Momentum builds for Carey

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For a third straight week, senior quarterback Michael Catanese sparked a come-from-behind victory for two-time defending Nassau Conference II and Long Island Class II champion Carey.

In front of an overflow Homecoming crowd last Saturday, the Seahawks trailed visiting district rival Sewanhaka by a point when Catanese ripped off four consecutive double-digit gains to set up his 3-yard touchdown run with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter, which gave Carey the lead for good on the way to a 40-14 win. 

Seniors Angelo Cona, Jake Safuto and Anthony Millan added touchdown runs in the fourth quarter for the Seahawks (5-2), who scored 27 unanswered points after the Indians (2-5) reached the end zone on the opening possession of the second half to take a 14-13 lead.

“We’ve learned from the losses and bounced back,” said Catanese, who rushed for 109 yards and passed for 74, including an 18-yard touchdown strike to Millan on fourth down to cap the game’s opening drive. “We just need to keep playing hard and moving forward,” he added. 

After splitting its first four games, Carey will take a four-game winning streak into the playoffs if it can take care of business this Saturday at Calhoun. On Oct. 10, the Seahawks rallied from an 18-point hole to beat Mepham, 28-21, winning the game on Catanese’s 39-yard touchdown pass to junior Tyler DeMeo with 2:40 to go. A week later, Catanese’s 3-yard touchdown run with 5:25 left proved the difference in a 28-21 victory over MacArthur.

“Our last seven quarters have been the best football we’ve played all year,” Carey head coach Mike Stanley said. “We were a little sloppy today with the ball, and that’s frustrating, but we’ve definitely been building momentum and confidence.”

Each team had four turnovers. Carey cashed in senior Kevin Meaney’s fumble recovery on special teams, needing only three plays to go 23 yards for a 13-0 lead. An 18-yard reception by senior Joseph Filardo set up Cona’s 5-yard touchdown run with 5:12 remaining in the first quarter.

Sewanhaka returned the favor in the second quarter, marching 43 yards to get on the board after a fumble recovery by senior Adly Slater Dacius on special teams. Senior Elijah Tracey, who moved from quarterback to receiver in Week 3, scored on a 2-yard run out of a wildcat formation to cut the deficit to 13-6.

“We made the quarterback switch because we wanted to get the ball as much as possible to Elijah on the outside,” Sewanhaka head coach George Kasimatis said. “We put together a few nice drives today, and the kids really stuck to it after falling behind 13-0 early. In the end, they wore us down.”

Junior Shaheim Taylor-White keyed the go-ahead drive for the Indians with 35 yards on the ground to set up senior quarterback Christian Tenorio’s 2-yard touchdown pass to junior Alexander Chery. Junior Stephane Eugene’s 2-point conversion catch put the visitors in front, but the advantage lasted less than three minutes.

“We’ve played a tough schedule and we’re in a tough spot, but we still have a chance to squeeze into the playoffs,” said Kasimatis, whose squad hosts Wantagh this Saturday in the regular-season finale.