Late touchdown eliminates Jets

East Meadow was miles ahead of Syosset when the teams concluded the Conference I football regular season under miserable weather conditions on the first of November, but they were separated by mere inches in a semifinal playoff game at Hofstra less than two weeks later.

Needing a field goal on its final drive to advance to the finals for the first time in 40 years, Syosset relied on its special tandem instead of its special teams. Michael Elardo’s leaping 27-yard touchdown grab of a William Hogan pass with 11 seconds remaining gave the sixth-seeded Braves a thrilling 36-30 come-from-behind victory over the Jets on Nov. 13.

Elardo, the leading receiver on Long Island with 1,232 yards after a 164-yard performance, beat double coverage on the hitch-and-go that put Syosset (6-4) into the championship game against undefeated Baldwin. “I saw the ball in the air and I knew the safety would come up for an interception or try to bat it down,” Elardo said. “So I cut right in front of him.”

Fourth-seeded East Meadow (8-2) was one snap away on several occasions from sealing the outcome, including on the play before the winning touchdown when Hogan (17 of 27, 273 yards, three touchdowns) completed a 15-yard pass to Ian Berg on 4th-and-8. “We didn’t make the big plays, and they did,” Jets head coach Vin Mascia said. “We needed one more first down on our last possession to run out the clock, but we gave the ball back.

“The touchdown that beat us was a great throw and catch,” he added. “We had coverage under and over.”

Syosset, which suffered a 44-0 defeat at East Meadow just 12 days earlier, began its winning drive at its own 30 with 2:07 remaining after East Meadow stalled on downs following a holding penalty that negated a 27-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Anthony Love-Kemper. “We thought if we got close enough, we’d keep the ball in the hands of our offense because it was probably a better option that our kicking game,” Braves head coach Paul Rorke said. “We needed to be much closer than the 27 to try a field goal.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Hogan (150 yards rushing, two touchdowns) was stopped cold by Dylan Hippner (14 tackles, 2.5 sacks) on 4th-and-1 at the East Meadow 36. “I liked our chances after that,” Mascia said.

The Jets trailed 15-14 at halftime but engineered a trademark drive to open the third quarter, going 52 yards on 11 plays in 7:29 to take the lead. Brian Kavanagh scored from five yards out on a toss-sweep, and Johnny Wilson (126 yards rushing, two touchdowns) tacked on two points for a 22-15 lead. After Elardo’s 64-yard touchdown reception tied it, Wilson answered with a 5-yard scoring run and two-point conversion to give East Meadow a 30-22 advantage.

Hogan had a 44-yard touchdown run with 11:17 remaining, but Joe Barbato thwarted the two-point try to keep the Jets ahead until the closing seconds.