then iced the game on a Tyler Gaskin interception.
Szucs shined in the passing game against Mepham throwing for 158 yards including a nine-yard touchdown toss to junior wide receiver Ryan Solomon. The athletic Szucs, who was the varsity backup last season, also rushed for 31 yards on 12 attempts.
“He did a good job for his second variety start,” said Fehrenback of Szucs’ performance through the air and on the ground versus Mepham. “He had some good runs in addition to his passing and had a good game.”
MacArthur has a tall task ahead this Friday night at home against Garden City, which has won 57 straight games and not lost since the Long Island Class II championship game in 2019. The Generals then hit the road against New Hyde Park and Calhoun before returning to Levittown to face Long Beach on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
Fehrenbach said the upcoming Garden City serves as a measuring stick for his young team, which was seeded seventh in Conference II entering the season, as it continues to seek strides to become a playoff contender come November.
“We are just trying to get better each week regardless of the opponent, “Fehrenbach said. “From week one to week two even though we didn’t win the game we got better.”
