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Mostly Cloudy Nov. 14: Owls win thriller, 28-27
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T.J. Virgona helped the Owls rally into the Conference III final.
Kathy Leistner/Herald
Time was running out on Lynbrook’s dream season, but it never crossed the minds of senior quarterbacks T.J. Virgona and Tom DeNapoli.
The dynamic duo orchestrated a pair of touchdown drives late in the fourth quarter to lift the top-seeded Owls to a thrilling 28-27 come-from-behind win over Hewlett in a Nassau Conference III semifinal game at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium last Saturday.
Four plays after keeping the final drive—and season—alive with a desperation fourth-down throw as he was falling out of bounds, Virgona hit senior Ray Acevedo with a 6-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining to tie it, and Brendan Cohn’s extra point provided the difference.
“I just trusted my teammates and we got it done,” said Virgona, who hooked up with senior Chris McGrane for a 13-yard touchdown with 4:20 remaining to cut Lynbrook’s deficit to 27-21. “We’ve been in pressure spots many times before and we kept our composure,” he added.
The Owls (9-1), who last won a county championship in 1992, face No. 3 Lawrence (8-2) in the title game this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Hofstra. They defeated the Golden Tornadoes on the road, 49-35, on Sept. 17, after digging an early 21-point hole.
“Every season is a journey with pitfalls along the way,” Lynbrook coach Steve LoCicero said. “These kids have a great ability to handle adversity in a calm way. They have a tremendous amount of courage and they really rose to the occasion.”
It’s a tough loss to swallow for the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (6-4), who were a play away from victory when Virgona hit McGrane for a five-yard gain on fourth-and-3 from the Hewlett 33 to keep the final drive going with a minute to go.
“This team came a long way in the past two months,” Hewlett coach Jay Iaquinta said. “There’s nothing we can say to the kids now that’s going to make them feel better, but they had a great year and all the coaches are really proud of them.
“We played a strong game and were right there,” he added. “We just couldn’t stop them the last two times they had the ball.”
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