Oceanside holds off East Meadow

A pair of short-yardage defensive stops in the fourth quarter and a pair of second-quarter rushing touchdowns by senior Brandy Diaz propelled Oceanside to a 14-7 victory at East Meadow in a high-energy Nassau Conference I football game last Saturday.

The Sailors (3-0) denied the Jets (1-2) on fourth-and-1 from the 16-yard line with 8:06 remaining, and also on fourth-and-3 from inside the 10 with a little more than two minutes left. Diaz, who rushed for 132 yards on 10 carries, sealed the outcome with a 54-yard gain.

“We just kept our motor going and grinded it out,” said Oceanside senior lineman Dom Lopez, who made a significant contribution on the defensive front. “Our starting defense has allowed just seven points all season,” he added. “We’re feeling good. We’re back.”

It was the home opener for East Meadow, which split a pair of road games to begin the season. The Jets, who trailed 14-0 at halftime, got a nifty 20-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Anthony LaRosa in the third quarter but couldn’t finish two lengthy drives thereafter.

“We’ve had some great battles with Oceanside over the years and this was another one,” East Meadow head coach Vin Mascia said. “Defensively, we played well and held a good offense to two scores. Offensively, we’re young in some areas and just not there yet.

“We’ve made a career out of converting on fourth-and-short,” he added. “Today, their defense got the better of us. They were aggressive on the outside and also stopped us a few times up the middle.”

The Sailors, who made five straight playoff appearances from 2009-13 before missing out a year ago, completed a perfect September while surpassing last season’s win total. Traveling to East Meadow was their first big test after they opened with a 41-6 win over Hempstead, and beat Herricks, 40-8, in Week 2.

“Our defense played lights-out,” Oceanside head coach Rob Blount said. “We didn’t do as much as we wanted offensively, but the young line hung tough and we made enough big plays to win. Whenever you beat a team of East Meadow’s caliber, it’s big.” 

The Jets cashed in just one of four trips inside the red zone. They drove inside the 10 on their opening possession but Oceanside’s James Paczkowski pounced on a fumble to douse the threat.

In the second quarter, a second East Meadow turnover led to the game’s first touchdown. Senior Greg Axelrod picked off LaRosa at the Oceanside 32, and on the first snap of the ensuing possession Diaz broke outside and rumbled along the visiting sideline to end zone. Francesco Ancona added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Senior quarterback Vinny Guarino, who had four touchdown passes over the first two weeks, then directed a 57-yard scoring drive that culminated with a Diaz 1-yard touchdown run with 27 seconds to go in the half. 

The Jets opened the third quarter by driving 78 yards on 13 plays, with sophomore Mike Dolley leading the effort, and cut the deficit in half, but Oceanside’s defense had the final say. The Sailors host Valley Stream Central this Saturday at 3 p.m.