Dan Villari wasn’t going to let anything or anyone stand in his way of making history.
The senior quarterback rushed for 306 yards and four touchdowns, and threw for two more as Plainedge defeated Sayville 56-20 for the school’s first Long Island Class III championship tile.
“This is an unreal feeling — it’s extra special,” Villari said. “I’ll do whatever I’ve got to do for this team.”
After Plainedge (12-0) forced a quick three-and-out he got to work orchestrating a five-play, 77-yard drive that took just over a minute-and-a-half before he bulled his way up the middle on a 6-yard run. The senior quarterback connected with Donovan Pepe (two receptions for 65 yards) on 44 and 21-yard touchdown passes to put the Red Devils on top 21-0 two minutes into the second quarter.
“We knew they were going to come hard and we knew they’re a great team,” Villari said of Sayville (11-1). “Part of the plan was to run the ball, and when they bite, throw it over their heads. We executed. We also worked hard on their quarterback and covered guys, then got back to doing our thing on offense.”
The Plainedge defense continued to force quick three-and-outs, taking down Sayville quarterback Jack Cheshire time after time to give the Red Devils that many more chances to score.
“This defense really fought all year — we’ve got studs,” Villari said. “I tip my hat to the defense, always.”
Cheshire finally got through when his 14-yard pass found Jason Gensch in the far corner of the end zone in stride to cap a four-play, 56-yard drive over 1:11 to cut the lead. The junior capped off the half with his second touchdown pass to extend his Long Island single-season record to 43.
Just under eight minutes remaining in the second, Villari broke free from the line and hauled the ball in 77 yards for a touchdown, and ran the ball 46 yards with 4:46 left in the quarter to put the Red Devils up 35-14 at halftime.
Enters Dion Kuinlan. The senior, who rushed for 142 yards, bookended Villari’s 8-yard run on his own runs of 31 and 4 to put the last nail in the proverbial coffin.
“We knew they could come back,” Kuinlan said. “We’d watched their past games, knew they could come back pretty quick, so we had to come out like we did in the beginning, firing on all cylinders.”
He said being it’s been a dream come true seeing his teammates he’s been playing with since 5 and 6 years old make history together.
“Seeing everyone learn and grow, get bigger and stronger, rise to the occasion is awesome. This is insane,” he said. “You work four years for this and there’s one game it all comes down to, but I think we were mentally and physically ready. All that hard work in the summer, staying late, Sunday practices, we all played our hearts out, especially our linemen. We looked great.”
He also credited his quarterback, saying the early advantage was huge.
“He takes a big weight off everyone else’s shoulders. His athleticism, his running style, his throwing style, he’s just great all around,” Kuinlan said. “This game was all we had to worry about — just focus on what we had to do, and do it right; and we did.”
Villari said last season’s 34-6 loss to Half Hollow Hills West in the same game after its first of two undefeated Nassau seasons was all the motivation the Red Devils needed.
“This was the goal ever since we lost,” Villari said. It’s a really great feeling to accomplish something special with these guys.”
