NYC stuns Long Island on final play

FG as time expires lifts NYC in Empire Challenge

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For a second straight year, late-game heroics lifted New York City over Long Island in a thrilling Empire Challenge.

Paul Inzerillo drilled a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give NYC a 37-35 victory before a crowd of 8,621 at Hofstra in the 22nd edition of the high school football all-star showcase on June 21. The winning drive was kept alive on the previous play which featured a 16-yard completion from MVP quarterback Christian Anderson on fourth-and-16 and a 15-yard penalty for a late hit.

“I just kept telling the guys to keep their heads up and we’d find a way to score,” said Anderson, who completed 16 of 27 attempts for 202 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. “It feels great to bring the City a win,” he added. “It really means a lot.”

Long Island led by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter and held a 35-34 advantage with 2:44 remaining thanks to John Corpac’s 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Christian Carrack’s extra point. But NYC’s offense came through in its final possession for a second straight year to win back-to-back games for just the second time in series history. 

NYC won last year, 39-34, on a 19-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 22 seconds remaining to snap a five-game losing streak. Long Island still holds a 12-8 edge in the series. Fifteen of the 20 meetings (the first two matchups featured Nassau vs. Suffolk) have been decided by fewer than eight points, including four by a point.

“We had a lot of great skill players,” said Long Island MVP quarterback Aaron Ruthman (Elmont), who went 10-for-18 for 149 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to Ward Melville’s Dominic Pryor. “We connected early and hooked up on a lot of things we practiced,” he added.

In addition to Ruthman, local participants included Baldwin’s Jonathan DeBique, who led the defense with 8.5 tackles, Seaford’s Danny Roell (one interception, three tackles) and Kevin Murphy, Freeport’s Rashad Tucker (90 yards rushing) and Jaelin Hood, Long Beach’s Tyreek Bromley, MacArthur’s Ryan O’Shea, Mepham’s Michael Valentino, Carey’s Tyler DeMeo, and Wantagh’s Joe Valenti, Sean Colbert and Jimmy Joyce.

The teams traded touchdowns throughout the first half, with Ruthman directing three scoring drives to answer touchdowns by NYC, and Long Island led 21-19 at halftime. 

NYC cashed in its opening possession when Anderson found Joshua DeCambre for a 17-yard score. DeCambre also made the desperation catch late in the game to set up the winning field goal. With a big assist from Farmingdale running back Jordan McLune, who had runs of 17 and 13 yards, Ruthman capped his first series with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Ward Melville’s Corpac.

Trailing 13-7, Ruthman’s next series — he alternated drives with Tucker — included two completions to Pryor totaling 46 yards and set up McLune’s 1-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and L.I. regained the lead at 14-13 following Carrack’s second of five successful extra points.

After NYC needed less than a minute to retake the lead, 19-14, on the second of quarterback Michael Apostolopoulos’ touchdown passes, the chemistry between Ruthman and Pryor was back on display. A perfectly timed back-shoulder connection resulted in a 24-yard touchdown with 2:02 remaining in the first half.

Both offenses cooled in the third quarter after the teams established a game-record pace of 512 combined yards in the opening half. Long Island took a 28-19 lead into the fourth thanks to Ruthman’s 17-yard scoring strike to Pryor late in the third.

“Aaron was great tonight,” Carey head coach and L.I. offensive coordinator Mike Carey said of Ruthman. “I’ve been watching him make great throws for two years and it was no surprise to see him do it on this stage.”

NYC closed the gap to 28-26 midway through the fourth on Anderson’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Seba Nekhet and went ahead with 2:57 to go on Siddiq Muhamad’s 12-yard scoring run.

Corpac produced Long Island’s finest highlight on the ensuing kickoff, but the electrifying return was undermined by Inzerillo’s heroics.