Sayville senior Brock Murtha couldn’t help smiling as he hugged his teammates on the sideline following his 60-yard interception return for a touchdown with 44 seconds left to seal a 28-10 Suffolk County Division III title win over East Islip Thursday.
“We’re a fourth-quarter team, so I had to get one,” the two-way standout said, smiling. “All week we preached great defense. If they can’t score they can’t win. And we executed that today.”
The Golden Flashes (11-0) caused three East Islip turnovers on the Redmen’s first possessions — on two fumbles and a Nate Casaburi interception — and scored off two of them. Casaburi’s capture of a fourth-and-2 Brandon Miller pass at the 8-yard line set up a 15-play, 92-yard drive that was finished with Alex Millwater’s 4-yard burst up the middle through traffic with 1:14 left in the first. Michael Corwin’s fumble recovery on East Islip’s (8-3) 31-yard line set up a nine-play, 4:11 drive capped with a Jack Cheshire-to-Murtha 10-yard touchdown pass in the end zone with 8:16 left in the first half.
“We knew we were going to win this game on the defensive side of the ball,” Murtha said. “We were locked in the entire game.”
Cheshire’s game-winning pass play tied former Sayville great Jack Coan’s Long Island record for most touchdowns in a single season (40). He surpassed that with a 31-yard touchdown pass to sophomore C.J. Messina at 1:03. The junior orchestrated the seven-play drive over 3:32 that covered 69 yards.
“That’s been my goal since I was a freshman,” Cheshire said of breaking Coan’s record. “With this, I realize I can do anything. I could do things like he did. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
And this is Cheshire’s first season on varsity. He finished the game going 15-for-23 for 257 yards and has now thrown for 3,052 this season.
Murtha, who held the field general position last year, said the junior is one of the best athletes he’s ever seen.
“He’s awesome under pressure, and just a great kid,” said Murtha, who plays safety and wide receiver, and finished the game with seven catches for 74 yards and a score, and 51 yards rushing on seven carries.
John O’Rourke intercepted Miller on a fourth-down pass at 4:44, and Messina broke up what would have been a huge pass play for a touchdown to maintain the shutout through three quarters. Needless to say things were going much different for the Golden Flashes compared with the 28-27 win over East Islip on October 5, where Sayville turned the ball over six times.
East Islip earned its first points on a safety with 10:22 left, and Dylan Rigo scored the Redmen’s lone touchdown on an 11-yard run. Miller’s pass to Anthony Carroll on the two-point conversion attempt closed the gap to 21-10.
Nick Buffardi also had an interception for the Golden Flashes, and defensive tackle Max Llewllyn recorded two of Sayville’s five sacks.
“We’ve been training since March and this was the goal,” Cheshire said. “I feel confident. More confident than ever now.”
Sayville will face the winner of Nassau’s Plainedge-South Side matchup in the Long Island championship game at Stony Brook University Friday November 29 at noon.
“We grinded it out. I think we just wanted it more,” Murtha said. “We’re not done yet, but to go out like this is amazing.”
