Did you ever think you’d see a baseball slide in a football game?
Look no further than today’s waterlogged Suffolk County Division IV football championship where Shoreham-Wading River outdid previously-undefeated Mt. Sinai 35-14 for the Wildcats’ second straight county crown.
It all started with 1:26 left in the third quarter. Shoreham-Wading River’s (10-1) defense held Mt. Sinai on fourth-and-inches at the 25-yard line, and on the next play, senior quarterback Xavier Arline followed blockers Robert McGee and Mike Casazza as he carried the ball home to put the Wildcats ahead 28-14.
Then, enters Dylan Blanco. After his unit brought the Mustangs (10-1) down on the 10-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, the junior defensive end recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
“I saw the tackle come down, I tried to swim over him, and Brandon Ventarola was standing right in front of me,” Blanco said. “I saw him flick the ball out and I looked over and saw the running back bobble it, so I knew I was going to have to run as hard as I could to get the ball.”
As Ryan Jones raced for the recovery, he slipped on the saturated turf, and Blanco raced around his right and into the left corner of the end zone, sliding feet first in front of Jones and wrapping his arms around the ball.
“I held onto it for dear life,” said Blanco, who made 11 tackles and scored his first varsity touchdown for a 35-14 lead with 20 seconds left in the third. “Everybody has worked so hard all season. Getting here was another step toward our goal. We earned another week.”
What happened a few scores earlier is what the team credited for the momentum shift. Out front 14-13 after a 90-yard punt return by Matt LoMonaco with 2:20 left in the first half, and a Mustangs defensive hold at the goal line as time expired, Mt. Sinai opened the third marching 61 yards to the Shoreham 17, threatening to extend the advantage. Joey Spallina’s run on third-and-5 came up a short of the first down — setting up fourth-and-inches — but an unsportsmanlike conduct call pushed the ball back 15 yards. The Mustangs went for this one, too, and Ventarola was sacked by linebacker Jake Wilson for an 8-yard loss. The Wildcats took over on the 39-yard line, and Arline orchestrated a seven-play, 61-yard drive capped by his own 38-yard touchdown run.
“Momentum is a powerful thing, and sometimes they can get it back real quick,” Arline said. “But we stayed focused. They got a little complacent, and we just kept working. We take a loss and know how to bounce back. It happened to us last year so the adversity helped, pushes us in so many ways.”
“The team had given up, wasn’t going as full speed,” Blanco added. “At that moment we knew the game was over.”
Mt. Sinai had topped Shoreham-Wading River 35-21 on its home turf back on October 12 for their only loss of the season.
“We wanted to keep Brandon Ventarola from running outside. When we lost to them he kept rolling outside and throwing it deep, which hurt us last time,” Blanco said. “We were focused on keeping him inside the pocket.”
Last year, the Mustangs also edged the Wildcats, 14-7, in the regular season before Shoreham-Wading River bested it cross-25A rival 28-21 in the Suffolk County title game. The championship win is the fifth for the Wildcats in program history.
Robert McGee, who blocked for Arline on the 39-yard rush, added a two-point conversion run to make it 21-14 with 4:10 left in the third.
“Everything went our way from there,” McGee said.
The senior St. Anthony’s transfer, a former quarterback there, said everyone from the starters to the water boys did their part to secure the victory, especially Arline.
“He does what he always does,” said McGee, who has played with his neighbor since they were 7, and won is first county crown with the win. “He shows his versatility, running, throwing, catching. He was stylin’.”
Arline, a five-year starter who earned his third title — securing his first as a freshman — passed to Casazza, who shook off tackles and traveled 47 yards to cap off a five-play, 62-yard drive that lasted just over 1:30 in the first for the game’s first points. Ventarola responded with a 3-yard rush to finish an 11-play, 72-yard drive with just under four minutes left in the quarter. At 2:28 Arline, who moved the ball 26 times for 194 yards, scored his first of three rushing touchdowns.
“It’s the ultimate team game — I can’t do what I do without everyone else doing what they do,” Arline said. “I’m blessed to be part of such a wonderful family that cares about each other.”
“This is what we sacrifice our summers for,” Arline continued. “We’re not normal 17, 18-year-old kids. We don’t do the normal stuff. We sacrifice ourselves for results like this. But we’re not done here. We’ve got to finish it out.”
Shoreham-Wading River will take on Seaford (10-1) in the Long Island championship game Saturday, November 30, at Hofstra University at noon.
“God tested us today,” Arline said. “We’re ready for anything that comes our way.”
