East Meadow nips Freeport for Conference I title

East Meadow’s march to last Saturday’s Nassau Conference I football championship game at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium happened mostly on the back of an offense that averaged 46.3 points per game. That once again figured to the case against top-seeded Freeport, which, like the second-seeded Jets, produced points nearly as fast as the scoreboard operator could change numbers.

But it was the East Meadow defense that provided several of the biggest plays in a thrilling 34-33 victory that pushed the Jets to their first county title since 2006. 

Slowing down Red Devils quarterback Isaiah Barnes was nearly impossible, as the senior completed 15 of 26 passes for 320 yards — just 13 shy of the Nassau County single-game playoff record. After guiding Freeport 66 yards on eight plays down to the East Meadow 4 with less than three minutes remaining, however, space became tight, the pressure picked up and Barnes tossed consecutive incompletions after getting sacked for a five-yard loss by sophomore Billy Andrle on first down.

Senior Marvin Cajoles, who had blocked an extra-point attempt in the first quarter, had perfect coverage on Barnes’s target, Evan Lapice, arriving at the same time as the ball, with teammate Robbie Healy a half-step behind, and sending any hopes of Freeport’s fourth straight title bouncing to the end zone turf. “We basically said [to the defense before the game], ‘Give us a couple of stops and we can win the game,’” East Meadow head coach Vin Mascia said. “And that’s exactly what they did.”

The Jets (10-1) advanced to this Sunday’s Long Island Class I championship game at Stony Brook University against the Suffolk representative, William Floyd. Kickoff is 4:30 p.m.