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A Few Clouds Sewanhaka falls to Hewlett
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A key part of Sewanhaka's offense, junior Brian Wint suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter of last Saturday's Conference III playoff loss at Hewlett.
Kathy Leistner/Herald
Hewlett’s Jay Iaquinta stresses special teams as much as any football coach in Nassau County and that’s where the difference came for the Bulldogs in last Saturday’s 10-6 victory over Sewanhaka in a Conference III first-round playoff game.
A 35-yard field goal from junior Ross Kleinrock, a game-changing 75-yard punt from senior Dylan Pastor and two long returns by sophomore Sam Martorella helped put fourth-seeded Hewlett (6-3) over the top in an otherwise even game. Pastor’s 15-yard touchdown run with 3:04 remaining in the third quarter won it for the Bulldogs, who avenged a 20-7 loss at Sewanhaka on Sept. 17 and advanced to face top-seeded Lynbrook in a semifinal game at Hofstra this Saturday at 10 a.m.
It was a tough ending for the fifth-seeded Indians (6-3), who enjoyed a tremendous campaign under first-year coach George Kasimatis. They were ranked 11th in the preseason. “The result isn’t what we envisioned,” he said. “We didn’t come here thinking we’d lose, but we lost to a well-coached team that we respect a lot. As a program, we aspire to be like Hewlett. We accomplished a lot and we’ll use this year as a stepping stone.”
Sewanhaka lost two key players in the first quarter and neither returned. Senior defensive tackle Rahiem Tucker-Jones suffered a knee injury on the first offensive series and speedy junior tailback Brian Wint went down with a twisted ankle. Still, the Indians were able to overcome Kleinrock’s field goal to take a 6-3 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Shireem Cobb with 3:32 left in the opening half.
“We expected a hard-fought game,” Pastor said. “They’ve got a tough team and we just had to put our faces in their faces and play as hard as we could.”
After Hewlett’s offense stalled on a second straight possession to open the second half, Pastor boomed a punt that pinned the Indians at their own 2-yard line and changed the complexion of the game. Sewanhaka was forced to punt out of its own end zone and Martorella brought it back 15 yards to the 31. Two plays later, Pastor took a pitch from junior quarterback Alex Kahn and scored to put the Bulldogs ahead to stay.
“We had lousy field position all day,” Kasimatis said. “It was all because of their special teams.”
Pastor, who had 148 total yards (76 receiving, 72 rushing) followed a key block from senior center Richard Montano to seal the outcome with a first-down run from the Sewanhaka 22 with less than two minutes to go.
Elmont and Carey advance
Elmont beat Division, 28-14, and Carey knocked off MacArthur, 35-21, in Conference II action last Saturday. The defending county champion Spartans face Wantagh at Hofstra on Friday at 7:30 p.m., right after the Seahawks meet Garden City at 4 p.m.
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