East Meadow grinds past Baldwin

For the 100th time in Vin Mascia’s career on the sidelines, his East Meadow Jets, seeded No. 3, came out winners, knocking off No. 6 Baldwin, 22-7, in a game that was just as important for the team as it was a milestone for its head coach.

The victory, in the first round of the Nassau County Conference I playoffs, sends East Meadow into the semifinals against No. 2 Farmingdale at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. Mascia’s 100th win probably didn’t look much different than his first in the fall of 1998, because both games featured heavy doses of the team’s patented power running offense.

“Nothing’s changed,” Mascia said. “It’s a program award [reaching 100 wins]. I’ve been fortunate enough to coach with my best friends and [now] my son’s on the team.”

His son, Matthew, a senior, and senior Mario Froehlich, each of whom earned All-County honors for their play on the offensive line, played big roles in last Saturday’s win the team’s sixth in a row, as they anchor the strong side of the option running attack that pounded out 250 yards rushing. And whenever East Meadow needed a key first down, that’s the side the play ran towards. In fact, junior quarterback Anthony LaRosa helped put the game out of reach with a 27-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 in the fourth quarter. He faked the handoff to sophomore Mike Dolley, then sprinted around the left side of his line before cutting all the way across the field towards the right side of the end zone.

“He’s a special kid,” Mascia said of LaRosa, who’s in his first season running the triple option at the varsity level. “It’s as hard an offense as there is to learn. He decides who gets the ball based on what the defense is doing.”

LaRosa scored all three of East Meadow’s touchdowns — he had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter — but had plenty of help from his teammates in the backfield. Dolley grinded out 24 yards on the team’s final touchdown drive, which took 11 plays and covered 51 yards. Those runs put the finishing touches on Dolley’s game total of 11 carries and 49 yards. Junior Joe Matchekosky ran for a game-high 130 yards on 27 carries. At the end of the first half, East Meadow had run 37 offensive plays to just seven for Baldwin. “That’s what we do and everyone knows it,” Mascia said.

The only hiccup for East Meadow came in the second quarter when Baldwin running back Jonathan DiBique ripped off a 72-yard touchdown run on a counter, following a lead block by lineman Miguel McKenzie at the line of scrimmage. “It was a counter, and not just the [fake] jet sweep,” Bruins head coach Steve Carroll said. “Miguel just blasted his guy off the line and [DiBique] was gone.”

Aside from the long touchdown run, East Meadow held DiBique in check, allowing him to run for just 82 yards on eight carries. “We did not want to let him get going,” Mascia said. “We wanted to stop him before he got rolling.”

East Meadow lost the regular season meeting between the teams, 17-6, but the Jets are the only team to hold the Dalers under 28 points.